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The Battle of Seal Cove was a minor naval action west of Lively Island, during the 1982 Falklands War. On 22 May 1982, while supporting Operation Sutton off San Carlos Bay, the British frigates HMS ''Brilliant'' and HMS ''Yarmouth'' received orders to stop and seize the Argentine Navy armed coastal supply boat ARA ''Monsunen''. The coaster ARA ''Monsunen'' was actually a small British vessel that had been captured in the course of the Argentine invasion. The ship was spotted by a Royal Air Force Hawker Siddeley Harrier〔 while sailing from Fox Bay towards Stanley with a cargo of 150 drums of fuel and 250 sacks of flour.〔 ==The engagement== At 4:00 am GMT on 23 May,〔Freedman, Lawrence (2005)''The Official History of the Falklands Campaign: War and diplomacy''. Volume 2. Routledge, p. 473. ISBN 0714652075〕 a Sea Lynx identified the ''Monsunen'' while the latter was heading to the north, west of Lively Island. After a surrender order was radioed to the motorboat, another helicopter transporting a SBS team tried to intercept her. The aircraft was greeted with heavy machine gun and small arms fire, so it was forced to abort the mission.〔〔The improvised ship’s ''gunners'' were an army sergeant and a conscript who served the 12.7 mm machine gun that shot at the ''Lynx''. The Argentine crew claim that the helicopter's fuselage was hit by the tracer bullets.((Webpage with some photos of the ship and her crew) ) 〕 At the same time, the coastal ship’s radar detected the British squadron about eight miles to stern and approaching aggressively.〔 Almost immediately, HMS ''Yarmouth'' began to fire her 4.5 inch (114 mm) deck gun on the Argentine vessel, forcing her to manoeuvre in order to avoid the incoming rounds. When the distance fell to 4 miles, Captain Gopcevich, the Argentine commander, decided that the only way to deceive the British radar was to beach the boat on Seal Cove, a large inlet nearby.〔〔 Shortly after he succeeded in running aground his ship and ordering the crew to abandon her, the British shelling resumed. The fire was inaccurate and aimed at the general area of landing. In the process of evacuating the vessel, one of the ratings fell overboard and suffered some serious bruises, but he was successfully rescued by a young sailor.〔This serviceman was honored with the highest Argentine Congress decoration after the war. He committed suicide in January 2006.(''Clarín'' newspaper, 26 January 2006 ) 〕 The crew members took refuge in an improvised inland shelter.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Seal Cove」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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