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{{short description|1975 Type 21 or Amazon-class frigate of the Royal Navy}}
{{Other ships|HMS Antelope}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2014}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image = HMS Antelope 1982.jpg
|Ship caption = HMS ''Antelope'' at [[San Carlos Water]] on 23 May 1982.<br/>Note damaged mast (mostly hidden by smoke) and bomb entry hole on hull below funnel.}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Ship country = United Kingdom
|Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}
|Ship name = HMS ''Antelope''
|Ship builder = [[Vosper Thornycroft]]
|Ship laid down = 23 March 1971
|
|Ship commissioned = 19 July 1975
|Ship motto = "Audax et vigilans"
|Ship fate = Sunk 23 May 1982}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Ship class = [[Type 21 frigate]]
|Ship displacement = 3,250 tons full load
|Ship length = {{convert|384|ft|m|abbr=off}}
|Ship beam = {{convert|41+3/4|ft|abbr=off}}
|Ship draught = {{convert|19+1/2|ft|abbr=off}}
|Ship propulsion =
* 2 × [[Rolls-Royce Olympus]]
* 2 × [[Rolls-Royce Tyne]]
|Ship speed = {{convert|32|kn}}
|Ship range =
* {{convert|4000|nmi|abbr=on}} {{nowr|at {{convert|17|kn|abbr=on}}}}
* {{convert|1200|nmi|abbr=on}} {{nowr|at {{convert|30|kn|abbr=on}}}}
|Ship complement = 177 crew
|Ship armament =
* 1 × [[4.5-inch Mark 8 naval gun]]
* 2 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon]]
* 1 × quadruple [[Sea Cat missile]]s
* 2 × triple ASW torpedo tubes
* 2 × [[Chaff (radar countermeasure)|Corvus Chaff]] launchers
* 1 × Type 182 towed decoy
|Ship aircraft =
* 1 × [[Westland Wasp]]
* 1 × [[Westland Lynx]] (refitted)}}
|}
{{Campaignbox Falklands War}}
'''HMS ''Antelope''''' was a [[Type 21 frigate]] of the [[Royal Navy]] that participated in the [[Falklands War]] and was sunk by Argentine aircraft.
==Construction and commissioning==
Her keel was laid down 23 March 1971 by [[Vosper Thornycroft]] in Woolston, [[Southampton]], England.
Initial budget costs for this class were £3.5 million, with final costs exceeding £14 million. She was commissioned on 17 July 1975, and was the only unit of the class never to be fitted with [[Exocet]] launchers.
In 1977, she attended the [[fleet review]] for the [[Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II]]. At this time, she was part of the 7th Frigate Squadron.<ref>Official Souvenir Programme, 1977. ''Silver Jubilee Fleet Review'', HMSO</ref>
==Falklands War==
=== Bombing ===
''Antelope'' took part in the [[Falklands War]], arriving in the area of operations on 21 May 1982. Two days later, while on air defence duty at the entrance to [[Battle of San Carlos (1982)|San Carlos Water]], protecting the beachhead established two days before, she came under attack by four Argentine [[A-4 Skyhawk#Argentina|A-4B Skyhawks]] of Grupo 5. The first pair attacked from astern, with the flight leader breaking off his attack after one of ''Antelope''{{'}}s [[Sea Cat missile]]s exploded under the port wing of his aircraft.
The pilot, Captain [[Pablo Carballo]], managed to nurse his aircraft back to [[Rio Gallegos]]. The second aircraft on this flight pressed home his bomb run and put a 1,000-pound bomb in ''Antelope''{{'}}s starboard side, killing one crewman, Steward Mark R. Stephens. The bomb did not explode and the Argentine aircraft was damaged by small arms fire. The second pair of Skyhawks attacked minutes later from the starboard quarter. During this attack, one of the Argentine jets, piloted by First Lieutenant Luciano Guadagnini, was hit by the ship's [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon]] before colliding with ''Antelope''{{'}}s main mast and disintegrating. Guadagnini had released the bombs before being brought down, and one bomb penetrated ''Antelope''{{'}}s hull amidships, but like the first bomb hitting the ship failed to explode.<!-- source is official inquiry linked below -->
''Antelope'' fired a Sea Cat at what she believed to be a fifth attacker, but this was Captain Carballo, trying to establish if his aircraft was fit to fly. The missile missed, but passed less than {{convert|10|m}} from Carballo's cockpit.
=== Unexploded ordnance ===
After initial damage control efforts, ''Antelope'' proceeded to more sheltered waters so that two [[bomb disposal]] technicians from the [[Royal Engineers]] could come aboard and attempt to defuse the two unexploded bombs. One of the bombs was inaccessible because of wreckage; the other had been damaged and was thought to be in a particularly dangerous condition. Three attempts by the bomb disposal team to withdraw the fuse of this bomb by remote means failed.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.storyvault.com/video/view/bomb_explodes_on_hms_antelope_part_1_falklands_war|title=Bomb Explodes on HMS Antelope Part 1 Falklands War |website=StoryVault |access-date=2016-09-12}}</ref>
=== Sinking ===
A fourth attempt using a small explosive charge detonated the bomb, killing Staff Sergeant James Prescott instantly and removing an arm of Warrant Officer John Phillips, the other member of the bomb disposal team.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Phillips|first1=John|title=Bomb Explodes on HMS Antelope Part 2 Malvinas War|url=http://www.storyvault.com/video/view/bomb_explodes_on_hms_antelope_part_2_falklands_war1|website=Story Vault|access-date=12 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160921185620/http://www.storyvault.com/video/view/bomb_explodes_on_hms_antelope_part_2_falklands_war1|archive-date=21 September 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>
The ship was torn open from waterline to funnel, with the blast starting major fires in both engine rooms, which spread very quickly. The starboard fire main was fractured, the ship lost all electrical power, and the commanding officer, Commander Nick Tobin, gave the order to abandon ship. Tobin was the last person to leave the ship; about five minutes after his departure, the missile magazines began exploding.
Explosions continued throughout the night. The following day ''Antelope'' was still afloat, but her keel had broken and her superstructure melted into a heap of twisted metal. ''Antelope'' broke in half and sank that day. TV and still pictures of ''Antelope''{{'}}s demise became some of the iconic images of the [[Falklands War]] and appear repeatedly in histories of the event.<ref>Aulich, James (1992). ''Framing the Falklands War: nationhood, culture, and identity''. Open University Press, p. 150. {{ISBN|0-335-09684-0}}</ref>
=== Aftermath ===
Corporal Alan White received a commendation from the Task Force Commander, Admiral Sir John Fieldhouse, for his part in rescuing 41 crew from ''Antelope'' using a [[LCVP (United Kingdom)#LCVP Mk2|Mark 2 LCVP]], one of four carried by the assault ship {{HMS|Fearless|L10|2}}. The landing craft, Foxtrot 7, is now located in the Royal Marines Museum in Portsmouth, with detailed accounts from Corporal Alan White of the missions he took part in, including the landings at San Carlos.<ref>[http://www.memorials.inportsmouth.co.uk/rm-museum/landing-craft.htm Memorials and Monuments in the Royal Marines Museum, Portsmouth (Landing Craft)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319151457/http://www.memorials.inportsmouth.co.uk/rm-museum/landing-craft.htm |date=19 March 2012 }}</ref>
In January 2002, a diving team from the frigate {{HMS|Montrose|F236|2}} replaced the [[naval ensign]] on ''Antelope''. The wreck is designated as a prohibited area under the [[Protection of Wrecks Act 1973#Falkland Islands protected wrecks|Falkland Islands Protection of Wrecks Act]].<ref>Protection of Wrecks Ordnance 1977 (No. 12) 7 July 1977 (Falkland Islands)</ref><ref>Protection of Wrecks (Ardent and Antelope Designation) Order 1983 (No. 2) 20 October 1983 (Falkland Islands)</ref>
== References ==
=== Footnotes ===
{{reflist}}
=== Bibliography ===
* {{Cite Colledge2006}}
== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110724042320/http://www.rna-10-area.net/files/boi_hms_antelope.pdf The Official Board of Inquiry into the loss of HMS Antelope]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120130133139/http://www.storyvault.com/video/view/bomb_explodes_on_hms_antelope_part_2_falklands_war Video Interview with Warrant Officer John Phillips about events on HMS Antelope]
{{Type 21 frigate}}
{{Falklands War British ships}}
{{1982 shipwrecks}}
{{Authority control}}
{{coord|51|33|3|S|59|3|30|W|display=title}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Antelope}}
[[Category:1972 ships]]
[[Category:Falklands War naval ships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Frigates sunk by aircraft]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1982]]
[[Category:Protected wrecks of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Ships built in Southampton]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by Argentine aircraft]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of the Falklands War]]
[[Category:Type 21 frigates]]
[[Category:Naval magazine explosions]]
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