The British public became fascinated by the Exocet missile after one sunk HMS Sheffield shortly after the outbreak of the Falklands war in 1982.
Before long, the word Exocet was being used as a metaphor for anything that was suddenly and unstoppably destructive: a winning argument, for example, or a footballer’s shot on goal.
Although Argentina possessed only five of the missiles, Margaret Thatcher’s war cabinet was also fascinated by them, because they knew a successful strike on a Royal Navy aircraft carrier could fatally compromise the Falklands campaign.
Attempts were made to dissuade the French manufacturer from selling any of its missiles to Peru, for fear they would be passed to Argentina. Plans were also put in place to board any vessels thought to be carrying any missiles to Argentina, although these steps were never required.
A plan was drawn up to land special forces on the Argentinian airbase where the Super Étendard fighters that carried Exocets were based.
The operation was stalled by poor weather, when a helicopter carrying an SAS reconnaissance team was forced to land in Chile.
One Exocet hit and sank a requisitioned container ship, the Atlantic Conveyor, with the loss of 12 lives. It is possible that the missile had been deflected from the Royal Navy’s main aircraft carrier, HMS Hermes, after it fired chaff clouds.
The Atlantic Conveyor had been carrying a large number of helicopters and its loss forced British troops to march long distances across the islands.
A land-launched Exocet also struck the destroyer HMS Glamorgan. The missile skidded along the ship’s deck and exploded, killing 14 people, but the ship survived.
