The naval warfare of the last few decades appears dominated by
operations of fast missile craft and a wide diversity of other minor
vessels in so-called 'littoral warfare'. On the contrary, skills and
knowledge about antisubmarine warfare on the high seas - a discipline
that dominated much of the World War II, and once used to be the reason
for existence of large fleets of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
(NATO) and of the Warsaw Pact - appear nearly extinct. Indeed, it seems
that no armed conflicts involving this form of naval warfare have been
fought for a significant time.
As so often, the reality is entirely different. Submarine and
antisubmarine warfare remain one of most sophisticated forms of armed
conflicts to this day. Unsurprisingly, considering the amount of
high-technology equipment necessary for their conduct, they are shrouded
behind a thick veil of secrecy.
This is why the operations of the sole Argentinean aircraft carrier -
ARA 25 de Mayo - during the much-publicized war in the South Atlantic of
1982 remain largely unknown until this very day. It is well-known that
the United Kingdom deployed the largest task force its Royal Navy had
assembled since the Korean War over 12,000 kilometers away from home. It
is well-known that the operations of this task force proved decisive for
the outcome of the war: it not only brought the air power that
established itself in control of the air space over the battlefield, but
also hauled all the troops and supplies necessary to recover the islands
that were the core of the dispute. However, the impression created very
early during this conflict - and largely maintained until today - is
that ARA 25 de Mayo and other elements of the accompanying Task Force 79
of the Argentinean Navy were forced into a hurried withdrawal by the
sheer presence of multiple nuclear attack submarines of the Royal
Navy.
Based on years of research, including extensive investigation into naval
operations of both sides of the conflict, A Carrier at Risk is a
vibrant and lucid account of a week-long cat-and-mouse game between
antisubmarine warfare specialists on board ARA 25 de Mayo, and multiple
nuclear attack submarines of the Royal Navy: an entirely unknown, yet
crucial aspect of the South Atlantic War.
Illustrated by over 100 photographs, maps, and color profiles, this
volume closes one of the major gaps - though also a crucially important
affair - in the coverage of this conflict.
