On 8 June, with the transfer of troops to the LCU at Fitzroy still underway, the British ships became the target of two waves of Douglas A-4 Skyhawk attack aircraft from the
Argentine Air Force's 5th Air Brigade, each of them loaded with three 500 lb
retarded-tail bombs of
Spanish design. The airstrikes had been called in by Argentine commandos of
602 Commando Company after they spotted the ships from their position on Mount Harriet. The fighters departed from
Río Gallegos airbase, which at the time was monitored by the British
nuclear submarine HMS Splendid. The first wave of attack, originally made of eight aircraft, was reduced to five when three Skyhawks returned to base due to refuelling problems. On their way to Bluff Cove, the formation overflew a
Scout helicopter from
656 Squadron AAC; the Scout, XR628, was forced to make a hard landing on McPhee Pond after experiencing mechanical failure while taking evasive action. The aircraft was eventually written off. The helicopter was identified as a
Lynx by the package leader, First Lieutenant Carlos Cachón. Six Argentine
IAI Dagger fighters simultaneously took off from the airbase at
Río Grande for a complementary mission, led by a
Learjet which provided navigation information. One of the Daggers subsequently returned to base due to refueling issues. The attacking aircraft were preceded by four IAI Dagger fighters which took off from Río Grande airbase to carry out a decoy mission over the north of the islands in order to draw away the British
Sea Harrier fighters and allow the Skyhawks and Daggers to carry out their attacks unmolested, while the Argentine destroyer
ARA Santísima Trinidad broadcast interference signals to jam the frequencies used by the Royal Navy's air controllers directing Sea Harrier operations. The nuclear submarine
HMS Valiant, on picket duty off Río Grande, was able to track the six Dagger fighters that took off from the airbase there, but the report from the submarine failed to reach the British forces at Bluff Cove.
First strike At approximately 14:00 local time both RFA
Sir Tristram and RFA
Sir Galahad were attacked badly damaged by five A-4Bs of
Grupo 5. Three A-4s targeted
Sir Galahad, which was hit by three bombs released from the Skyhawk flown by First Lieutenant Carlos Cachón. The second Skyhawk was unable to drop its bombs, and the third overshot the British ship.
Second strike At 16:50 a second wave, composed by four A-4Bs of
Grupo 5 hit and sank the LCU Foxtrot-4 from
HMS Fearless in
Choiseul Sound. The landing craft was transporting the vehicles and communications equipment and nine soldiers, of 5 Brigade's headquarters, from
Darwin to Bluff Cove. Six crew on board were killed,
Colour Sergeant Brian Johnston, Sergeant R. J. Rotherham, Marine R. D. Griffin, Marine A. J. Rundle, Royal Navy MEA A. S. James and LMEM D. Miller. However, this time the Sea Harrier
combat air patrol was already on scene and responded; three Skyhawks were shot down and their pilots, First Lieutenant Danilo Bolzan, Lieutenant Juan Arrarás, and Ensign Alfredo Vazquez were killed. The fourth aircraft, which was flown by First Lieutenant Héctor Sánchez, suffered combat damage and lost a large amount of fuel, but returned to the mainland assisted by a
KC-130 tanker. A third wave, by A-4Cs of
Grupo 4, arrived minutes later and dropped bombs on ground targets without visible success.
Attack on HMS Plymouth In a separate incident, the frigate
HMS Plymouth, on her own passing through Falkland Sound. was the target of the five Daggers from Rio Grande, which struck her with four 1,000-pound bombs. The warship sustained severe damage, and five crewmen were injured. Although all the bombs were duds, the attack caused the explosion of at least one depth charge on her flight deck. ==Aftermath==