A Carrier at Risk: Argentinean Aircraft Carrier and Anti-Submarine Operations against Royal Navy’s Attack Submarines during the Falklands/Malvinas War, 1982 (Latin America@War)

One might be tempted to think the carrier in question was HMS Invincible, and indeed the first section deals with a possible air strike on the Royal Navy Task Force. But the carrier is actually ARA 25 de Mayo. Apart from the possibility of an air strike the book, written by Argentinian officers and well translated, deals with the anti-submarine operations of the 25 de Mayo carrier group looking for (and avoiding) British nuclear and diesel subs. As ASW is a technical subject the book gives a fair degree of space over to helping non-subbies grasp the issues, for which much thanks. The limits of kit and numbers required the Argentinians to extemporise. The commands of a distant HQ affected the British. In the end there was little contact, but the story is no less interesting for all that. This is especially so as it was not just the Argentinian Armada and the Royal Navy snooping around those waters: there were Soviet, American and possibly Chilean boats too, and overhead US satellites and Soviet aircraft. An excellent account.

After reading this book it struck me as one of the best "actually not much happened" books in military history, in the same ilk as Roland White's excellent "Phoenix Squadron". It is a fascinating read that documents the early days of the segment of the Falklands conflict and the UK Task Force approach to the islands. I say "not much happened" as the RN's submarines were unable to strike the 25 de Mayo, the carrier was unable to launch its own air strike against the RN task force and ultimately the carrier returned to Argentinean waters so end the war patrolling in relative safety as the RN submarines performed SIGINT and other duties elsewhere. But is is a fascinating read and goes into great detail on how the Argentineans generated an effective CV capability from an old ex-RN and Dutch carrier, and obsolete aircraft from the USA, delivered without user manuals. Some of the workarounds employed were quite ingenious, especially the imaginative use of polaroid cameras (but you must read the book to find out what I mean). My only "complaint" is that the A4 format does give is a 'magazine' feel and to be honest I would have preferred a more traditional book format, but the large format has allowed the pictures and charts to be reproduced large and clear. Despite the impressions that the format may give it is great value for money and is packed with information hitherto unknown or unrecognised in english-speaking circles. Highly recommended.

This excellent account of the travails of the Argentine Aircraft Carrier 25 De Mayo during the early stages of the Falklands conflict gives an excellent insight into the problems facing a second division navy faced with the challenge of facing more modern weapons and platforms. As one of the targets of the ASW effort I found it engrossing well written and detailed. The translation into English does not detract from the account and the few minor errors of terminology, tactics and operational conduct, arising therefrom are of no significance.

With following the Falkland War closely, by being on the security team at a major oil fuel depot supplying hundreds of thousand tons of different fuel to the fleets tanker train for all the various aircraft, vehicles, and ships, saw the base I was on working 24/7 until the war ended. Of course this work isn't mentioned in many books about the war, but the book does give a good account of the Argentinian side of the war, and as to why their navy played only a short part in it, seeing as they knew, after the Belgrano was sunk by a British nuclear attack submarine. The book has very good graphics of the sea warfare and anti-submarine parts, with a number of ex-RN destroyers, along with aircraft, helicopters bought from various countries selling off some of their surplus equipment as well as slightly downgraded new items. Though the Falkland Islands are far away and many people thought not worth the loss of lives on both sides, nor the loss of several naval vessels by the RN, the battle for the islands was a major political war on both sides, with the Argentinian Military Junta of General Galtearia using the Malvinas invasion to take the Argentinian peoples mind off the political mess the country was in, And the British Prime Minister. Margaret Thatcher, wanted to show the country, along with the islanders voting to remain British and not allow Argentina to take over their long heritage of living on the Falkland Islands, and with the UN upholding Britain's territorial claim, the only way to resolve the issue was to take military action, but one short of using Britain's Nuclear Balistic Polaris Nuclear Missile armed submarines.It is a very interesting book, that gives a good idea of the problems that the Argentinian Armed Forces faced once the British Forces arrived both from underwater, on the water, and in the air, to the amazement of the Argentina Forces, as they didn't think the British would either have the fleet needed to go to fight so far from the UK, or the risk of losing the battle.I can fully recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the view of the enemy tactics, plus how the Military Junta was to be overthrown after the war ended.