Editing Exocet (section)

====HMS ''Sheffield''====
''[[HMS Sheffield (D80)|Sheffield]]'' was a [[Type 42 destroyer|Type 42]] [[guided missile destroyer]].  On 4 May 1982, Sheffield was at defence watches (second-degree readiness) the southernmost of three Type 42 destroyers when she was hit by one of two AM39 air-launched Exocet missiles fired by Argentine Super Étendard [[strike fighter]]s. The second missile splashed into the sea about half-mile off her [[beam (nautical)|port beam]].<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/D5E979F4-CD1D-4626-86B5-F432355861EA/0/phase2_part2_narrative_of_attach.pdf |title=Sheffield Board Of Inquiry: Narrative of the attack |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071212000955/http://www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/D5E979F4-CD1D-4626-86B5-F432355861EA/0/phase2_part2_narrative_of_attach.pdf |archive-date=12 December 2007 |date= 22 July 1982 |page= 6}}</ref>

The missile that struck ''Sheffield'' impacted on the starboard side at deck level 2, travelling through the junior ratings' scullery and breaching the Forward Auxiliary Machinery Room/Forward Engine Room bulkhead {{convert|2.4|m|ftin}} above the waterline, creating a hole in the hull roughly {{convert|1.2|by|3|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}. It appears that the warhead did not explode.<ref>{{cite report |date=28 May 1982 |title=Loss of HMS Sheffield – Board of Inquiry |url=http://www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/9D8947AC-D8DC-4BE7-8DCC-C9C623539BCF/0/boi_hms_sheffield.pdf |publisher=[[Commander-in-Chief Fleet]] |location=[[Northwood Headquarters|Northwood]] |page=2 |access-date=9 December 2018 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206212020/http://www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/9D8947AC-D8DC-4BE7-8DCC-C9C623539BCF/0/boi_hms_sheffield.pdf |archive-date=6 February 2012}}</ref> Twenty members of her crew were killed and 26 injured. The ship foundered while under tow on 10 May. The loss of ''Sheffield'' was a deep shock to the British public and government.

The official Royal Navy Board of Inquiry Report stated that evidence indicates that the warhead did not detonate. During the four and a half days that the ship remained afloat, five salvage inspections were made and a number of photographs were taken. Members of the crew were interviewed and testimony was given by Exocet specialists (the Royal Navy had 15 surface combat ships armed with Exocets in the Falklands War). There was no evidence of an explosion, although burning propellant from the rocket motor caused fires which could not be checked as firefighting equipment had been put out of action.