The Silent Deep

by James Jinks

  Assessments of the Soviet Navy

  178. TNA/DEFE/13/1357, Sea/Air Warfare Committee – Operational Concept for Anti-Submarine Warfare, 25 May 1978. 179. Ibid. 180. TNA/CAB/186/11, JIC(A)(72)3, 25 January 1972. 181. Gerhardt Thamm, ‘Unraveling a Cold War Mystery: The Alfa SSN: Challenging Paradigms, Finding New Truths, 1969–79’, Cold War Studies in Intelligence, Vol. 52, No. 3, 182. Polmar and Moore, Cold War Submarines, p. 142. 183. Ibid., p. 177. 184. Ibid., p. 178. 185. TNA/DEFE/24/1387, Naval Staff Target 7029 (New Patrol Class Submarine) Supporting Paper, 7 June 1978. 186. Ibid. 187. John Lehman Jr, Command of the Seas: Building the 600 Ship Navy (Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1988), p. 133. 188. TNA/DEFE/24/1387, Naval Staff Target 7029 (New Patrol Class Submarine) Supporting Paper, 7 June 1978. 189. Ibid. 190. Ibid.

  7. HOT WAR: THE FALKLANDS CONFLICT

  1. IWM/17274, Interview with Roger Lane-Nott, 23 January 1997. 2. RNSM/HMS Conqueror Ship’s Book, Woodward to Conqueror, 16 June 1982.

  Operation ‘Journeyman’

  3. See Lawrence Freedman, The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Vol. 1: The Origins of the Falklands War (Routledge, 2007), pp. 65–8. 4. Ibid., pp. 69–75. 5. TNA/DEFE/24/1245, Ure to Moss, Falkland Islands: Rules of Engagement for Naval Forces, 24 November 1977. 6. TNA/PREM/16/1504, Nigel Brind to Bryan Cartledge, The Falkland Islands, 15 December 1977. 7. Hansard, House of Commons Debates, 25 January 1983, Vol. 35, Col. 812. 8. Nigel West, The Secret War for the Falklands: The SAS, MI6, and the War Whitehall Nearly Lost (Warner Books, 1998), p. 221. 9. Freedman, Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Vol. 1, pp. 74–5. 10. Interview with Martin Macpherson, 24 May 2013. 11. Ibid. 12. Charles Moore, Margaret Thatcher: The Authorized Biography, Vol. 1: Not for Turning (Allen Lane, 2013), p. 664. 13. TNA/CAB/292/37, Falkland Islands Review Committee, Note of an Oral Evidence Session with The Rt Hon. James Callaghan, 18 October 1982. 14. James Callaghan, Time and Chance (HarperCollins, 1987), p. 375. 15. David Owen, Time to Declare (Michael Joseph, 1991), p. 350. 16. Freedman, Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Vol. 1, p. 73. 17. Ibid. 18. TNA/FCO/73/283, Owen to Sec. State for Defence, Falkland Islands Task Force, u/d (December 1977). 19. Ibid. 20. Paul Hind, ‘Dreadnought’s Covert Falklands Mission’, in Friends of the Submarine Museum, All Round Look: Year Book 2003/2004 (Royal Navy Submarine Museum, 2004), p. 17.

  Operation ‘Corporate’

  21. For an Argentinean account of Submarine operations in the South Atlantic during the 1982 Falklands Conflict see Mariano Sciaroni, Malvinas. Tras los submarinos ingleses (Instituto de Publicaciones Navales 2010). 22. TNA/DEFE/13/949, SSN, Working Party, Interim Report, Outline Scenarios Not Adopted for Development by the SSN Working Group, 19 December 1967. 23. According to Nigel West the Falklands story was leaked to the press by ‘a submariner at MOD’: West, Secret War for the Falklands, p. 36. 24. TNA/CAB/292/57, Falkland Islands Review Committee, Note of an Oral Evidence session held in Room 1/99 Old Admiralty Building, London SW, Monday, 8 November 1982. 25. Freedman, Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Vol. 1, p. 176. 26. MOD Archive. 27. Ibid. 28. TNA/PREM/19/657, Nott to Thatcher, Options for deployment of naval vessels to the Falklands, 29 March 1982. 29. Jim Ring, We Come Unseen: The Untold Story of Britain’s Cold War Submariners (John Murray, 2001), p. 182. 30. Interview with James Taylor, 10 April 2014. 31. TNA/PREM/19/657, FOC minute to Thatcher, 30 March 1982. 32. Ibid. (Thatcher annotation), 30 March 1982. 33. Margaret Thatcher, The Downing Street Years (HarperPress, 2012), p. 178. 34. TNA/PREM/19/657, FOC minute to Thatcher, 30 March 1982. 35. Freedman, Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Vol. 1, p. 200. 36. Ibid., p. 175. 37. CAC, Margaret Thatcher Archives (hereafter MTA), ALW/040325/9, Minutes of a Meeting of Defence Operations Executive (Falkland Islands), 30 March 1982. 38. Freedman, Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Vol. 1, p. 175. 39. TNA/CAB/292/47, Falkland Islands Review Committee, Note of an Oral Evidence Session with the Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, 25 October 1982. 40. Thatcher, Downing Street Years, pp. 173–85. 41. Moore, Not for Turning, p. 667. 42. IWM/31103, Interview with Liam Bradley, April 2008. 43. Quoted in Lawrence Freedman, The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Vol. 2: War and Diplomacy (Routledge, 2007), p. 228. 44. TNA/FCO/7/4472, Confidential Annex to COS/4/82, 4 April 1982. 45. Interview with Admiral Sir Peter Herbert, 15 October 2013. 46. ‘Jettisoned bombs just missed Valiant’, http://www.thenewscentre.co.uk/falklands/commande.htm. 47. Interview with Doug Littlejohns, 20 November 2013. 48. Beneath him, officially of equal status but with a lower rank, were Commodore, Amphibious Warfare (COMAW) Commodore Michael Clapp, in charge of the Amphibious Group, and Brigadier Julian Thompson, RM, of the land forces, who would be replaced after the initial landings by Major General Jeremy Moore, RM. 49. Andrew Gordon, The Rules of the Game (John Murray, 2000), p. 587. 50. Daily Telegraph, ‘Sir “Sandy” Woodward: A Shy But Decisive Fighter’, 11 August 2013. 51. Freedman, Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Vol. 1, p. 175. 52. Ibid. 53. TNA/PREM/19/615, Armstrong to Thatcher, The Falkland Islands, 6 April 1982. 54. TNA/FCO/7/4472, Meeting of the Chiefs of Staff, 5 April 1982. 55. The War Cabinet was serviced by the Cabinet Secretary, Robert Armstrong, and his deputy, Robert Wade-Gery, who was in charge of foreign and defence liaison in the Cabinet Office. It was also attended by the Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Terence Lewin, and by the Attorney-General, Sir Michael Havers. Others who attended at various times were the Permanent Secretary at the Foreign Office, Antony Acland, the MOD Permanent Secretary, Frank Cooper, the former Permanent Secretary at the Foreign Office, Sir Michael Palliser, the Foreign Office Legal Advisor, Sir Ian Sinclair, and the Commander-in-Chief Fleet, Admiral Sir John Fieldhouse. 56. Interview with James Taylor, 10 April 2014. 57. Hansard, House of Commons Debates, 7 April 1982, Vol. 21, Col. 1045. 58. TNA/FCO/7/4472, Wright, Chiefs of Staff Meeting, 6 April 1982. 59. TNA/CAB/148/211, OD(SA)(82)5, Armstrong, Wade-Geary, Colvin note circulated to OD(SA) Committee, Rules of Engagement, 8 April 1982. 60. TNA/CAB/148/211, OD(SA)82, 3rd Meeting, 8 April 1982. 61. ‘The Falklands War’, eds. Andrew Dorman, Michael D. Kandiah and Gillian Staerck, CCBH Oral History Programme, 2005. 62. Freedman, Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Vol. II, p. 91. 63. Air Vice Marshal Ron Dick, ‘The View from BDLS Washington’, Royal Air Force Historical Society Journal, no. 30, 2003, pp. 25–35. 64. TNA/FCO/7/4472, Wright, Chiefs of Staff Meeting, 6 April 1982. 65. Freedman, The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Vol. 2, pp. 434–5. 66. Ibid., p. 146. 67. IWM/17274, Interview with Roger Lane-Nott, 23 January 1997. 68. Interview with James Taylor, 10 April 2014. 69. HMS Splendid, Report of Proceedings, 23 June 1982. 70. IWM/17274, Interview with Roger Lane-Nott, 23 January 1997. 71. Ibid. 72. Interview with James Taylor, 10 April 2014. 73. HMS Spartan, Report of Proceedings, 23 June 1982. 74. Tom Clancy, Submarine (Berkley Books, 1993), p. xxii. 75. Freedman, Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Vol. 2, p. 219. 76. IWM/17274, Interview with Roger Lane-Nott, 23 January 1997. 77. Ibid. 78. Ibid. 79. Ibid. 80. IWM/AU, Interview with Edward John Hogben, 15 December 2010. 81. Christopher Wreford-Brown, ‘Conqueror’s War Patrol’, in John Winton, The Submariners: Life in British Submarines 1901–1999 (Constable, 2001), p. 281. 82. HMS Conqueror, Report of Proceedings, 1 July 1982. 83. Freedman, Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Vol. II, pp. 208–16. 84. Jonathan Powis, ‘Falklands Memories’, Submarine Review, January 2008, pp. 61–2. 85. Ibid., p. 61. 86. Wreford-Brown, ‘Conqueror’s War Patrol’, in Winton, Submariners, p. 284. 87. HMS Conqueror, Report of Proceedings, 1 July 1982. 88. Ibid. 89. TNA/PREM/19/620, Armstrong to Omand, 21 April 1982. 90. TNA/PREM/19/620, Acland to Armstrong, 22 April 1982. 91. TNA/PREM/19/620, Wright to Lewin, 22 April 1982. 92. IWM/17274, Interview with Roger Lane-Nott, 23 January 1997. 93. Freedman, Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Vol. 2, p. 261. 94. John ‘Sandy’ Woodward, One Hundred Days: The Memoirs of the Falklands Battle Group Commander (HarperPress, 2012), pp. 171–2. 95. Ibid., p. 173. 96. Quoted in Mike Rossiter, Sink the Belgrano (Bantam Press, 2007), p. 177. 97. Ibid., p. 134. 98. Intervi
ew with Admiral Sir Peter Herbert, 15 October 2013. 99. Quoted in Rossiter, Sink the Belgrano, p. 134. 100. Woodward, One Hundred Days, p. 173. 101. HMS Valiant, Report of Proceedings, 26 July 1982. 102. Interview with James Taylor, 10 April 2014. 103. Interview with James Taylor, 5 December 2013. 104. HMS Spartan, Report of Proceedings, 23 June 1982. 105. Interview with James Taylor, 5 December 2013. 106. HMS Splendid, Report of Proceedings, 23 June 1982. 107. IWM/17274, Interview with Roger Lane-Nott, 23 January 1997. 108. Ibid. 109. TNA/CAB/148/211, OD(SA)(82)36, The Argentine Aircraft Carrier, Note by the Secretaries, 30 April 1982. 110. TNA/CAB/148/211, OD(SA)22, 30 April 1982. 111. Freedman, The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Vol. 2, p. 219. 112. IWM/17274, Interview with Roger Lane-Nott, 23 January 1997. 113. Ibid. 114. Freedman, Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Vol. 2, p. 290. 115. Ibid. 116. HMS Spartan, Report of Proceedings, 23 June 1982. 117. Woodward, One Hundred Days, p. 177. 118. HMS Conqueror, Report of Proceedings, 1 July 1982. 119. Freedman, Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Vol. 2, p. 292. 120. Woodward, One Hundred Days, p. 212. 121. Ibid. 122. Ibid.

  Sink the Belgrano

  123. Rossiter, Sink the Belgrano, p.223. 124. Woodward, One Hundred Days, p. 115. 125. Interview with Admiral Sir Peter Herbert, 15 October 2013. 126. TNA/FCO7/4474, Minutes of COS meeting, 2 May 1982. 127. Thatcher, Downing Street Years, pp. 214–16; TNA/PREM/19/623, Wade-Gery to Omand, Falklands: Military Decisions, 2 May 1982. 128. ‘The Falklands War’, eds. Dorman, Kandiah and Staerck. 129. Churchill College Cambridge, British Diplomatic Oral History Programme, Interview with Robert Wade-Gery, 2000. 130. Wreford-Brown, ‘Conqueror’s War Patrol’, in Winton, Submariners, p. 286. 131. Dan Conley and Richard Woodman, Cold War Command: The Dramatic Story of a Nuclear Submariner (Seaforth Press, 2014), p. 173. 132. HMS Splendid, Report of Proceedings, 23 June 1982. 133. Powis, ‘Falklands Memories’, p. 64. 134. Interview with Tim McClement, 26 September 2013. 135. Daily Telegraph, ‘Falklands Commander: Sinking the Belgrano was Right Thing to Do’, 2 April 2012. 136. HMS Conqueror, Report of Proceedings, 1 July 1982. 137. Ibid. 138. Wreford-Brown, ‘Conqueror’s War Patrol’, in Winton, Submariners, p. 287. 139. Powis, ‘Falklands Memories’, p. 65. 140. HMS Conqueror, Report of Proceedings, 1 July 1982. 141. Powis, ‘Falklands Memories’, p. 65. 142. Ibid. 143. HMS Conqueror, Report of Proceedings, 1 July 1982. 144. Wreford-Brown, Interview for War in the Falklands, ITN Factual, 2002, Episode 1. 145. Powis, ‘Falklands Memories’, p. 64. 146. Wreford-Brown, ‘Conqueror’s War Patrol’, in Winton, Submariners, p. 287. 147. Ibid., p. 288. 148. Woodward, One Hundred Days, p. 223. 149. Ibid. 150. HMS Spartan, Report of Proceedings, 23 June 1982. 151. Interview with James Taylor, 10 April 2014. 152. IWM/17274, Interview with Roger Lane-Nott, 23 January 1997. 153. Ibid. 154. Exchange between Diana Gould and Margaret Thatcher, Nationwide, BBC1, 24 May 1983. 155. Freedman, Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Vol. 2, p. 295. 156. The direction in which the Belgrano was sailing has also fuelled conspiracy theories. One, in particular, concerns the fate of Conqueror’s Control Room log, which disappeared shortly after Conqueror returned from the Falklands. What happened to the Control Room log remains a mystery. One theory is that the log book was destroyed due to Conqueror’s involvement in other Cold War operations prior to and after the Falklands conflict. See Stuart Prebble, Secrets of the Conqueror: The History of Britain’s Most Famous Submarine (Faber & Faber, 2013). HMS Conqueror’s Report of Proceedings for Operation ‘Corporate’, the detailed running narrative recorded by watch leaders and the Commanding Officer, has been in the public domain for some time, albeit with a few minor redactions, which appear to relate to intelligence information. 157. Freedman, Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Vol. 2, p. 296. 158. Ibid. 159. Ibid. 160. ‘Belgrano crew “trigger happy” ’, Guardian, 25 May 2003. 161. Quoted in Richard Hill, Lewin of Greenwich: The Authorised Biography of Admiral of the Fleet Lord Lewin (Cassell, 2000), p. 368. 162. Powis, ‘Falklands Memories’, p. 67. 163. Wreford-Brown, ‘Conqueror’s War Patrol’, in Winton, Submariners, p. 289. 164. Daily Telegraph, ‘Falklands Commander: Sinking the Belgrano was Right Thing to Do’, 2 April 2012. 165. Thatcher, Downing Street Years, pp. 214–16. 166. HMS Valiant, Report of Proceedings, 26 July 1982. 167. HMS Spartan, Report of Proceedings, 23 June 1982. 168. Woodward, One Hundred Days, p. 207.

  Frustration

  169. TNA/FOC/7/4474, Meeting of the Defence Operations Executive, 3 May 1982. 170. HMS Spartan, Report of Proceedings, 23 June 1982. 171. IWM/17274, Interview with Roger Lane-Nott, 23 January 1997. 172. HMS Splendid, Report of Proceedings, 23 June 1982. 173. TNA/CAB/148/211, OD(SA)82, 25th Meeting, 4 May 1982. 174. Freedman, Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Vol. 2, p. 308. 175. HMS Splendid, Report of Proceedings, 23 June 1982. 176. IWM/17274, Interview with Roger Lane-Nott, 23 January 1997. 177. TNA/PREM/19/624, Weston to Wright, Chiefs of Staff Committee, 4 May 1982. 178. TNA/CAB/148/211, OD(SA), 26th Meeting, 5 May 1982. 179. HMS Splendid, Report of Proceedings, 23 June 1982. 180. Freedman, Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Vol. 2, p. 308. 181. Ibid., p. 309. 182. TNA/PREM/19/647, Pym to Thatcher, 5 May 1982. 183. Freedman, Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Vol. 2, p. 309. 184. Haig proposed arrangements for Argentine withdrawal and a winding down of the military presence, including the British. The creation of some form of international ‘interim administration’ for the Islands following Argentine withdrawal would operate while long-term sovereignty was negotiated. 185. TNA/PREM/19/647, Pym to Thatcher, 5 May 1982. 186. TNA/CAB/148/211, OD(SA)(82), 27th Meeting, 6 May 1982. 187. TNA/CAB/148/211, OD(SA), 26th Meeting, 5 May 1982. 188. John Nott, Here Today, Gone Tomorrow: Memoirs of an Errant Politician (Politico’s, 2002), p. 294. 189. TNA/CAB/148/211, OD(SA)(82), 27th Meeting, 6 May 1982; Freedman, Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Vol. 2, p. 310. 190. Freedman, Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Vol. 2, p. 310. 191. Ibid. 192. Ibid., pp. 310–11. 193. IWM/17274, Interview with Roger Lane-Nott, 23 January 1997.

  Valiant Arrives

  194. Tom Le Marchand, ‘Jettisoned Bombs Just Missed Valiant’, undated manuscript. 195. Ibid. 196. HMS Valiant, Report of Proceedings, 26 July 1982. 197. Ibid. 198. HMS Splendid, Report of Proceedings, 23 June 1982. 199. HMS Conqueror, Report of Proceedings, 1 July 1982. 200. Ibid. 201. Ibid. 202. Chris Wreford-Brown, ‘Floating Wire Aerials’, in Friends of the Submarine Museum, All Round Look: Year Book 2007/2008 (Royal Navy Submarine Museum, 2007), p. 54. 203. Rossiter, Sink the Belgrano, p. 273. 204. Ibid., p. 275. 205. HMS Conqueror, Report of Proceedings, 1 July 1982. 206. The first casualty of the conflict, HMS Sheffield, sank on 10 May 1982, six days after being hit by an Exocet missile. 207. IWM/17274, Interview with Roger Lane-Nott, 23 January 1997. 208. Interview with James Taylor, 10 April 2014. 209. HMS Valiant, Report of Proceedings, 26 July 1982. 210. Ibid. 211. TNA/CAB/148/212, OD(SA)(82)58, Argentine Territorial Waters, Note by the Secretaries, 27 May 1982. 212. TNA/CAB/148/212, Argentine 12 Nautical Mile Limit (Note by Ministry of Defence Officials), 27 May 1982. 213. TNA/CAB/148/211, OD(SA)(82), 46th Meeting, 28 May 1982. 214. Ibid. 215. Ibid. 216. Freedman, Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Vol. 2, p. 316. 217. CAC/MTA, Margaret Thatcher, Memoir of the Falklands War, written at Chequers over Easter 1983, p. 100. 218. HMS Valiant, Report of Proceedings, 26 July 1982. 219. Ibid. 220. Ibid. 221. Powis, ‘Falklands Memories’. 222. HMS Conqueror, Report of Proceedings, 1 July 1982. 223. Ibid. 224. John Moore and Richard Compton-Hall, Submarine Warfare: Today and Tomorrow (Adler & Adler, 1987), p. 79. 225. HMS Spartan, Report of Proceedings, 23 June 1982. 226. Daily Telegraph, ‘Fresh Fruit Prize for Unseen Players in Grim Game’, 25 June 1982. 227. RNSM, HMS Conqueror Ship’s Book, FOSM to HMS Conqueror, 6 June 1982. 228. RNSM, HMS Conqueror Ship’s Book, Conqueror Temporary Memorandum Number 29/82, Enforced Dieting, 2 June 1982. 229. HMS Spartan, Report of Proceedings, 23 June 1982.

  Reinforcements

  230. Michael Pitkeathly and David Wixon, Submarine Courageous, Cold War Warrior: The Life and Times of a Nuclear Submarine (The HMS Cou
rageous Society, 2010), p. 214. 231. Ibid., p. 217. 232. Andrew Johnson, ‘The 116-Day War Patrol’, in Winton, Submariners, p. 283. 233. Ibid., p. 296. 234. Michael Clapp and Ewen Southby-Tailyour, Amphibious Assault Falklands: The Battle of San Carlos Water (Pen and Sword, 2007), p. 130. 235. Ewen Southby-Tailyour, Exocet Falklands: The Untold Story of Special Forces Operations (Pen and Sword, 2014), p. 248. 236. Ibid., p. 256. 237. Ibid., p. 254. 238. Johnson, ‘The 116-Day War Patrol’, in Winton, Submariners, p. 296. 239. Southby-Tailyour, Exocet Falklands, p. 256. 240. Ibid., pp. 256–7.

  Picket Duty

  241. Powis, ‘Falklands Memories’, p. 67. 242. Le Marchand, ‘Jettisoned Bombs’. 243. HMS Valiant, Report of Proceedings, 26 July 1982. 244. RNSM, HMS Valiant, Navigator Log Book, 1982. 245. HMS Valiant, Report of Proceedings, 26 July 1982. 246. Nigel West, Historical Dictionary of Naval Intelligence (Scarecrow Press, 2010), pp. 39, 62. 247. Ibid., p. 39. 248. Ibid. 249. HMS Valiant, Report of Proceedings, 26 July 1982. 250. Powis, ‘Falklands Memories’, p. 67. 251. HMS Valiant, Report of Proceedings, 26 July 1982. 252. Chris Craig, Call for Fire: Sea Combat in the Falklands and the Gulf War (John Murray, 1995), p. 76.

  Departure

  253. Interview with Roger Lane-Nott, 25 March 2014. 254. HMS Splendid, Report of Proceedings, 23 June 1982. 255. The British Naval tradition is to fly a Jolly Roger when returning to port when the sub made a kill at sea. The symbology used was not standard: normally a red bar indicated a warship sunk, but Conqueror used a silhouette of a warship in white bunting. Crossed torpedoes were used instead of crossbones under the skull. The dagger for a special operation was not strictly correct as the landing of Special Forces was done into Grytviken after the fall of South Georgia rather than as part of its recapture. 256. Interview with Admiral Sir Peter Herbert, 15 October 2013. 257. HMS Valiant, Report of Proceedings, 26 July 1982. 258. Le Marchand, ‘Jettisoned Bombs’. 259. HMS Valiant, Report of Proceedings, 26 July 1982. 260. Southby-Tailyour, Exocet Falklands, p. 258.