Invasion of South Georgia 1982
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 3 April 1982 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1982 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | Post-1945 (1946 onwards) | derived from year |
| Location | South Georgia and the Islands | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Islands & open ocean | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Falklands War | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | -54.2852, -36.4991 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The invasion of South Georgia, also known as the Battle of Grytviken or Operation Georgias, took place on 3 April 1982, when Argentine Navy forces seized control of the east coast of South Georgia after overpowering a small group of Royal Marines at Grytviken. Though outnumbered, the Royal Marines shot down a helicopter and hit the Argentine corvette ARA Guerrico several times before being forced to surrender. It was one of the first episodes of the Falklands War, immediately succeeding the invasion on the Falkland Islands the day before.
The operation had been prepared on 19 March, when a group of Argentine civilian scrap metal workers arrived at Leith Harbour on board the transport ship ARA Bahía Buen Suceso without the required landing clearance and then raised the Argentine flag. The scrap workers had been infiltrated by Argentine marines posing as civilian scientists.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Invasion of South Georgia (revision 1375909832), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Other battles of the Falklands War
- Battle of Goose Green 1982
- Battle of Mount Harriet 1982
- Battle of Mount Kent 1982
- Battle of Mount Longdon 1982
- Battle of Mount Tumbledown 1982
- Battle of San Carlos (1982) 1982
- Battle of Seal Cove 1982
- Battle of Two Sisters 1982
- Battle of Wireless Ridge 1982
- Bluff Cove air attacks 1982
All 14 battles of the Falklands War →
Browse more: battles in South Georgia and the Islands · Islands & open ocean · Post-1945 battles