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The invasion of South Georgia (Spanish: ''Operación Georgias''), also known as the Battle of Grytviken, took place on 3 April 1982, when Argentine naval forces seized control of the east coast of South Georgia after overpowering a small group of Royal Marines at Grytviken.〔"infiltrated on board, pretending to be scientists, were members of an Argentine naval special forces unit" Nick van der Bijl, ''Nine Battles to Stanley'', London, Leo Cooper P.8 as reported in Lawrence Freemdman, ''The Official History of the Falklands Camapign: Vol I The Origins of the Falklands War''〕 The Argentine intervention had begun on 19 March, when a group of civilian scrap metal workers illegally arrived at Leith Harbour on board the transport ship ARA ''Bahía Buen Suceso'' and raised the Argentine flag. The scrap workers had been infiltrated by Argentine marines posing as civilian scientists.〔"infiltrated on board, pretending to be scientists, were members of an Argentine naval special forces unit" Nick van der Bijl, ''Nine Battles to Stanley'', London, Leo Cooper P.8 as reported in Lawrence Freemdman, ''The Official History of the Falklands Camapign: Vol I The Origins of the Falklands War''〕〔"''Bahia Buen Suceso'' set sail for South Georgia on 11 March carrying Argentine Marines" Rowland White, ''Vulcan 607'', London, Bantam Press, p30.〕 ==Prelude== The only British presence at Leith on 19 March was an Antarctic Survey (BAS) team, whose leader, Trefor Edwards, handed a message from London to the commander of the ''Buen Suceso'', captain Briatore, demanding the removal of the Argentine flag and the departure of the party. At the same time, the Argentine crew had to report to the top BAS commander in Grytviken, Steve Martin. Briatore replied that the mission had the approval of the British embassy in Buenos Aires.〔Freedman-Gamba, p. 81〕 Eventually, the Argentine captain ordered the lowering of the flag, but failed to report to Grytviken. The BAS commander sent a message to the Governor of the Falkland Islands, Rex Hunt (South Georgia being run as a dependency of the Falklands). After consulting London, Hunt was instructed to dispatch to South Georgia with a detachment of 22 Royal Marines.〔Freedman-Gamba, p. 85〕〔(Britain Small Wars )〕 The reason for the landing of scrap metal workmen at Leith was a 1978 contract between an Argentine businessman, Constantino Davidoff, and the British company Christian Salvesen, for the scrapping of the abandoned whale factories and facilities on the island.〔Freedman-Gamba, p. 74.〕 Aware of the contract, the Argentine Navy conceived of a plan to hijack Davidoff's business in South Georgia, in order to establish an undercover base on the disputed territory. The action was code named ''Operation Alpha''.〔Freedman-Gamba, p. 75〕 There had been already two other Argentine trips to South Georgia: on December 1981, on board the Argentine icebreaker ARA ''Almirante Irízar'', when Davidoff made an inventory of the facilities;〔Freedman-Gamba, p. 76〕 and on February 1982, when an alleged commercial rival of Davidoff, bank employee Adrian Marchessi, made an unannounced visit to Leith. Marchessi assessed Leith facilities on board the Panamanian registered yacht ''Caiman'', which had sailed out of Mar del Plata.〔Insight Team ''Sunday Times'', p. 67〕 He later reported himself to Grytviken, claiming that he was part of Davidoff's scheme and giving the British authorities details of the December inspection and even of early Argentine trips during the 1970s.〔Freedman, p. 172〕 The failure of the Argentines to comply with the diplomatic formalities prompted Whitehall to opt for a small-scale intervention. In the meantime, a formal protest was issued by the British embassy in Buenos Aires. The Argentine Foreign Minister's response appeared to defuse the crisis; the note asserted that the ''Buen Suceso'' would soon be leaving, and that the mission had no official sanction at all.〔Freedman-Gamba, p. 86〕 By the morning of 22 March the ''Buen Suceso'' left Leith harbour. However, in the afternoon, a BAS observation post detected the presence of Argentine personnel and passed the information to London. In consequence, the Foreign Office chose to order HMS ''Endurance'' to evacuate any Argentine personnel remaining in South Georgia.〔Freedman-Gamba, pp. 87-88〕 The British moves met with a series of Argentine countermeasures: the corvettes ARA ''Drummond'' and ARA ''Granville'' were deployed between the Falklands and South Georgia, which would have allowed them to intercept the ''Endurance'' and remove any Argentine personnel on board. In addition, upon arrival at Leith, HMS ''Endurance'' found the Antarctic Survey ship ARA ''Bahía Paraíso'' at anchor. This vessel landed a party of 10 naval commandos picked up from South Orkney Islands.〔Freedman, pp. 183 and 184〕 Facing the potential for military action, the Foreign Office sought some sort of compromise. Lord Carrington proposed to his counterpart, Nicanor Costa Méndez, to indulge the workers presence at Leith, given the proper documentation, which could include the stamping of temporary permissions instead of passports, a concession crucial to the Argentine position. The Argentine intention, however, was that the arrival of any of its citizens to South Georgia should follow the procedures agreed on the communications treaty of 1971. Governor Rex Hunt strongly rejected this extension of the agreement, valid only for the Falklands jurisdiction, and raised his concerns to the British government. Costa Mendez left things in a limbo; both countries were then on the brink of conflict.〔Freedman-Gamba, pp. 98-99〕〔Freedman, p.187〕 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「Invasion of South Georgia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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