Faction:
Sol de Mayo (Argentine Republic)
Class:
Brooklyn-class Light Cruiser
Background:
ARA General Belgrano is the former USS Phoenix, a Brooklyn-class Light Cruiser who fought in various battles and operations during the Pacific War. She was sold to Argentina in 1951, and was originally named Diecisiete de Octobre, after a holiday celebrated in Argentina, but would be later renamed General Belgrano after its founding father.
She was one of the ships that took part in the 1955 coup that overthrew Juan Perón. But Belgrano was more known for her sinking in the 1982 Falklands War, being sunk by HMS Conqueror, the first time a ship was sunk by a nuclear-powered submarine, and second ship sunk by a sub after World War II (the first being Blackwood-class frigate INS Khukri being sunk by Daphné-class submarine PNS Hangor during the Third Indo-Pakistani War).
The event caused by this helped eliminate the Argentine Navy as a factor, and would contribute to Britain’s victory in the war, with it marking the fall of the Argentine military junta, also known as the National Reorganization Process.
Namesake:
General Belgrano was named after Manuel Belgrano (full name: José Joaquín del Corazón de Jesús Belgrano y González), (1770-1820), one of the Libertadores of South America. The fourth child of Sardinian-Ligurian merchant and politician Dominico Belgrano, Manuel contributed to the independence of Argentina alongside other libertadores José de San Martín and Mariano Moreno. Belgrano was also credited for creating the flag of Argentina, whose modern form (adopted in 1861) serves as the nation’s flag to this day.
Her previous name, Diecisiete de Octubre, Spanish for 17 October, is commemorated as Loyalty Day, a minor holiday in Argentina that saw popular demonstrations led to the release of Juan Perón, a move that saw his Peronist movement come into national prominence, and ultimately to become Argentina's 29th President.
Her name in American service, Phoenix was the third ship to carry the name but the first to be named after the city of Phoenix, Arizona. Phoenix was settled as an agricultural community on the confluence of the Salt and Gila Rivers in 1867, and would be incorporated as a city in 1881. The city would become the capital of the Ari
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I understand some of the context to the event. The islands had been hotly contested for centuries. The ship was outside of the exclusion zone. I understand why it could be considered somewhat of a dick move, but I don't understand people calling it a warcrime. Argentina had invaded what was largely considered British territory and were occupying it. This is the same as basically invading Britain itself, isn't it? It seems to me when you're at war, especially one you've started for no real reason other than ego, you shouldn't expect your enemy to be nice to you. The ship had shown aggressive posturing recently also. It just seems like calling this a warcrime is a stretch when the other country started and were maintainig the hostilities. I guess Britain was expected to be the more "mature" country and try to find a way to peace even though they were on the defensive? Maybe someone could put it in better context for me?
