Mission #5: 
May 4. Escort the HMS Sheffield on radar picket duty during the opening 
air attacks by the Argentine Air Force and Navy aircraft. Beware of 
well-concealed attacks by Exocet-armed fighters coming in at wave-top 
levels.

Background:  While operating as a radar picket ship, the HMS Sheffield, a 
Type 42 destroyer, was hit by a single Exocet (AM39) air-to-surface 
missile launched by an Argentine Navy Super Etendard aircraft. The missile
was launched from 23 nautical miles away and hit the unaware destroyer six
feet above the waterline. The warhead failed to detonate, but the 
missile's highly flammable solid-rocket propellant caused uncontrollable 
fires, which gutted the warship within five hours. The Sheffield was 
abandoned.
