Mission #3:  
May 2. Engage the General Belgrano and her two escorting destroyers. If 
they get past your ship, they will be able to penetrate deep into the 
British Task Force and possibly disrupt the invasion plans. Beware of 
their sea-launched Exocet missiles.

Background:  At 1600 hours, from a range of less than three miles, the 
British submarine HMS Conqueror fired three Mark VIII torpedoes at the 
Argentine cruiser General Belgrano and one escorting destroyer. Two 
torpedoes struck the General Belgrano, the first on the port bow and the 
second amidships. The cruiser sank within 40 minutes. The third torpedo 
struck the destroyer Piedra Buena, but failed to explode. Although the 
General Belgrano was at least 35 miles outside the Exclusion Zone, the 
British claimed that the small task force was heading toward the 
Falklands. The Argentineans contend that the Belgrano had specific orders 
to avoid the Exclusion Zone and was merely on picket duty to prevent 
British ships from approaching the Argentine coast. The two destroyers 
mounted an attack on the Conqueror, but the submarine escaped.

