The Falklands War
2/16/202657 min
The sinking of the General Belgrano on May 2nd 1982 by a British submarine was one of the most controversial events of the Falklands War. The strike resulted in the deaths of 323 Argentine sailors, nearly half of Argentina’s total casualties during the conflict. But though the escalation over the preceding months was swift, in some ways, the Falklands War had been simmering for centuries. Argentina, the closest mainland nation to the islands, saw them as a part of its territory and national identity, while Britain defended its historical claim, citing the wishes of the islanders. In April 1982, decades of te...
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John Hopkins· Host0:25
[waves crashing] It is the morning of May the second, nineteen eighty-two, deep in the South Atlantic Ocean. The General Belgrano, a heavy Argentine cruiser carrying more than a thousand men, is heading westward. The Belgrano first took to the sea during the Second World War under a different name, the USS Phoenix. Some sailors whisper that it's bad luck to change a ship's name. On board, Captain Hector Bonzo paces the command deck, keeping an eye on the ship's instruments. A career naval officer in his mid-fifties, he is balding with a neat mustache and the calm, deliberate manner of a man who has spent many months of his life at sea. His gaze shifts now to the growing restlessness of the water. The Belgrano cuts a steady line, sailing south of what Bonzo calls Las Islas Malvinas.