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Old 05-07-2012, 04:58 PM
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Raellus Raellus is offline
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IIRC, the General Belgrano was a cruiser. After losing it, the Argies decided not to risk their carrier and the rest of their surface combatants and most of them spent the balance of the war safely in port.

An all-out naval battle would most likely have favored the Brits. Considering how much damage just one British SSN did to Argentine naval pride/confidence, the Argentines probably would have lost most of their naval force had they chosen to sortie in force. On average, British ships had more effective sensor suites and weapons systems. As a result, they would likely have detected the Argentines first, and would have been able to seize the initiative. They could have then chosen the ground (or water) on which to engage the Argentines and, with their superior training and weapons platforms, the British could have beaten them quite handily.

All of the damage done to British ships during the actual war was caused by land-based air. In a full-scale naval engagement scenario, if the Argentines could have supplement their naval air with land-based air cover/strike packages, they might have been able to deal the Brits a serious blow. But, the Brits would have wisely avoided an engagement in an area where the Argies could do that (see seizing the initiative above). On the other hand, if the Argentines had been able to base some of their Mirages, Skyhawks, and Super Etendards on the islands prior to the arrival of the British TF, the war could have turned out very differently.
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