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The Falklands War of 1982 involved the most intense naval action since the Second World War. Key to
the war was transporting an army, its supplies and equipment some 8,000 miles by sea and landing it on
enemy-held islands that were far beyond the effective range of any friendly land-based aircraft. To
accomplish this task, Great Britain assembled an armada made up of not only Royal Navy ships but also
merchant marine ships operated primarily by their civilian crews. Trevor Lane, today the Staff Captain of
QUEEN MARY 2, was the navigator on the most pivotal civilian ship SS CANBERRA.
The Ship
CANBERRA was the first large ocean liner built in the United Kingdom after Worth War II. Work was
started on her in September 1957 at the Harland & Wolff yards in Belfast, Northern Ireland. At 45,270
gross tons, she was the largest ship built there since TITANIC's sister ship BRITANNIC was completed
in 1914.
"The ship was really way ahead of its time when it was designed in 1956 and launched in 1961." The
superstructure was primarily made of aluminum, which reduced weight and as a result, fuel consumption.
Her engines were located aft, creating more passenger space. It was found, however, during her sea trials,
that because of the engines aft, the bow rose out of the water at speed and so ballast was added to the
bow area. This took care of the problem but left CANBERRA with a deep 36 foot draft.
"You could get up to 21 or 22 knots. She was a turbo-electric steamship - - you burn heavy oil to
produce heat to heat up water for the boilers to push the steam through a turbine to generate electricity to
turn a motor to turn the propeller. They had these huge boilers and these huge boiler rooms and this huge
network of engine room staff. They had to stand there for four hours at a time by the boiler. Very labor
intensive."
CANBERRA was very well-received when she entered service. She was a symbol of Britain's
re-emergence after the devastation of the Second World War. In addition, she had been built in order to
take emigrants from Britain to Australia, which was a very popular move in those days.
By the 1970s, however, emigration from Britain to Australia was declining and what there was of it
was being captured by the airlines. Consequently, P&O Lines, CANBERRA's owner, looked for
something new to do with the ship. The line settled on basing the ship in New York for cruises down to
the Caribbean. This proved to be an unqualified disaster and P&O announced that because of poor
bookings, CANBERRA would be scrapped in 1973.
Almost immediately after that announcement, bookings began to increase. However, they were not
from the American market but from Britain. Accordingly, P&O shifted the ship to Southampton, England
where she did various cruises during the warmer months. Then, for three months each year, the ship would
do a world cruise.
This proved to be a very popular schedule. CANBERRA had been built as a two class ocean liner.
Although the separate classes were eliminated when she became a cruise ship, the passengers, reflecting
Britain's social class system, created a de facto separation. "There was the pub end and the cocktail bar
end. People liked having that option."
The Conflict
The Falkland Islands are the only large island group in the South Atlantic. Located approximately 300
miles east of the Straits of Magellan, they are cold, damp and windswept. With no known natural
resources or industry, the island's small population is engaged primarily in raising sheep. In short, it is a
place located far from anywhere with little economic value.
Nonetheless, Britain and Argentina have been quarreling over these islands since the early Nineteenth
Century. There are conflicting claims that run back to 1592. However, in modern times, Argentina's claim
is based upon their relative geographic proximity to Argentina while Britain's best argument is that the
island's population is of British descent and desires to remain part of Britain. Attempts to resolve this
dispute diplomatically, including talks held under United Nations auspices, have failed.
In the Spring of 1982, the dispute erupted into violence, not on the Falklands themselves but on a
glacier-covered island some 800 miles further out in the South Atlantic. A group of Argentinean civilians
landed on South Georgia ostensibly to collect scrap from an abandoned whaling station. However, they
raised the Argentinean flag and refused to recognize the authority of the island's British administrator, an
employee of the British Antarctic Survey, which provided the island's only inhabitants. In response to a cry
for help, the governor of the Falklands sent 22 Royal Marines to South Georgia. Argentina countered with
100 Marines, a frigate and an ice breaker. A fire fight ensued, which despite initial British success, ended
with the Royal Marines surrender.
Emboldened by this victory, the military junta that ruled Argentina dispatched an amphibious invasion
force to the Falklands. On 2 April 1982, 800 Argentinean Marines landed and confronted 80 Royal
Marine defenders. In the first engagement, the British prevailed. However, inasmuch as the Argentineans
were landing more men and armor, the governor entered into negotiations that resulted in the governor and
the Royal Marines being deported from the island. The Royal Marines, however, promised to return.
To the celebrating Argentineans, this must have sounded like a hollow threat. Britain's days of empire
were over and surely the British would not fight for some islands with little strategic or economic value
located 8,000 miles from home. Furthermore, even if they wanted to fight, how would they transport an
army to the war zone? There were no friendly air ports in which to fly troops. Moreover, the Royal Navy
was in no position to mount an amphibious invasion. Based upon the prevailing Cold War assumption that
the next war would be fought against the Soviets in Europe, the Royal Navy had been transformed from a
power projection navy to a force charged with helping to keep the North Atlantic from being closed by
Soviet attack submarines.
But, there were important principles at stake. First, the people of the Falklands wanted to be British,
not Argentinean. Thus, the principle of self-determination was involved. Second, in Moscow, the leaders
of the Soviet Union were watching to see how Britain, and by extension her closest ally The United States,
reacted to this provocation. If the West simply capitulated, the Soviets would feel that they too could get
away with similar acts. Thus, while attempting to negotiate, the government of Prime Minister Margaret
Thatcher prepared to send a force south.
Key to this risky strategy was requisitioning ships from Britain's merchant marine. Tankers, container
ships, tugs, freighters and even North Sea ferries were "taken up from trade." However, in order to
transport the troops themselves, Britain would need its two large passenger ships QUEEN ELIZABETH 2
(See The Log, Fall 2005 at p. 10) and CANBERRA.
A Call To Serve
Trevor Lane was helping to paint his neighbor's house when the news came over the radio that Argentina
had occupied the Falklands. He had been with P&O for eight years and had risen to navigator on
CANBERRA. He was now home on leave while the ship completed her annual world cruise. "I almost
instinctively knew that that was going to affect me."
Lane knew that in times of war, the government had authority to requisition merchant ships and had
seen Royal Navy personnel coming on board CANBERRA from time-to-time for inspections and to see
how the ship operated. Thus, it was apparent that CANBERRA was part of the Royal Navy's
contingency planning.
Although the navigator who was on CANBERRA at the moment was senior to Lane, Lane had been
with CANBERRA since he had been a cadet. "I was part of the establishment, if you like, on the
CANBERRA." Furthermore, his colleague was just completing a lengthy world cruise. If Lane did not
relieve him, his friend would have to continue on with the ship. Moreover, the town in which Lane lived
along the south coast of England was known as "P&O Village" because so many P&O officers and
employees lived there. It would have been difficult to show his face at the local pub, if he did not
volunteer. Thus, when the personnel department called, Lane agreed to go.
"Military personnel joined the ship in Gibraltar and they were already making plans aboard the ship.
When they got to Southampton and discharged the passengers, an amazing refit that took place, which
implied that they had plans in place to convert the ship very quickly. They cut off large parts of it and built
three helicopter decks in three days. They took things like cocktail bars in the forward end of the ship and
put scaffolding jacks throughout the bar [to act as pillars to support the weight.] Then they extended the
deck above it and took down all the rails and that became the main helicopter deck. They took one of the
main swimming pools in the middle of the ship and put huge girders in the middle, covered that and cut
down the side rails. They had another helicopter deck up by the funnels. They did this fantastic
conversion in three or four days."
Although CANBERRA normally carried 1,700 passengers on a cruise, "they embarked a whole
brigade - - nearly 4,000 troops. It was called Three Commando Brigade, and it was made up of
paratroopers, marines and some naval auxiliary staff and some RAF and helicopter pilots."
The ship set out from England with the ship's P&O captain and a Royal Navy officer sharing
command. Lane was not a member of the Royal Navy Reserve and thus technically, he was only under
the command of the civilian captain. However, the navy wanted direct authority over the ship's navigator.
P&O did not want to cede full authority. "They ended up giving me Royal Navy stripes on one shoulder
and regular merchant navy stripes on the other. That was the compromise."
The military had placed additional communications equipment in the ship's chartroom. As a result,
members of the press were constantly walking in to send stories home. Therefore, in order to maintain
secrecy about the ship's movements, a chart table was constructed in Lane's cabin and for part of the
voyage, an armed guard was posted outside.
"We were doing submarine avoidance practice and similar things on the way down. They ripped up
the carpet and glued them on the windows [to prevent light from showing at night]. . The ship also had to
be fitted out for refueling [at sea]. The whole of the top deck was filled with munitions. There were gun
emplacements around the ship right from the start. Blowpipe missiles and everything else. Because of the
helicopters, CANBERRA was obviously a prominent target."
"Almost immediately, the troops had to start being trained. So, they had gun practice on the deck.
[There was also] lots of physical exercise on the outside deck. CANBERRA had a Promenade Deck that
you could run around. The troops used that to train to keep themselves fit in full gear, with full pack on.
The Promenade Deck had a composite cement on top of the steel, it was like rubber so it would flex.
After a week of a couple of thousand troops storming around there in hobnail boots, it became a beach - -
pretty sandy. With the carpets ripped up and the decks destroyed, it changed the ship very quickly."
the war was transporting an army, its supplies and equipment some 8,000 miles by sea and landing it on
enemy-held islands that were far beyond the effective range of any friendly land-based aircraft. To
accomplish this task, Great Britain assembled an armada made up of not only Royal Navy ships but also
merchant marine ships operated primarily by their civilian crews. Trevor Lane, today the Staff Captain of
QUEEN MARY 2, was the navigator on the most pivotal civilian ship SS CANBERRA.
The Ship
CANBERRA was the first large ocean liner built in the United Kingdom after Worth War II. Work was
started on her in September 1957 at the Harland & Wolff yards in Belfast, Northern Ireland. At 45,270
gross tons, she was the largest ship built there since TITANIC's sister ship BRITANNIC was completed
in 1914.
"The ship was really way ahead of its time when it was designed in 1956 and launched in 1961." The
superstructure was primarily made of aluminum, which reduced weight and as a result, fuel consumption.
Her engines were located aft, creating more passenger space. It was found, however, during her sea trials,
that because of the engines aft, the bow rose out of the water at speed and so ballast was added to the
bow area. This took care of the problem but left CANBERRA with a deep 36 foot draft.
"You could get up to 21 or 22 knots. She was a turbo-electric steamship - - you burn heavy oil to
produce heat to heat up water for the boilers to push the steam through a turbine to generate electricity to
turn a motor to turn the propeller. They had these huge boilers and these huge boiler rooms and this huge
network of engine room staff. They had to stand there for four hours at a time by the boiler. Very labor
intensive."
CANBERRA was very well-received when she entered service. She was a symbol of Britain's
re-emergence after the devastation of the Second World War. In addition, she had been built in order to
take emigrants from Britain to Australia, which was a very popular move in those days.
By the 1970s, however, emigration from Britain to Australia was declining and what there was of it
was being captured by the airlines. Consequently, P&O Lines, CANBERRA's owner, looked for
something new to do with the ship. The line settled on basing the ship in New York for cruises down to
the Caribbean. This proved to be an unqualified disaster and P&O announced that because of poor
bookings, CANBERRA would be scrapped in 1973.
Almost immediately after that announcement, bookings began to increase. However, they were not
from the American market but from Britain. Accordingly, P&O shifted the ship to Southampton, England
where she did various cruises during the warmer months. Then, for three months each year, the ship would
do a world cruise.
This proved to be a very popular schedule. CANBERRA had been built as a two class ocean liner.
Although the separate classes were eliminated when she became a cruise ship, the passengers, reflecting
Britain's social class system, created a de facto separation. "There was the pub end and the cocktail bar
end. People liked having that option."
The Conflict
The Falkland Islands are the only large island group in the South Atlantic. Located approximately 300
miles east of the Straits of Magellan, they are cold, damp and windswept. With no known natural
resources or industry, the island's small population is engaged primarily in raising sheep. In short, it is a
place located far from anywhere with little economic value.
Nonetheless, Britain and Argentina have been quarreling over these islands since the early Nineteenth
Century. There are conflicting claims that run back to 1592. However, in modern times, Argentina's claim
is based upon their relative geographic proximity to Argentina while Britain's best argument is that the
island's population is of British descent and desires to remain part of Britain. Attempts to resolve this
dispute diplomatically, including talks held under United Nations auspices, have failed.
In the Spring of 1982, the dispute erupted into violence, not on the Falklands themselves but on a
glacier-covered island some 800 miles further out in the South Atlantic. A group of Argentinean civilians
landed on South Georgia ostensibly to collect scrap from an abandoned whaling station. However, they
raised the Argentinean flag and refused to recognize the authority of the island's British administrator, an
employee of the British Antarctic Survey, which provided the island's only inhabitants. In response to a cry
for help, the governor of the Falklands sent 22 Royal Marines to South Georgia. Argentina countered with
100 Marines, a frigate and an ice breaker. A fire fight ensued, which despite initial British success, ended
with the Royal Marines surrender.
Emboldened by this victory, the military junta that ruled Argentina dispatched an amphibious invasion
force to the Falklands. On 2 April 1982, 800 Argentinean Marines landed and confronted 80 Royal
Marine defenders. In the first engagement, the British prevailed. However, inasmuch as the Argentineans
were landing more men and armor, the governor entered into negotiations that resulted in the governor and
the Royal Marines being deported from the island. The Royal Marines, however, promised to return.
To the celebrating Argentineans, this must have sounded like a hollow threat. Britain's days of empire
were over and surely the British would not fight for some islands with little strategic or economic value
located 8,000 miles from home. Furthermore, even if they wanted to fight, how would they transport an
army to the war zone? There were no friendly air ports in which to fly troops. Moreover, the Royal Navy
was in no position to mount an amphibious invasion. Based upon the prevailing Cold War assumption that
the next war would be fought against the Soviets in Europe, the Royal Navy had been transformed from a
power projection navy to a force charged with helping to keep the North Atlantic from being closed by
Soviet attack submarines.
But, there were important principles at stake. First, the people of the Falklands wanted to be British,
not Argentinean. Thus, the principle of self-determination was involved. Second, in Moscow, the leaders
of the Soviet Union were watching to see how Britain, and by extension her closest ally The United States,
reacted to this provocation. If the West simply capitulated, the Soviets would feel that they too could get
away with similar acts. Thus, while attempting to negotiate, the government of Prime Minister Margaret
Thatcher prepared to send a force south.
Key to this risky strategy was requisitioning ships from Britain's merchant marine. Tankers, container
ships, tugs, freighters and even North Sea ferries were "taken up from trade." However, in order to
transport the troops themselves, Britain would need its two large passenger ships QUEEN ELIZABETH 2
(See The Log, Fall 2005 at p. 10) and CANBERRA.
A Call To Serve
Trevor Lane was helping to paint his neighbor's house when the news came over the radio that Argentina
had occupied the Falklands. He had been with P&O for eight years and had risen to navigator on
CANBERRA. He was now home on leave while the ship completed her annual world cruise. "I almost
instinctively knew that that was going to affect me."
Lane knew that in times of war, the government had authority to requisition merchant ships and had
seen Royal Navy personnel coming on board CANBERRA from time-to-time for inspections and to see
how the ship operated. Thus, it was apparent that CANBERRA was part of the Royal Navy's
contingency planning.
Although the navigator who was on CANBERRA at the moment was senior to Lane, Lane had been
with CANBERRA since he had been a cadet. "I was part of the establishment, if you like, on the
CANBERRA." Furthermore, his colleague was just completing a lengthy world cruise. If Lane did not
relieve him, his friend would have to continue on with the ship. Moreover, the town in which Lane lived
along the south coast of England was known as "P&O Village" because so many P&O officers and
employees lived there. It would have been difficult to show his face at the local pub, if he did not
volunteer. Thus, when the personnel department called, Lane agreed to go.
"Military personnel joined the ship in Gibraltar and they were already making plans aboard the ship.
When they got to Southampton and discharged the passengers, an amazing refit that took place, which
implied that they had plans in place to convert the ship very quickly. They cut off large parts of it and built
three helicopter decks in three days. They took things like cocktail bars in the forward end of the ship and
put scaffolding jacks throughout the bar [to act as pillars to support the weight.] Then they extended the
deck above it and took down all the rails and that became the main helicopter deck. They took one of the
main swimming pools in the middle of the ship and put huge girders in the middle, covered that and cut
down the side rails. They had another helicopter deck up by the funnels. They did this fantastic
conversion in three or four days."
Although CANBERRA normally carried 1,700 passengers on a cruise, "they embarked a whole
brigade - - nearly 4,000 troops. It was called Three Commando Brigade, and it was made up of
paratroopers, marines and some naval auxiliary staff and some RAF and helicopter pilots."
The ship set out from England with the ship's P&O captain and a Royal Navy officer sharing
command. Lane was not a member of the Royal Navy Reserve and thus technically, he was only under
the command of the civilian captain. However, the navy wanted direct authority over the ship's navigator.
P&O did not want to cede full authority. "They ended up giving me Royal Navy stripes on one shoulder
and regular merchant navy stripes on the other. That was the compromise."
The military had placed additional communications equipment in the ship's chartroom. As a result,
members of the press were constantly walking in to send stories home. Therefore, in order to maintain
secrecy about the ship's movements, a chart table was constructed in Lane's cabin and for part of the
voyage, an armed guard was posted outside.
"We were doing submarine avoidance practice and similar things on the way down. They ripped up
the carpet and glued them on the windows [to prevent light from showing at night]. . The ship also had to
be fitted out for refueling [at sea]. The whole of the top deck was filled with munitions. There were gun
emplacements around the ship right from the start. Blowpipe missiles and everything else. Because of the
helicopters, CANBERRA was obviously a prominent target."
"Almost immediately, the troops had to start being trained. So, they had gun practice on the deck.
[There was also] lots of physical exercise on the outside deck. CANBERRA had a Promenade Deck that
you could run around. The troops used that to train to keep themselves fit in full gear, with full pack on.
The Promenade Deck had a composite cement on top of the steel, it was like rubber so it would flex.
After a week of a couple of thousand troops storming around there in hobnail boots, it became a beach - -
pretty sandy. With the carpets ripped up and the decks destroyed, it changed the ship very quickly."
CANBERRA IN THE
FALKLANDS WAR
Captain Trevor Lane, then-navigator of
CANBERRA, describes his experiences during
the conflict.
by Richard H. Wagner
(originally published by the Navy League of the
United States, New York Council, in The Log,
Winter 2007)
FALKLANDS WAR
Captain Trevor Lane, then-navigator of
CANBERRA, describes his experiences during
the conflict.
by Richard H. Wagner
(originally published by the Navy League of the
United States, New York Council, in The Log,
Winter 2007)
BEYONDSHIPS HOME
CRUISE SHIP CENTRAL
CRUISE SHIP PROFILES
CRUISE LINKS
CANBERRA IN THE FALKLANDS PAGE 1
CANBERRA IN THE FALKLANDS PAGE 2
CRUISE SHIP CENTRAL
CRUISE SHIP PROFILES
CRUISE LINKS
CANBERRA IN THE FALKLANDS PAGE 1
CANBERRA IN THE FALKLANDS PAGE 2
Captain Trevor Lane is now Staff
Captain on QUEEN MARY 2.
Captain on QUEEN MARY 2.