I'd forgotten the Argentinians had a carrier. That definitely changes things; I do agree they'd have gotten the worse of a naval battle but as history shows they didn't just roll over and die. They had competent pilots and sailors, and but for luck the British didn't lose a couple of the ships the Argentine AF hit with iron bombs.
If the British had taken a severe beating (loss of a carrier, loss of another surface combatant, loss of more shipping) I wonder if the US would have been pulled in.
|