Book read: Sink the "Belgrano" by Mike Rossiter

I picked up this book while Christmas shopping. I've read several other accounts of the 1982 conflict and this was a very controversial part of the war that has never really received much historical analysis.

The book does a reasonable job of describing the events of the time and their wider context. I imagine it was difficult to piece together the operational information which must have been sparse.

It does describe quite well the conflict between the task force command and Whitehall over the control of the submarines. In total three were sent to war, in some ways it was the only strong British advantage with surface ships long since over specialised in anti submarine warfare and with limited air power.

The sinking ensured that the Argentine fleet could not go into the open sea, and neutralised the danger of their aircraft carrier and escorts. In fact it was this ship that the British were trying to find, but never did during operations.

The description of how closely tailed the Belgrano was is interesting - I simply did not know that such close quarter trailing was possible without detection.

The book also describes the Argentine side, a ship full of conscript sailors and the loss and survival of those who were rescued.