SAS Raid - Argentina 1982

In 1982, the the Falklands conflict, Britain had to stop Argentina's Exocet missile armed Super Etendard squadron and hatched a daring plan to eliminate them at their base in Argentina. Codenamed Operation Mikado, the first stage, insertion of an SAS observation post, was mounted, Operation Plum Duff. Find out what happened...
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[@markashcroft465]

Having served in the Falkands, the weather was atrocious.

[@paulfrantizek102]

Regardless of what you think of the politics, those Argie pilots had some serious stones, making those wavetop attacks in those Scooters. Some real ace stick-and-rudder work.

[@yashtee-v5084]

This channel is better than history channel thanks mark felton!! Thanks for 400 likes hahaha History channel is crap now aliens mysteries etc no lore history in it.

[@u.h.forum.]

Rip the good old days

[@robertfrench2807]

Bring back the military channel! I could watch that all day, even the repeats

[@aestradarespeto]

Mr Felton does a historygraphycal work that simply History Channel do not consider take a worth. Good job, Sir.

[@dusty4459]

Watching my kettle boil is better than watching the history channel!

[@erlandnettum6680]

History channel today is nothing but pseudo science. Total garbage.

[@ThePilot4ever]

With your info-diggings skills you could probably find Atlantis in two weeks

[@villiestephanov984]

Peace of cake. No doubt.

[@ronaldmcdonald3965]

clever

[@annoyed707]

He already has. If you want to know where, it'll cost ya...

[@rat_king-]

Dude its already been done mysteriousuniverse.org/2018/09/researcher-says-the-mysterious-eye-of-the-sahara-could-be-the-ruins-of-atlantis/

[@Jones7854]

France suspended deliveries when Argentina invaded the Falklands. Now imagine if Argentina had invaded the Falklands AFTER taking full delivery of the Super Etandards and the Exocet missiles!

[@kanagaway]

Coming home from work and excited to finally watch another excellent episode of Mark Felton's history documentaries!

[@richardk5246]

The tension in these videos is amazing, even though I knew Argentina had never sunk an aircraft carrier I was still on the edge of my seat. Thank you, great channel.

[@snook1249]

I was a RAF technician supporting the aircraft that joined the fleet, the aircraft that bombed the runway and various 'other aircraft' during the Falklands conflict. I've never seen the footage you are showing. Thank you.

[@MarkFeltonProductions]

A pleasure

[@tonkerdog1]

My mums first boyfriend flew the remaining Chinook off the Atlantic Conveyor. Ironically he survived the war but died in the Falklands on exercise some years later, because of water contamination!

[@lennarthumpf8031]

Once a respected foe now a respected ally Greetings and respect from Germany to our British friends

[@maxmullen6337]

Lennart Humpf. And thank you for all the help and support you Germans give to the British who simply want to be free of the EU. I don’t think. And thank you for refusing to do your share of protecting Europe from the Soviets, leaving it mostly to the Americans in NATO (with a little help from the British) while you make yourselves rich on a low value Euro while crippling weaker countries like Greece. A thousand years of history can’t be wrong. Continental Europe is more likely an enemy than a friend.

[@oveidasinclair982]

That would have been one hell of a SAS assault on that Arge air field, most definitely would have went down into the history books.

[@Lisandro-ym1sc]

Only if succeded, otherwise will be «classified» too...

[@MrPhantom453]

White flags would have been popping up all over Argentina :-)

[@MattGhii]

@@MrPhantom453 Why? The last time the British invaded Argentina with superior armament and troops (1806-1807) they where the ones to surrender lol, Argentinian people could be very dangerous tbh, they might not have the best weapons, but you should never underestimate an enemy

[@Rudizel]

It would have had a high chance of failure, they were right to push against it.

[@Lisandro-ym1sc]

@@MrPhantom453 Argentina is not México, you need to learn more about Geography...

[@kevken3293]

Jabber 1974, You do a disservice to the French, they kept stalling on delivery of previously ordered Exocets until the war was over. The Exocets used were old stock delivered when Argentina was still a British ally. Britain and Argentina were close friends until this incident.

[@pendarricrolynd7444]

Thanks Mr Felton, keep up the good work.

[@danielmartin7756]

Many thanks Marc, as every post, highly interesting. This one in particular as I lived in AR at the time.

[@Kayaz48]

I felt so guilty after watching your videos so often, I just sent a small payment via PayPal. You are one of the best video producers on KZbin, and whether you know it or not are making a MAJOR contribution to history with this. Deep respect.

[@slick4401]

I know the Rio Grande base area well and let me tell you: It would have been extremely difficult for unsupported raiders to make it out of the landing strip. They might have caused some considerable damage because they were the SAS and who dares wins and all that, but on the whole they would have come out of the affair with quite a collection of holes each. For one thing, the landing strip itself was watched as much as the outlaying zone. A hostile landing inside the base had been considered a possibility, for obvious reasons, and there were literally dozens of bunkers and mutually supporting positions that looked both in and out. The Rio Grande base wasn't an improvised landing strip in the Libyan desert watched over by poorly led, poorly armed Italians. The area had been in fact a war zone during the entire seventies because of the leftist insurgency that had ravaged the country back then and constantly tried to assault military bases to steal weapons, kill soldiers and for propaganda purposes. So the place was not stranger to war. The perimeter of the base, which held critically sensitive materiel, was therefore quite beefed up, heavily mined and watched over by four battalions of Marines, perhaps the toughest soldiers we have outside the "Buzos Tácticos". Some of their commanders had in fact undergone training in the UK with the SBS and knew what to expect from the daring British. Also, unlike our starved, half-frozen conscripts in the islands, the Marines manning the defenses were well fed, well equipped and had decent bunkers and material support. The SAS brass was perfectly right when they called it a suicide mission. It would have been one more tragedy in an already tragic and unnecessary conflict.

[@Keplerb-od1lr]

That footage at 1:50 of the Argentine jets flying low against the British ships is the hilight

[@markpointer2967]

Yet again, Dr Felton, a superb production. Interesting, concise, to the point.... if only more history documentaries were made in this style, I think they would receive far more viewers. I recently saw a documentary about Operation Thunderbolt (the Israeli Special Forces operation in Ntebbe, Uganda, in 1976, mentioned in this film). It was 1.5 hours long. So, it must be amazing, right?? Wrong. It was SO full of repetition, padding, re-summarizing the story so far, and so on (this was excluding the endless commercials), that it made me realise just how good the Felton Production films are. It left me longing for a concentrated, 10 - 15 minute version. Awesome job Sir!!!

[@Not-TheOne]

Damn, interesting, never knew of this. Love the little facts behind larger stories. Also, firmly agree, awesome channel! You are great!

[@kidslovef1155]

Why do all history KZbinrs have such good voices?

[@SClerckx]

Because the ones that don't don't get popular

[@gunner678]

@@troo_story extremely well put!

[@DirtyHairy1]

Curiously, Drachnifiel has used TTS in the beginning and was able to build a reputation nevertheless but revealing his voice didn't hurt

[@youtoob4life]

They don't. I watched one a couple weeks ago, forgot who exactly, but he had a dull and boring voice. I'll try to find him

[@iamejify]

Kidslovef1 he sounds normal

[@germanpuricelli8958]

Nice video, thanks. I have read in the Argentine mass media articles that the "Seaking" helicopter was first detected (heard) by an Argentine oil extraction tower ignored by the SAS. The employees of this tower had reported the contact to the military authorities of Tierra del Fuego who alerted the coast guards about the incursion. There is another report of an Argentine patrol vessel detecting a small boat approaching the Argentine coast very close to Rio Grande. Apparently, the ship opened fire "blindly" following the radar "mark" at what, the boat (presumably British), noticing that it had been discovered, salied away. The Argentine Navy knew that the Super Etendards were important military targets and, every day, they took the airplanes out of the base and hid them among the houses of the city. Obviously, every day the place where each plane was hidden was changed. The "sensitive" sites of Tierra del Fuego (Argentine side of the island) and the border with Chile was guarded by, whatever was considered, the best troops of the Argentine Navy. The fear of a direct intervention of Chilean troops on the Argentine side of the Island of Tierra del Fuego caused that, neglecting the participation of these troops in the conflict, (there were many command groups of the Argentine Navy), any military attack on the Argentine side of the Island was very difficult. I have a couple of Argentine books about "mikado operation" seen with "Argentine eyes" but, saddly, I haven't had the time to read them yet. I promise to do that soon !!!

[@phbrinsden]

Brilliant as always Mark. Less known incidents and always meticulously researched and presented. Thank you.

[@jasonrodgers9063]

I am REALLY enjoying your recent Falklands videos! Thanks!

[@bassoskat]

These videos are so addictive, always learn something new from them, thank you Dr Mark

[@ericliu2753]

Keep up the great work Mark. I always look forward to learning something new about our past when you upload.

[@_Matsimus_]

Amazing work as usual!! 👍👍

[@bigblue6917]

Interestingly the destruction of HMS Sheffield was down to fires started by the missiles engine rather then the warhead which did not explode. In fact if it was not for the fact that the sea water fire main was knocked out the ship could well have been saved. In the case of the Atlantic Conveyor there is no conclusive evidence that the warhead exploded and again it is possible the missiles engine caused a fire in the fuel and ammunition aboard the Atlantic Conveyor which burnt the ship out. So it is possible that even if the carriers had been hit, and assuming the fire control worked well, the may not have been knocked out. Argentina did try to obtain more missiles but the British Secret Service did set up a number of fake arms dealers to diverted Argentina from pursuing sources which could genuinely supply a few missiles. France, to its credit, stopped a supply of missiles going to Peru which they thought could have been diverted to Argentina. Though how much that was influenced by the fact that British intelligence knew what was going on would be interesting to know.

[@OGPatriot03]

One might think the French sold purposely defective missiles, but to their credit they incapacitated both ships, I see no reason why the same wouldn't happen to one of their tiny carriers.

[@jwenting]

Argentina also tried to obtain Harpoon missiles from several sources but US pressure prevented that from happening as well. Initially it was however far from certain the USA would even support the UK, there was talk in Washington of remaining neutral or even siding with Argentina as the strategic importance of retaining Argentina as an ally in South America was deemed very important, more important than the expected damage to UK/US relations by some highly influential figures in the US State Department and congress. It was mostly the friendship between President Reagan and Mrs. Thatcher that meant the US stood firm with the UK.

[@wadeoct61962]

Mr Felton sir I just wanted to say thank you for your bringing all these interesting and overlooked stories to light. I emensly enjoy them and look very much forward to the next. I am a very proud ex member of the Canadian Armed Forces and as such I appreciate the significance of the stories. Ther are many Canadian stories as well I,m told we played a very important part in both wars. Thank you again sir . Cheers Wade

[@krennicsaspirations4883]

I love the coverage of lesser known events in history. I feel The Battle of Castle Itter would make a great video, it's an incredible story that doesn't get enough recognition.

[@vincewindeuycker3219]

I love the mix of eras of history you portray on your channel ......loved to see this one..... Had only seen previously this described in one or two sentences.....nice to finally get the WHOLE story...... keep up the OUTSTANDING work!!!!!💂💂💂 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

[@househive707]

Considering the seeming crackdown on military history on KZbin I'm very pleased this was on top of my feed when I got home from work. Keep up the good work, Mark. Cheers to you for these videos!

[@AirsoftReviewArgentina]

Very good description on Operation Mikado. The Falklands/Malvinas War is such a short conflict that if any small incident was changed it could define a different aftermath. Respect from Argentina

[@stirpsromanica]

@@nosnowflakezone3608 Malvinas is just the name they have in spanish. And you won them in the war, that's right.

[@painmagnet1]

These episodes leave me on the edge of my seat! More, please!

[@howkamchiong6647]

I’ve been watching your high quality videos since February,keep up the good work!

[@infinitysearcher8858]

Cracking story. I remember the events but had no idea on the details. Thank you very much.

[@davidrobertsemail]

I keep thinking I know a lot of military history until you post a video. Such fun. Thank you Mark.

[@decimated550]

Thanks for doing a video on this I’ve only read old websites and summaries. Never a multimedia presentation. Completely fascinating

[@firefightergoggie]

Well credit where credit is due. The Argentine pilots showed some real guts. Can't deny that.

[@henryatkinson1479]

Best history channel on the platform, and yet another great video.

[@hrvojegrgic5111]

Another amazing video and piece of history. Thank you.

[@johnbeckman492]

The result of losing the Atlantic Conveyor was that troops landing in the Falklands had no overland helicopter transport and thus had to walk multiple days and fight their way to their target town.

[@jeffwalters8552]

I always wondered why they were marching all over, that would explain it!

[@ianrobson9601]

First time I've ever heard about this and I live in Hereford !! Great video Mark.

[@Blyskawica1]

Fascinating and smoothly produced video as ever, only the raid itself an anticlimax!

[@user-us2dt6ox1z]

Love the content, format, and your channel, truly appreciate what you do, thanks

[@VoidHalo]

I love it! So glad to see more on the Falklands from you.

[@CarricksGaming]

Loving the Falklands videos, keep up the good work!

[@ArenBerberian]

C4rr1ck I love Falklands war history, it’s super interesting but also super underrated

[@videodistro]

As a low brass/trombone player, I approve of the theme music you use. Love that bass bone on the right channel!

[@juanelorriaga2840]

I have always had a lot of interest in the Falkland War and you really go into amazing detail keep up the beautiful work.

[@Word187]

Like always an amazing video. I wish you were my history teacher back in the day

[@jeronimocanton9557]

Good video! The last Exocet misil was lunch in a combine attack with 4 Skyhawks that Argentina claim damages a carrier and England claim that hit the floating shell of the Atlantic Conveior.

[@travisgamble8765]

I did not know of this not-so-little mission! Thanks Maek!

[@m4ckm4n59]

Mark. I think this dude deserves one of you quality vids!! - Lachhiman Gurung

[@ianturner7537]

Well done mark another great video about the falklands war i would love to see one about the battle of port stanley and the argentinian invasion

[@richardyoung4616]

There are several really good books that go into more detail. The Argentine suffered terribly, most were drafted and lived in tropic climate. They didn't give them enough clothing for the cold climate or food. Some of the locals had to feed them or they would have died.

[@stirpsromanica]

@@richardyoung4616 Not tropical, an important number of conscripts from Chaco and Corrientes provinces were sent, not tropical but subtropical. Pretty dumb to not send the armies from Buenos Aires, Mendoza and Patagonia, but we had to keep them by the chilean frontier in case those coward chileans try something.

[@USER351]

My understanding from the Argentinian pilot’s testimony is that his target radar could not differentiate between the carrier and the transport ship as they were both large targets. He had detected both, and he just had to pick one.

[@Brimmlinn]

This channel is simply amazing. The only thing I can find wrong is that the videos need to be at least double the length. 5-10 minutes is never enough, :) Keep up the great work!

[@r2gelfand]

Smashing video Mr. Felton!

[@Shane-Singleton]

Nice little history blurb. I actually have a model of an Argentine Super Etendard sitting on my desk that I built a few years back. It's aircraft 03.

[@Willstangv6]

Keep up the Falklands War vídeos if you can, very interesting and no one else seems to cover specific stories about it like you do. Most docs or info out there are about the war as a whole that everyone has heard of.

[@MichaelGerrard]

You've done it again, another story I'd not heard before!

[@duanequam7709]

You are the new history channel. Great video and story.

[@pauliemc2010]

Lindybeige and mark both doing falklands war videos. Absolute winner !

[@robinderoos1166]

As lindy pointed out, it was a conflict as neither side actually declared war...

[@Wallyworld30]

@@robinderoos1166 Vietnam was also "just" a conflict.

[@terrybeckwith6913]

Awesome video, refreshing for something more current to be explored. 👍

[@JonBowe]

Always good to see that History is not all being lost to Hollywood remakes, and historical facts are being kept intact. Thanks

[@stevenbuckley1416]

Thank you so much a very good narrating and always Crystal clear ones a again thank you

[@davidsanders1991]

Very good video. Very informative and fascinating. Keep them coming.

[@the5thmusketeer215]

I recall being told at the time, that Argentina’s shocking success with their small stock of Exocet missiles, was viewed with such alarm and dismay by our Government, that immediate steps were taken to purchase all of France’s remaining stock of Exocet missiles, in order to prevent Argentina from getting their hands on any more!

[@gwentchamp8720]

Any day that Mark uploads is good day !!

[@blakelambe4921]

Very interesting video again Mark. We would all love to learn more about the Falklands war. I don't know alot about it

[@lightspeed72]

Your narration really fits right into the documentaries. Thanks for not using robo voice!

[@MillWheelDad]

Interesting video. Yes some fairly crazy things were considered during the Falklands conflict. Credit should also go to the Argentinian technical team that repurposed the MM38 ship launched exocet onto a truck, added a radar and successfully hit HMS Glamorgan on Jun 12 killing 14 crew. They had something like 30 missiles available from the navy. A week earlier and this small team of geeks might have changed the outcome of the conflict. Frustratingly I can find very little detail, but as they say victory is written by the victor.

[@brucebello9892]

Great story told well, thank you Mark!

You forgot two more missions. The air attack of 05/30/1982. On that mission, the Argentines claim to have hit the invincible or something. And the attack on 06/12/1982 with an exocet MM.38 (from the ground) that hit the Glamorgan.

[@danialkemp1]

I really enjoy the videos on the Falkland Islands war. I am learning a lot.

[@MrBao-yt7bk]

Long time subscriber, love your videos mark! ~cheers from Argentina

[@Military-Museum-LP]

5 star Mark! Loved it.

[@amesbancal]

Encore une excellente vidéo ! Merci

[@drpancakes7897]

Thank you Mark very cool!

[@iamasmurf1122]

The Skyhawk was one of the most agile aircraft ever made , light and could carry a huge payload and manouverability was outstanding and was one of the only aircraft of its size capable of carrying nuclear bombs

[@LadyOnTheGrey]

Thank you for another interesting story!

[@jcb8014]

Another brilliant episode

[@hshs5756]

Thanks for bringing us this coverage of the short, far away Argentine War. It was fascinating to read the news coverage at the time (made more interesting in that I was dating an Argentine woman then) and I've read an excellent book on the war, but I never heard of this attempted raid until now.

[@philshepherd4301]

Excellent video, well done sir!

[@brendanquinlan5936]

Excellent video, thanks 👍

[@janetyeoman1544]

The Atlantic Conveyor name was put on a new ship. I used it to send a wooden classic boat to Liverpool from Baltimore. The name on the shipping documents surprised me.

[@misterjag]

The U.S. secretly offered to loan Britain an amphibious assault carrier in the event that one of her carriers was sunk.

[@mh53j]

misterjag have never heard that. Know US did offer repair facilities in Mississippi to repair Sheffield- of course, that was before true extent of damage was known.

[@TheSunderingSea]

Mark, would you consider doing a video on Ethiopian/African forces in the Korean War?

[@Guhonter]

Oh yes pls, I love these niche stories overlooked in sake of the broader picture.

[@FelixIsMyName]

I never knew they were involved, so I second learning about this please Mark!

[@CLK944]

Holy moly I didn't know they even existed

[@TheSunderingSea]

To those in the comments, Ethiopian Emperor Halae salassie sent three Battalions to Korea as part of the UN forces in Korea, where they served with distinction. Salassie played an important role in the founding of the UN, given how the League of Nations failed to stop the Italian conquest of his country in 1936. Other troops from Africa included troops from South Africa and British Nigeria.

[@philmcdonald4778]

Or the Russian service men who died to put the nutcase regime in power

[@saiga12commander]

More More More...lovin the 80s conflicts...

[@sigeberhtmercia767]

What I read on the sinking of the Sheffield was the use of aluminium in the ship's construction caused some horrific incidents.

[@meow1990_2]

I am currently writing my bachelor's thesis about the Falklands War :) Nice video.

[@Mac-pi4cy]

Also I really enjoy your channels content informative and entertaining.

[@bboxx069]

When you hear that intro music, you know it's going to be good.

[@wtfbuddy1]

Outstanding video - keep military history alive

[@youmaus]

Mark please do one on the decoy mission that fended off the two exocets. Apparently they used sea kings like matador's capes pulling up above the maximum altitude of the exocets as the missles passed beneath them. I was aquainted with the proud father of one of the sea king pilots. The father was former SAS.

[@zxbzxbzxb1]

I've not heard that, was that the attack on HMS Ambuscade? I watched a documentary about Falklands war exocets. Argentina had 5 air launched one's, 2 destroyed Sheffield. 2 more were fired at HMS Ambuscade which deployed chaff causing the missiles to re-target and destroy Atlantic Conveyor. The 5th missile was shot down by AAA by HMS Glamorgan. The Argentines did have several land firing versions, one was adapted and fired at HMS Glamorgan causing its helicopter to explode killing 13. No others was used.

[@youmaus]

I heard this from my karate coach who was former SAS and had a son serving as a seaking pilot. What he told me was that they were instructed to fly at a certain distance from the ships at about the height of the ship's superstructure at a point that would give a couple of minutes of angle deflection from an incoming missle.As the exocet approached they were to climb. Apparently the exocet is designed to fly close to the water and does not climb very high or change course abruptly. The heleicopter that got hit may have been attempting this deflection.

[@rexcentx2254]

Epic mark

[@JorgeUribe]

Great video! Regards from Punta Arenas.

[@russwoodward8251]

A hair raising turn of events. I am enjoying these Faulkland videos tremendously. Thanks.

[@archstanton6102]

Dr Mark any chance of some Ghurhka history videos? Just visited the Ghurkha Welfare Trust nursing home in Pokhara which was very humbling.

[@jeffwalters8552]

@@rbeck3200tb40 Ghurkas come from Nepal. They are legendary warriors that have fought for the brits for many years. Amazingly tough.

[@tc1817]

really? You saw the word spelled dozens of times I'm sure, and you still can't spell "Gurkha." Good job, dumbass.

[@markdavis2475]

I have an old copy of Flight Magazine, on the News pages among other things, it has two stories, one about Super Etendards getting Exocet capability, the other about the newest ship to join the Navy, HMS Sheffield, it's dated 1978 (I think!), always saw the irony, so I've kept the copy for years.

[@tomascornejo7701]

I would like to say that there was an another mission, against the HMS invincible with the last exocet missile, and a couple of A4-B bombing the carrier. But there are serious doubts about the result of the mission, with diferent versions from both sides. Apart from that, great video.

[@michaelswann8046]

Loving the Falklands videos Mark