The Falklands / Malwiny War Falklands War ) took place from the beginning of April to mid-June 1982. Its cause was the occupation by Argentina, then ruled by a military junta, of the British islands in the South Atlantic - the Falkland Islands. It is assumed that the intervention was carried out to improve the position of the junta in Argentina itself and to improve public mood. It was assumed that the entire operation would be short and successful, and Britain would accept the loss of distant territories. However, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher decided to respond by force to the Argentinean actions and sent significant British forces to the Falkland Islands, the backbone of which - at sea - were two aircraft carriers HMS Hermes and HMS Invincible. Despite the losses suffered by the Royal Navy as a result of the Argentinian air force (including the loss of the destroyer HMS Sheffield), it was able to de facto gain an advantage in the theater of operations and prevent the delivery of major reinforcements to the islands. This gave the British land units (primarily the Royal Marines) an advantage over the Argentinean troops and indirectly led to British victories - primarily Goose Green (late May 1982) and the capture of Port Stanley (first half of June 1982). The war ended in an Argentine defeat, and as a result the British side lost about 1,100 wounded, killed and captured, while the other side - about 13,000 wounded, killed and captured. It was also instrumental in overthrowing the military junta in Argentina and strengthening Margaret Thatcher's political position in the United Kingdom.
HMS Invincible (R05) was a British classic-propelled light aircraft carrier. The keel was laid in 1973, the launch took place in May 1977, and entry into service with the Royal Navy took place in 1980. The total length of the ship was 210 meters, the overall width was 36 meters, and her full displacement was about 20,500 tons. The maximum speed was 28-29 knots. The deck armament at the time of the launch consisted of a single Sea Dart missile launcher. After the 1982 Falklands War, the ship received three 30mm Goalkeeper CIWS kits. The aircraft carrier could take on board up to 22 aircraft, including Westland Sea Kaing helicopters and BAE Harrier planes.
HMS Invincible was the lead unit of the class of three carriers of the same name. Invincible class ships were designed to complement the CVA-01 aircraft carrier and were dedicated to anti-submarine warfare (ZOP). However, in 1966, the CVA-01 project was completely canceled, which also influenced the final enlargement of the Invincible class ships. It was also assumed that the new units would be able to operate Harrier-type aircraft. The first in the series was HMS Invincible (R05), which was built at the Vickers shipyard in Barrow-in Furness, Great Britain. Almost immediately after entering service, the unit took part in the Falklands war, where, together with the aircraft carrier HMS Eagle, it was the basic component of the Royal Navy. This war revealed some of the ship's design errors - especially the lack of direct defense, which were eliminated during the modernization in 1986-1989. At that time, the unit also received the so-called a ski-jump ramp that allowed Harriers to take off with a higher load capacity. In the years 1993-1999, the aircraft carrier operated, among others, in the Mediterranean Sea and provided support for international activities over the countries of the former Yugoslavia. By 2003, another modernization of the ship was completed, including increasing the space for airplanes. As a result, the full displacement of the ship increased to 22,000 tons. However, as early as 2005, HMS Invincible (R05) was decommissioned.