Introducing: The Belgrano Diary

The LRB Podcast

London Review of Books

Society & Culture

4.4 • 581 Ratings

🗓️ 21 March 2024

⏱️ 4 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On 2 May 1982, the British submarine HMS Conqueror sank the Argentinian warship, the General Belgrano, killing 323 men. It was the bloodiest event of the Falklands War – and the most controversial. The account of the sinking given by Thatcher's government was inaccurate in every crucial detail – and the truth would only emerge from the pages of a private diary, written by an officer onboard the submarine. The Belgrano Diary is a story of war in the South Atlantic, iron leadership, cover-ups and conspiracies, crusading politicians and competing journalists, and an unlikely whistleblower. A new six-part series from the Documentary Team at the London Review of Books, hosted by Andrew O’Hagan. Episode One coming 28 March. Find it wherever you're listening to this podcast. Archive: ‘Good Morning Britain’/ITV/TV-Am Parliamentary Recording Unit Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	On the 2nd of May 1982, the British hunter-killer submarine, HMS Conqueror, received orders to sink the Argentinian cruiser, the General Belgrano.
0:17.0	I remember sitting there and going bloody hell.
0:23.0	This is actually happening.
0:25.0	So I run down, saying, guys, guys, we've been giving permission to engage.
0:29.4	And they'll be like that.
0:30.6	We're freaking having.
0:32.0	We have.
0:32.8	I think it was a gulp.
0:35.1	This is for real.
0:36.6	I hope I won't let myself down, my captain down, the crew down, the Navy down.
0:41.2	Trembling terrified at that point.
0:44.5	So the captain goes up and starts the drill on burying that cut on fire.
0:53.9	And the next thing was, you know, history.
1:03.0	The sinking of the Belgrano was the bloodiest military action of the Falklands War and the most controversial.
1:11.5	I'll kill 300 people who shouldn't have been killed.
1:14.2	Everybody on the submarine knew she was sailing home.
1:16.8	They didn't have a chance.
1:18.0	In Parliament and on primetime TV, Margaret Thatcher was forced to defend her actions.
1:23.7	That ship was a danger to our boys.
1:27.1	I know it was right to sink her, and I would do the same again.
1:32.5	Was it a legitimate attack? Or was it a war crime?
1:36.7	Sinking the Belgrano was an evil decision.
	...

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