Task Force South

The fleet of ships that sailed from Britain at the start of the Falklands conflict was known as Task Force South. It comprised naval ships and requisitioned merchant ships such as the well-known QE2.

As part of efforts to reclaim the Falkland Islands, a fleet of naval ships and requisitioned merchant ships such as the QE2 liner, sailed from Britain in 1982. This fleet was known as Task Force South and included more than 100 ferries, destroyers, aircraft carriers and support vessels.

Following the arrival of Argentine fleets near Port Stanley on 2 April 1982, an invasion of the islands and of South Georgia was begun. In Britain, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher summoned military leaders to request that a task force been put in place immediately. First Sea Lord, Sir Henry Leach, was charged with overseeing this job and set to work, with the result being that, just three days after the invasion of the islands, two aircraft carriers sailed south from Portsmouth. These ships, HMS Invincible and HMS Hermes, were accompanied by Fearless, the assault vessel. They were charged with sailing ahead of the pack of naval ships being readied for conflict, in order to protect and enforce the 200-mile exclusion zone. The following day, 9 April 1982, another ship, a former liner called the Canberra, departed Southampton’s docks. Aboard was a number of military units including 3 Para, 40,42 and 45 Royal Marine Commando. Another unit, 2 Para, followed from Hull’s docks aboard the Norland at the end of April, while the former luxury liner, the QE2, sailed with Guards and Ghurkhas on board on 12 May.