Falklands War - Britain Sinks the Belgrano
In this clip, from "20th Century Battlefields," we learn the background of Britain's decision to sink Argentina's ship, the General Belgrano.
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was advised that the Belgrano was approaching Britain's declared exclusion zone. Her military advisors were worried that the Belgrano contained anti-ship weapons - called exocet missiles - which could sink both of Britain's aircraft carriers. If that happened, Britain would be in a very precarious position.
Thatcher gave the order to sink the Belgrano. It was destroyed by torpedoes from a British submarine - HMS Conqueror - which was trailing the Argentinian vessel.
NOTE: Move the video forward - to 2:30 - to pick-up the story of the sinking.
Media Credits
Clip from "20th Century Battlefields," Episode 7 - "1982 Falklands" - originally aired on BBC 2 in 2007. Copyright, BBC, all rights reserved. Clip provided here as fair use for educational purposes.
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