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In the case of the Belgrano, it was sailing towards the on-coming British Task Force. Armed with surface-to-air Seacat missiles and 6-inch and 5-inch naval guns, the 13,645-ton cruiser had more firepower than any ship on the British fleet. It was the second largest ship in the Argentine navy after the country's only aircraft carrier, the Venticinco de Mayo. It's massive punch, however, turned out to be of no use.
As it steamed in the company of two escort ships, the Belgrano was being shadowed by a British nuclear-powered attack submarine, the HMS Conqueror. Its captain and crew were unaware that they were being watched.
When in the opinion of the Conqueror's skipper the Belgrano appeared to threaten the British fleet, he flashed the information to his Fleet Commander who in turn passed it on to London to the chief of the British defence staff. The defence chief passed it on to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's War Cabinet with the recommendation that the Conqueror's captain act to protect the British fleet.
The Cabinet went with the recommendation and Commander Richard Wraith, skipper of the Conqueror, got his orders to stop the Belgrano. Two Tigerfish wire-guided torpedoes headed in the Belgrano's course. Both scored. Forty minutes later, the venerable cruiser, with 1,042 men on board, went down, the largest warship to be sunk since l945. 800-odd crew members survived the attack.
