File Name: Operation Paraquet: South Georgia, 20-26 April 1982. Historical Scenario.

File Submitter: broncepulido

File Submitted: 21 Sep 2015

File Category: South Atlantic

 

 

Operation Paraquet: South Georgia, 20-26 April 1982. Historical Scenario.

A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for the South Atlantic Battleset and the HCDA-110606 (Harpoon Commander's Edition Database 'Americas') Platform Database.

Image: Ice patrol ship HMS Endurance A 171 (in service 1967-1991), support ship and guard vessel for the British Antarctic Survey. Probably sailing off South Georgia, judging by the surrounding seascape. Photo by Alan Broomhead (ex Royal Navy), uploaded 2006, from Wikipedia Commons.

This scenario is designed to be played from the Blue/UK side or from the Red/Argentine side. To avoid spoilers you should play a few times first the Blue side, and only later play the Red side.

Operation Paraquet was the first British movement to retake territory from the Argentine occupation in the South Atlantic War of 1982, defeating the limited Argentine Garrison in South Georgia.
A small task force with only two Wessex assault helicopters was centred on the RFA Tidespring and other heterogeneous elements, included the ice patrol vessel HMS Endurance.
It was a sort of very long range strategic guerrilla operation subsidiary of Operation Corporate, Operation Paraquet was a low intensity operation but with impressive state of art platforms and weapon systems.
At last, after a few hours, an assault by SAS, SBS and Royal Marines and a purpose bloodless naval bombardment demonstration the small Argentine garrison surrendered (less the infamous Lieutenant Commander Astiz unit of Buzos Tacticos, who did it the day after).
But before that the operation was in great distress, with the loss of both Wessex assault helicopters by very bad weather and bad luck, and after an emergency and improvised ASW action included the use of helicopter-launched air-to-surface missiles.
This scenario want to transmit the strange flavour of that distant waters campaign, with lack of air cover, very long distances and very few and sometimes rare elements.
Also, the player probably will be surprised by the lack of capabilities of sensors and weapons system (including dumb torpedoes), even counting with modern platforms to carry them as hunter/killer nuclear submarines, compared with the current types usually employed in the Harpoon simulation in more usual scenarios.
Last but not least the scenario try to simulate how the events could be developed slightly otherwise.

Enrique Mas, 21 September 2015.
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Click here to download this file

Changes 21 September 2015:

- Rio Grande/Almirante Quijada air base cleaned-up of warplanes useless in this scenario, for sake of simplicity.

- Very minor text changes.

Some links:

 

To official history:

https://books.google.es/books?id=C5WRAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA211&lpg=PA211&dq=grytviken+mines&source=bl&ots=P1MizYe8wB&sig=puYR41AJtwRaXyggDN2R1DQEeq8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDoQ6AEwBWoVChMIvPGFqZqJyAIVRFkaCh1wLgXg#v=onepage&q=grytviken%20mines&f=false

 

A very good site (also for other naval topics):

http://naval-history.net/F32-South_Georgia_retaken-Paraquat.htm

Changes 22 September 2015:

 

RFA Brambleleaf is no more a separate group, now her placement is more historically correct.

Some sources and links:

 

Official history on Paraquet:

https://books.google.es/books?id=C5WRAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA211&lpg=PA211&dq=grytviken+mines&source=bl&ots=P1MizYe8wB&sig=puYR41AJtwRaXyggDN2R1DQEeq8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDoQ6AEwBWoVChMIvPGFqZqJyAIVRFkaCh1wLgXg#v=onepage&q=grytviken%20mines&f=false

 

Very interesting site of Royal Fleet Auxiliary Historical Society, with detailed ship-by-ship career (with some navigation difficulties, but they'are all the ships. If you don't find anyone, perservere and click on the name of a ship what begins with the same letter):

http://historicalrfa.org/rfa-fleet?start=21

 

The great Naval-History.net site on the South Atlantic Campaign, day-by-day:

http://www.naval-history.net/NAVAL1982FALKLANDS.htm

 

The main reference site for Argentine military and civilian ships, Histamar.ar (is showed a page with tankers to give a idea of the site, as is of some difficult navigation):

http://www.histarmar.com.ar/BuquesMercantes/Marina%20Mercante%20Argentina/Tanques/0Indice-P-R.htm