MISSILES & GUNS
Plate 1. Mk 8 4.5-inch gun
At night on 5 June 1982, HMS Cardiff (D108) conducted gunfire support against Argentine positions on the Falkland Islands. The image shows the gun in the resting position just after dawn the next day. She had fired 277 4.5-inch rounds Photograph by Kenneth lan Griffiths.
Plate 3. Mk 8 4.5-inch gun (results of)
Short SC.7 Skyvan (PA-54) transport aircraft destroyed at Stanley racetrack. It belonged to the Argentine Coast Guard (Prefectura Naval Argentina) and was destroyed by British naval 4.5-inch gunfire. The photograph is attributed to Pete Oxford.
Plate 2. Mk 8 4.5-inch guns
HMS Glamorgan’s forward, twin 4.5-inch guns firing at Pebble Island on 14-15 May during an SAS raid. The SAS focussed on destroying aircraft, while Glamorgan’s guns targeted fuel supplies. Photograph taken by Petty Officer Andy Gatherer (electronics warfare officer, Royal Navy).
Plate 4. Roland SAM (French design)
Argentine Roland SAM system from the 601st Air Defence Artillery Group. This Roland system shot down a Sea Harrier (XZ456) on 1 June 1982. The photographer may have been Eduardo A. Rotondo. Picture sourced from a Facebook post by Agustin Vazquez.
Plate 5. Sea Dart SAM
An image of HMS Exeter firing a Sea Dart missile at a Learjet on 7 June 1982. All five crew on the Learjet were killed. Photographed by Laurence Brown, Royal Navy.
Plate 6. Sea Dart SAM
​The Type-42 destroyer HMS Edinburgh firing a Sea Dart missile in 2012. Photographer, LA(Phot) Dave Jenkins, Royal Navy. Wikimedia Commons.
Plate 7. Sea Dart SAM
Sea Dart at IWM Duxford, UK, 2015. Note the four antennas around the air intake at the nose, which make up the interferometer array that helps guide the missile to a target. Photographed by M.R. Ibbotson.
Plate 8. Sea Wolf & Sea Dart SAMs
Missiles at IWM Duxford, UK, 2015. Both missiles proved highly effective during the war. Photographed by M.R. Ibbotson.
Plate 9. Rapier SAM
A Rapier missile fired in the Falklands. On obtaining it, the photograph had been partially ‘colorised’. Photoshop was used by MR Ibbotson to improve the colorisation. Tim Mander / Alamy Stock Photo.
Plate 11. Seacat SAM
Tigercat launch trailer with three covered missiles. The control system is shown behind, looking like a water tank. All trailers are missing their wheels. This system was operated in South Africa. Photograph by Dean Wingrin. Picture sourced from the SAAF website.
Plate 13. Seacat or Bofors 40mm?
Lt Lucero landing in a parachute after ejecting from his A-4 on 25 May 1982. He was rescued and given excellent medical care on HMS Fearless. He was shot down by a combination of Seacat and 40mm Bofors. The exact cause of the shoot down remains disputed. The photographer is thought to have been Sub Lieutenant Clive Pickering (some reports suggest Roy Gillingham but this is likely incorrect).
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Plate 15. Blowpipe SAM
Photograph of Argentine troops taken from an RAF Harrier GR3. The man on the left has a Blowpipe SAM and is lifting it onto his shoulder to fire. This photograph caused great alarm when revealed to the Harrier pilots that flew the mission! The image was taken from Martin Middlebrooks book - The fight for the 'Malvinas'.
Plate 17. MM38 Exocet anti-ship missile launcher
Trailer mounted twin Exocet missile launcher on the Falklands. Photographer not known. Image from militaryimages.net
Plate 10. SA-7 SAM
9K32 Strela-2 (SA-7 Grail) surface-to-air missiles provided by Libya to Argentina during the Falklands War. These were captured after the war by the British. Photographed by Tim Rees.
Plate 12. Seacat SAM
A view over Stanley soon after the Falklands War, with recent snowfall. A triple Tigercat launch trailer is shown with two missiles covered by grey protective shrouds. Two uncovered missiles are discarded in the snow, painted white, with yellow fins. Crown copyright IWM FKD 2843.
Plate 14. Blowpipe SAM
Argentine troops with a British-made Blowpipe SAM in the Falklands. This weapon-type is known as a MANPADS (man portable air defence system). Photographer not reported.
Plate 16. Blowpipe SAM
A member of the Argentine army’s 601 Commando Company at Port Howard on West Falkland aiming his Blowpipe missile at Lieutenant Jeff Glover’s Harrier GR3 (1 (F) Squadron, RAF). The Harrier was shot down and Glover landed in Falkland Sound. He was recovered in a boat and became a POW. Photographed by Eduardo Farré.
Plate 18. MM38 Exocet anti-ship missile
This is the ship or ground launched version. One of these struck HMS Glamorgan. It was photographed at the Imperial War Museum, London, in 2015. Photographer M.R. Ibbotson.
Plate 19. MM39 Exocet
This is the air-launched version that struck HMS Sheffield and MV Atlantic Conveyor. Initial blast damage quickly morphed into raging fires, which ultimately led to the loss of both ships. Note the different fin shape compared to the MM38. Image from MBDA Systems.
Plate 20. Sea Slug SAM from County-class destroyers
Sea Slug with its four massive rocket boosters attached to the long, slender missile. Woomera Missile Park, Australia. Photograph likely by Phil Pritchard.
Plate 21. Sea Slug SAM launcher on HMS Norfolk
GWS 2 twin-arm missile launcher for Sea Slug on the stern of a County-class destroyer. Photograph by M.D. Thomas.
Plate 22. Sea Slug SAM fired from HMS Devonshire
County-class destroyer firing a Sea Slug missile (likely in the late 1960s). Photographer not reported, Royal Navy.
Plate 23. Sea Slug SAM, County-class destroyers
A Sea Slug missile during trials in Australia in 1959. It had been fired at an unmanned Gloster Meteor drone aircraft (painted white with red nose, engines and upper outer wing panels). The Sea Slug’s smoky approach and the explosion of its 200 lb warhead can be seen in the left panel. The detonation seriously damaged the aircraft (middle panel), leading to it crashing (right panel). The picture from Alamy was colorised using Photoshop by MR Ibbotson. Chronicle / Alamy Stock Photo.