40 years after the sinking of the ARA "General Belgrano" (C-4), which cost the lives of 323 Argentine sailors, the Ministry of Defense took the initiative to honor its crew at the site of its shipwreck with some of the most seven hundred men who survived. The delegation of veterans, soldiers and officials headed by the Minister of Defense, Jorge Taiana , embarked on the icebreaker "Almirante Irizar" this Sunday after 3 p.m. in the Fuegian city of Ushuaia with the objective of reaching point 55 °24′S 61°32′W, about 160 kilometers south of the Island of the States, on Monday before 4 p.m., a time that would mark 40 years since the impact of the British torpedoes on the Argentine ship.
The attack on the cruiser allowed the British to have naval superiority in the area and generated controversy in both countries, as it occurred outside the exclusion area established by the English government around the Malvinas Islands. Around 8 p.m. on May 1 In 1982, while sailing near Isla de los Unidos, the "General Belgrano" had received orders to join a pincer maneuver that would attack the British from the south. The aircraft carrier "Veinticinco de Mayo" would lead the other arm of the operation. But this plan was canceled due to the conditions that prevented the planes embarked on the aircraft carrier from operating and the cruise ship began its return towards the continent.
The submarine HMS "Conqueror" began following the "General Belgrano" on the morning of May 1, and after receiving authorization from Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's government, it fired the two torpedoes that sank the Argentine cruiser at 4 p.m. on May 2. May 1982. The ship shook violently as a result of a powerful explosion, followed by the immediate cessation of power and lighting that paralyzed the 1,093 crew. This was the first of three MK-813 torpedoes launched by the Conqueror from a distance of about 5 kilometers. A few moments later the second torpedo produced a new explosion at the height of the ship's bow. At 16:02, while the gunners who were on duty were testing some mechanisms and Turret II searched for possible targets on the horizon, "General Belgrano" received the second.
This new impact caused the detachment of 12 meters from the bow of the ship, which immediately began to tilt to port and at around 4:05 p.m., the order to clear the accident was given. At 4:23 p.m., Commander Héctor Bonzo gave the order to abandon the ship; The swell that existed at that time made vision and communication between the rafts difficult, which is why some were overloaded with 30 people and others were underoccupied with no more than three sailors.
At 16:50 the list of 60° pre-announced the sinking, and in 10 minutes the cruise ship was engulfed by the waters at approximately the point 55°24'S 61°32'W of the Atlantic Ocean. Once the news of the sinking of the ship reached the continent, a rescue operation was organized that lasted until May 9, verifying the impossibility of there being any more survivors or bodies in the area. The ships picked up a total of 793 of the 1,093 crew members, of which There were 23 deaths on the rafts, and another 300 in the shipwreck itself.
