Wreck of HMS Coventry (D118) | military, shipwreck

 military, shipwreck

HMS Coventry was a Type 42 Destroyer in service with the Royal Navy during the Falklands War and had seen repeated action during the conflict and is credited with downing 4 Argentine A-4 Skyhawks and 1 Aérospatiale Puma helicopter as well as damaging a Argentine gunboat.

On May 25th, 1982 HMS Coventry & HMS Broadsword took positions well North of San Carlos Water in order to serve as a decoy to cover the British Marine landings taking place there. Here several waves of Argentine Air Force A-4 Skyhawks made repeated attacks on the 2 ships, with HMS Coventry shooting down 2 of her attackers with Sea Dart anti aircraft missiles. The last wave of A-4s split into 2 flights and closed on the British ships from the South, flying low enough to confuse their planes with ground clutter on Pebble Island and rendering them undetectible to the British air defense systems.

Unable to obtain a missile lock on the approaching aircraft Coventry launched a unguided missile at the A-4s and began firing her bow mounted 4.5-inch gun in hopes of forcing her attackers to break off and gain altitude where they could be tracked and fired on. Argentine pilot Alférez Leonardo Barrionuevo was able to weave through the AA fire and dropped 3-1000lb bombs into the Coventrys' port side. The bombs penetrated deep into the hull before exploding and blowing out a large section of her amidships hull in addition to starting large fires. 19 of her crew were killed instantly and another 30 were injured in the attack. The ship lost all power and immediately began to list to port as she took on massive amounts of water through the holes in her hull. The order to abandon ship was quickly passed and within 20 minutes of the bomb impact the Coventry was abandoned and rolled onto her port side, burning furiously. She remained stubbornly afloat until the morning of the 26th when she turtled and sank about 14 miles north of Pebble Island.

Her wreck is considered a war grave and is under the Protection of Military Remains Act.

Pics of her final battle:
www.hmsbroadsword.co.uk/gallery/falklands82/coventry/co...