11th MCM Squadron
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The 11th Mine Countermeasures Squadron was a unit of the British
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
during the
Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...
of 1982.


Unit history


Background

On 2 April 1982,
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
invaded the
Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouzet ...
. Intelligence from a
submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...
reported the laying of a defensive
minefield A land mine is an explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. Such a device is typically detonated automati ...
off the approaches to
Port Stanley Stanley (; also known as Port Stanley) is the capital city of the Falkland Islands. It is located on the island of East Falkland, on a north-facing slope in one of the wettest parts of the islands. At the 2016 census, the city had a populat ...
(the capital of the islands).
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
had supplied Argentina with modern
influence mine A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any ve ...
s, both combination magnetic and pressure activated, and had recently actually serviced them for the Argentinian Navy. The Royal Navy's
mine warfare Mine warfare refers to the use of different types of explosive devices: *Land mine, a weight-triggered explosive device intended to maim or kill people or to disable or destroy vehicles *Minelaying, deployment of explosive mines at sea **Naval mine ...
capacity was purely coastal with s with a range of around , totally unsuitable for either the distance or the conditions. A plan existed from the
Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
years for the sweeping of Soviet minefields in the
English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
and
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
, in the event of needing to reinforce
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
in time of war with
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
. It revolved around a number of deep sea trawlers (approx ) being earmarked and kept in "readiness" for conversion. Five ships were called to
Rosyth Rosyth ( gd, Ros Fhìobh, "headland of Fife") is a town on the Firth of Forth, south of the centre of Dunfermline. According to the census of 2011, the town has a population of 13,440. The new town was founded as a Garden city-style suburb ...
dockyard where in three days they were stripped of their fishing equipment, their holds were emptied of frozen fish, and Extremely Deep Armed Team Sweep (EDATS) equipment was fitted. They were hastily commissioned, and crews, mainly from the Rosyth-based 1st MCM Squadron were assembled, bolstered by technical specialists from elsewhere. The group was designated the 11th MCM Squadron under the command of Lieutenant-Commander Martyn Holloway, the
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
of . The plan was based on the assumption that the Argentinians would have surrendered by the time they got there, and the sweepers would simply clear the minefields. They were unarmed except for two
light machine gun A light machine gun (LMG) is a light-weight machine gun designed to be operated by a single infantryman, with or without an assistant, as an infantry support weapon. LMGs firing cartridges of the same caliber as the other riflemen of the sam ...
s on the bridge wings, with a single engine, single screw configuration, only two or three watertight compartments, and were inherently difficult to handle.


Training and preparation

After a two-day work-up, basic drills on operating unfamiliar equipment were carried out with instruction from the merchant service crews, who then disembarked. Four of the ships sailed on 25 April and followed the next day, to catch them up ''en route''. Drills were practised with the mainly unfamiliar EDATS in the waters off
North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
. As the weather warmed, the daily task of locating discarded fish around the ships became more important, the stench often leading to fish that had slid under equipment before decaying. On 11 May, the squadron anchored off
Ascension Island Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island, 7°56′ south of the Equator in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is about from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America. It is governed as part of the British Overseas Territory o ...
, and refuelled, although the ships had the capacity to travel the to the operational area and return to the UK on one tank. The ships were then ordered to sail for
South Georgia South Georgia ( es, Isla San Pedro) is an island in the South Atlantic Ocean that is part of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It lies around east of the Falkland Islands. Stretching in the east†...
on the 13th, arriving on 25 May. They were used there as utility vessels, transporting stores and men, particularly
Gurkhas The Gurkhas or Gorkhas (), with endonym Gorkhali ), are soldiers native to the Indian Subcontinent, chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of Northeast India. The Gurkha units are composed of Nepalis and Indian Gorkhas and are recru ...
, Scots and
Welsh Guards The Welsh Guards (WG; cy, Gwarchodlu Cymreig), part of the Guards Division, is one of the Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. It was founded in 1915 as a single-battalion regiment, during the First World War, by Royal Warrant of George V ...
between the ships they had made the journey down on, to the generally smaller craft which would take them to the landing, often in appalling conditions of force 10
katabatic A katabasis or catabasis ( grc, κατάβασις, from "down" and "go") is a journey to the underworld. Its original sense is usually associated with Greek mythology and Classical mythology more broadly, where the protagonist visits the Gre ...
winds and driving snow. They were then ordered on 5 June to sail to the edge of the
Total Exclusion Zone The Total Exclusion Zone (TEZ) was an area declared by the United Kingdom on 30 April 1982 covering a circle of radius from the centre of the Falkland Islands. During the Falklands War any ''sea vessel'' or ''aircraft'' from ''any country'' enter ...
(TEZ) which was in theory outside the range of land-based aircraft. After the landings, the squadron sailed into and anchored in "bomb alley" in
San Carlos Water San Carlos Water is a bay/fjord on the west coast of East Falkland, facing onto the Falkland Sound. Name Despite its Spanish-sounding name, there is a wide discrepancy with the Spanish usage, for in Spanish "Estrecho de San Carlos" refers to ...
on 9 June.


The war zone

The Argentines had not surrendered, so these ships were then used at night to transport Special Forces, such as SAS and Royal Marines, mainly into
West Falkland West Falkland ( es, Isla Gran Malvina) is the second largest of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic. It is a hilly island, separated from East Falkland by the Falkland Sound. Its area is , 37% of the total area of the islands. Its coastli ...
, where they were inserted covertly by Gemini
RHIB A rigid inflatable boat (RIB), also rigid-hull inflatable boat or rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB), is a lightweight but high-performance and high-capacity boat constructed with a rigid hull bottom joined to side-forming air tubes that are i ...
. They had to be back inside the
Rapier A rapier () or is a type of sword with a slender and sharply-pointed two-edged blade that was popular in Western Europe, both for civilian use (dueling and self-defense) and as a military side arm, throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. Impor ...
(air defence missile system) protection of San Carlos or
Teal Inlet Teal Inlet (), once named Evelyn Station, is a settlement on East Falkland, in the Falkland Islands, on the south shore of Salvador Water. It is overshadowed by Jack's Mountain. The settlement played a minor part in the Falklands War, when Br ...
by dawn as they were defenceless to air attack in the open sea. This was a hazardous undertaking, operating in confined and shallow waters with photocopies of hand drawn charts from the 1920s in many cases. On one occasion, HMS ''Pict'' was dropping troops at Saunders Island with an onshore force 7 and struck a reef just as the Geminis were slipped down the rear trawlnet chute. Luckily the ship came off with no more than a large dent in the bottom. On the night of 11 June, HMS ''Pict'' was ordered to sweep the entry to
Berkeley Sound Berkeley Sound is an inlet, or fjord in the north east of East Falkland in the Falkland Islands. The inlet was the site of the first attempts at colonisation of the islands, at Port Louis, by the French. Berkeley Sound has several smaller bays ...
and mark a cleared channel for a frigate to enter and shell with
fire support Fire support is defined by the United States Department of Defense as "Fires that directly support land, maritime, amphibious, and special operations forces to engage enemy forces, combat formations, and facilities in pursuit of tactical and oper ...
(NGFS), the Argentinian mountain positions guarding Port Stanley for the final infantry assault. The five ships were utilised as general workhorses, often in circumstances where their potential loss was viewed as a good alternative to a major fleet unit. The Argentinian forces in the Falklands surrendered on 14 June, and the ships were ordered to proceed as soon as possible to Port Stanley and clear the immediate approach to the harbour. After entering port, there followed several days of uncertainty as to whether or not the forces on the Argentine mainland would carry on the fight. Minesweeping, especially in EDATS, leaves a minesweeper extremely vulnerable to air attack. Whilst in harbour, the MCD specialists in the squadron had set up a Trisponder network, which allows navigational accuracy to in the Port Stanley approaches. Two Argentinian officers presented a chart showing the locations that 21 mines were laid, in two fields with a defined channel between them. The more sophisticated influence mines had apparently been utilised in a defensive pattern off
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
, in case of a British attack on the mainland, and very simple contact moored mines were laid in the Falklands. It was eventually judged safe on 22 June to commence the clearance operations. Initially using the safer but less sure Oropesa system, the squadron swept 11 of the mines. Bad weather—up to force 12 on occasions—seemed to have moved the rest out of position. The very accurate EDATS system was then used to ensure full clearance. The operation was completed on 5 July. On the 13th, the squadron was released for a return to the UK via
Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...
, a total distance of , arriving in mid-August, when the individual ships were returned to their owners.


References

{{Reflist Minesweepers of the Royal Navy Mine Counter-Measures squadrons of the Royal Navy