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Although the loss of the Atlantic Conveyor ultimately did not change the result of the campaign and her primary mission of delivering the precious Harriers and Sea Harriers completed, her loss would be acutely felt.
A decision was made to attempt to bring her under tow using the tug, The Irishman, one of the STUFT vessels. Despite repeated efforts of the crew of The Irishman, she sank in the early hours of the 28th of May 1982.
Despite the valiant efforts of those involved, twelve men lost their lives. Three were lost on board and nine after entering the water. In total, one hundred and thirty-seven out of the one hundred and forty-nine on board were rescued.
HMS Alacrity came alongside to attempt boundary cooling, and RFA Sir Percival also stood off the port quarter to render assistance. Helicopters rescued twenty-two personnel from the forward deck. Damage control and firefighting continued, but the decision was made to abandon ship
19.40, ‘Emergency Stations’ was sounded by the Atlantic Conveyor’s ship alarm. Several warships, including HMS Alacrity, deployed chaff countermeasures, the missiles flew through and detected the Atlantic Conveyor. She was hit by two Exocet missiles at C Deck
On the night of the 21st of May 1982, the beachhead at San Carlos was established, with follow-on landings taking place soon after. By the 24th, commanders felt increasing optimism; the beachhead had been secured, stores were being built up
The journey to the Maritime Exclusion Zone (MEZ) took until the 19th of May and during that time, one Sea Harrier was kept on ‘Deck Alert 20’ in the ‘anti-shadower’ role to protect against Argentine Air Force 707 reconnaissance flights.
On the 5th, she arrived at Ascension, and apart from repacking, the Harriers joined and readied for the journey south. The ship left on the night of the 7th of May and the next day, the Harriers were covered with the same Dri-Clad bags that protected the helicopters.
With Harrier GR.3 modifications and training still ongoing, the ship set sail for Ascension Island on the 25th of April 1982. With modifications to Harriers completed on the 3rd of May, they set off to catch her up at Ascension Island
Five Chinook HC.1’s of No. 18 Squadron RAF were flown to the Atlantic Conveyor, rotor blades removed, and the airframes protected with Dri-Clad covers and corrosion inhibitors. Joining the Chinooks were also six Wessex HU.5 of 848 NAS and some Army Air Corps Scout helicopters.
The initial plan was for the Atlantic Conveyor to serve solely as an aircraft ferry. During later meetings, it was decided to utilise her cargo space for additional supplies. This included 600 cluster bombs, rocket motors, anti-tank missiles, grenades, and small arms ammunition
The image below shows Captain Ian North (left) and Royal Navy Captain Mike Layard (right) on the bridge during conversion.
The containers on the deck were used for storing fresh water and oxygen, accommodation for 100 personnel of all three services, and workspaces for maintenance. Conversion took 10 days
The Atlantic Conveyor wasn't meant to be an aircraft carrier conversion; it was mainly a transport vessel for Harriers and Chinooks. She departed Liverpool the next day, heading for Devonport. Upon arriving on April 16th, her conversion began right away.
After a meeting at the MoD on the 14th of April 1982 during which the concept was evolved, the SS Atlantic Conveyor was designated to carry several Harriers and helicopters south, the Harriers were to replace expected combat losses.
These were revolutionary designs at the time, combining RORO and container storage in a single vessel, a CONRO. Each of them displaced just under 15,000 tonnes and after construction, all started to traffic transatlantic routes and those to North Africa.
The Atlantic Conveyor was built on the Tyne by Swan Hunter and delivered to Cunard in 1970 as part of their contribution to the Atlantic Container Line consortium.
Although not a formal variant, a number of Battery Command Vehicles were converted to ambulances for use in Afghanistan, so technically, they did enter service
A later version featured new radar-absorbent appliqué panels and was equipped with an elevating sensor mast with a multispectral surveillance system utilising radar, thermal imaging, day/night sights and a laser rangefinder/target designator.
As part of its proposal for the FFLAV competition, GKN developed a smaller Warrior, widely known as Warrior Reconnaissance, although the correct term was Defence Reconnaissance Variant (DRV)
Warrior 2000 was developed as a private venture in response to a Swiss Army requirement (that would eventually be won by CV90)
This was also used as the basis for an ADATS multirole missile system proposal
A low profile variant designed to be C-130 transportable called LOVAT, marketed as part of GKN’s response to the British Army’s Future Lightweight Armoured Vehicles (FLAV) requirement in the late eighties.