Great Britain “mobilized 31 nuclear weapons on its ships during the conflict that he maintained with Argentina over the Falkland Islands “in 1982, according to a document from the English Ministry of Defense dated April 6 of that year published on the Declassified UK site, the Sputnik agency reported on Monday.
“British warships deployed in the South Atlantic after Argentina’s invasion of the Falkland Islands in 1982 They were armed with dozens of deep nuclear charges“says the document.
Those weapons were on the aircraft carriers HMS Hermes (18) and HMS Invincible (12) and on the auxiliary vessel Regent (one). Prince Andrew of England was on the Invincible as a helicopter pilot.
The Invincible aircraft carrier suffered an attack by Argentine aircraft at the height of the war and was hit by an Exocet missile, for which it was temporarily out of operation, although the United Kingdom tried to deny this episode.
“The content of the document titled ‘Top Secret Atomic‘states that the presence of nuclear weapons cIt caused panic among officials in London over the physical and political damage they might have caused.“, adds the information.
The text of the document indicates that there was “enormous concern” that some “deep nuclear bombs” could “be lost or damaged and the fact made public”, and even that they might fall into the hands of Argentine forces.
“The international repercussions of such an incident could be very damaging“, says the disseminated material.
The files known to Declassified UK say that the weapons were transferred from frigates and destroyers to the large aircraft carriers that participated in the war, HMS Hermes and HMS Invincible, where they could be better protected, and recalls that “in the second ship it served as helicopter pilot Prince Andrew “.
“According to the documents, the Hermes had 18 nuclear weapons on board and the Invincible, 12”, while “the auxiliary ship of the Royal Fleet, Regent, had one”.
“All ships were within Britain’s ‘total exclusion zone’ around the Falkland Islands“according to the documents, adds Sputnik.
It is also indicated that “the British” ministries of Defense and Foreign Relations “would have had a heated internal by the arms”. In this sense, “the diplomatic portfolio requested the return of the weapons, but the Navy refused such an ordinance”, and among the arguments for doing so “the role of the Cold War stands out.”
“In case of tension or hostilities between us (by the United Kingdom) and the Soviet Union concurrent with the Corporate Operation (the code name given to the liberation of the Falklands) the military capacity of our warships would be severely reduced” adds the report released this Monday.
The Sputnik agency added that “according to Declassified UK, the file indicates that there was no risk of an ‘atomic bomb explosion’, however there was a threat of ‘disposal of fissile material’ if any of the weapons were damaged, which could cause up to 50 ‘additional deaths’ from cancer. “
And “there was also the danger that the Argentines would become nuclear technology.”
