The Last U-Boat Attack 1982

The story of the German-built Argentine U-boat San Luis and her daring attacks on the British fleet during the 1982 Falklands War.

Many thanks to the British Film Institute for permission to use clips from the following Crown Copyright films:
- You Have The Ship (1975)
- The Aircraft Controller (1977)
- Fearless To The Fleet (1978)
- Royal Navy Report (1987)

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Disclaimer: All opinions and comments expressed in the 'Comments' section do not reflect the opinions of Mark Felton Productions. All opinions and comments should contribute to the dialogue. Mark Felton Productions does not condone written attacks, insults, racism, sexism, extremism, violence or otherwise questionable comments or material in the 'Comments' section, and reserves the right to delete any comment violating this rule or to block any poster from the channel.

[The_Last_Norman]

From the title I almost assumed that it was a lone German U-boat, manned by 60-70 year olds that had somehow remained hidden for nearly 40 years lol imagine.

[TheToonMonkey]

Nobody ever considers the Whale casualties in war. Thank you Mark for highlighting this oft overlooked tragedy.

[fredbeach]

Gospel truth, I`ve had a pint today with an old mate Mick Hamilton, a friend at school and down our local colliery where we both worked. Tired of the dark dangerous coal mine he signed up in the Navy and after a six month tour docked in Gibraltar on their way back to Blighty only to be diverted to the Falklands, he was onboard the HMS Sheffield the first RN ship to be sunk.
I recall his father being called out of the mine by our control centre and being told to make his way to Plymouth to find out if his only son had survived the sinking, which he obviously had, he`s retired today after reaching the rank of Chief Petty Officer.
A good friend and a fine chap too I might and may we enjoy many more pints together also.

[BBerckdano]

RIP to the big benevolent whale who probably heard the screws of that torpedo in a way humans cannot understand. Never thought about large marine mammals as casualties of combat.

Excellent as always Dr. Felton.

[fpena]

That submarine captain was a brilliant commander. Despite being hampered by faulty equipment and useless torpedoes he still persisted in his mission and safely made it back to port, beating the best efforts at hunting his sub down.

[silentwatcher]

The submarine commander deserves some commendation for special ability to evade several enemies and manage to survive the war despite its faulty weapons.

[Kosme]

My dad worked with one of the sailors that was on board the San Luis during it's opration in the war. This video is a pretty accurate representantion of what he told my dad, especially the part about setting on the sea floor and shutting everything down. He also told my dad they managed to score a couple of hits on british vessels but torpedos failed to detonate.
This video pretty much sums up the experiencie of argentine troops in the war. Brave troops with old or faulty equipment.

[ljdasilva]

Interesting fact: The Belgrano was a US ship the Phoenix - which survived to attack on Pearl Harbour unscathed and in many actions in the Pacific - it earned the nickname 'the luckiest ship in the US navy' - it's a cruel world.

[davidcollins]

Not only was I serving on HMS Alacrity when San Luis attacked us, I was also on HMS Boxer when the film footage between 9:38 and 10:39 was filmed. It was filmed for a documentary called "BOXER", narrated by Michael Hordern. (Although Boxer [a batch 2 Type 22 frigate] didn't go to the Falklands two batch 1 Type 22's did, so the footage fits quite nicely).
In recent years the Captain of the San Luis, Captain Fernando Azcueta, and the Captain of HMS Alacrity, Commander Chris Craig, have met and discussed this incident. They are still in regular correspondence as friends.

[raypelling]

"...RAISED FROM THE SEABED and used as training vessels???" There's a crazy story there of these vessels being raised.

[TheGeezzer]

The Falklands war was 40 years ago almost to the month. 40 years ago I was 18 but it feels like it was only a couple of years ago, I remember the TV broadcasts about it. Good video as per usual Dr Felton, well researched and a great tribute to the memory of our lads who fell and forever remain on that island.

[jermainerace]

It seems to me that if the torpedos had been workign correctly, the San Luis, in spite of her age and decrepitude, would have caused considerable damage. It just goes to show that in the Sub vs Surface match-up, even an older boat is a very, very serious threat.

[holbroak]

At the time, German electricians had a backronym for AEG, also a household appliance maker: "Aufmachen, Einstecken - Geht nicht." (Unpack, plug in - doesn't work.)

[robertphillips]

The General Belgrano was the former USS Phoenix a Brooklyn Class Light Cruiser that was a Pearl Harbor Attack Survivor, that had been sold to Argentina in 1951.

[gaufrid]

Not the Boys From Brazil, but the U-boat from Argentina! Great story Mark! I have to admit that I have always been fascinated by submarines. Maybe it was due to watching "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" as a child! Always such great historical content on your channel Mark!

[qinsan]

The amount of whales caught in the crossfire was truly unfortunate

[Alex-cwrz]

It's interesting how the modern torpedoes the Argentines used caused their missions to fail. Whereas the Royal Navy sub used ww2 vintage torpedoes as they didn't trust their more modern torpedoes and their mission was successful.

[johnkincaide]

Excellent presentation. My cousin lived in Plymouth, UK at the time, and he had a good friend, who was an officer on duty of one of those Royal Navy Ships under air attack in the Falklands by the Argentian airforce. My cousin said that even with the sophisticated radar displays showing the attack aircraft, the screen became so busy, that the officer left and went outside to see the aircraft positions to get better clarity of what was going on.

[TRHARTAmericanArtist]

So interesting. That's why I love this channel. Dr. Felton gives just enough information so the layman can understand instead of getting lost.

[expandedhistory]

I think it’s important to remember how deadly U-Boats were throughout History. A total of 12, 850, 815 tons of shipping were sunk by U-Boats really showcasing why they were used extensively up until later. Thanks for this quality video as always Dr. Felton.