The British destroyer HMS'Antrim' (D18) underway during NATO exercise "Display Determination" on 29 October 1976 in the Mediterranean Sea. Note the Westland Wessex HAS3 helicopter on the flight deck.

A port side view of the Chilean Navy County Class destroyer Almirante Cochrane (HMS Antrim as was) entering port while operating with a joint US Navy force as part of the exercise. Two Puma type ASW helicopters are on the flight deck at the rear.

HMS Antrim was a County-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy launched on 19 October 1967. In the Falklands War, she was the flagship for the recovery of South Georgia, participating in the first ever anti-submarine operation successfully conducted exclusively by helicopters. In 1984, she was commissioned into the Chilean Navy, and renamed Almirante Cochrane.

HMS Antrim first commissioned in 1970 and served her first commission in home and Mediterranean waters. In the mid-1970s, the Royal Navy removed 'B' turret and replaced it with four Exocet missile launchers to give her a much more powerful anti-ship capability. After installation of the Exocet missiles it was found that the missile could be activated by small arms fire, so armoured plates were fitted to the outer sides of the missiles containers. In 1976 her commission included a visit to Stockholm, where she represented the Royal Navy at the wedding of the King of Sweden.

In 1982 she formed part of the Royal Navy task force for service in the Falklands War. HMS Antrim was the flagship of Operation Paraquet, the recovery of South Georgia in April 1982, where she took part in a 400 shell bombardment. Her helicopter, a Westland Wessex HAS.Mk3, was responsible for the rescue of 16 SAS men from Fortuna Glacier, and the crew of two previous rescue helicopters that had crashed. The aircraft played a key role in the detection and disabling of the Argentinian submarine Santa Fe. This was the first ever anti-submarine operation successfully conducted exclusively by helicopters.

Captain Lagos, Commander of the Argentine forces on South Georgia, signed the surrender document for the Argentine Forces there in her wardroom. Lieutenant-Commander Alfredo Astiz signed a separate document shortly afterwards aboard HMS Plymouth.

While supporting the main landing at San Carlos Water, 12 bombs narrowly missed, but a 1,000 lb (450 kg) bomb penetrated HMS Antrim through the deck and straight into the Sea Slug magazinte room, It did not explode or kill anyone, however it took 10 hours to defuse and remove. 'They had the luck of the Irish with them that day', HMS Antrim fired one of her Sea Slug missile's at an Argentine Air Force A-4 Skyhawk, but did not hit it's target.

HMS Antrim was decommissioned in 1984 and sold to Chile on 22nd June 1984. The Chileans renamed her Almirante Cochrane after Thomas Cochrane, who had commanded the Chilean Navy from 1817 to 1822. In 1994, Almirante Cochrane underwent the same refit as her sister ship Blanco Encalada. This entailed removing her Sea Slug launcher and extending her deck aft to allow the installation of a new, larger hangar. In 1996 she received the Barak SAM in place of her Seacat launchers. The Chilean Navy decommissioned Almirante Cochrane on 7th December 2006. On 11th December 2010, she was towed to China for scrap. Operation Paraquet was the code name given for the British military operation to recapture the island of South Georgia from Argentine military control in April 1982 at the start of the Falklands War. The official name "Paraquet" is an alternative spelling of Parakeet, but the operation is perhaps more widely known as Operation Paraquat, an unofficial name adopted by troops in the South Atlantic who feared the operation would prove as lethal to them as the weedkiller Paraquat. This view prompted the expression "Kill Paraquat before it kills us." The operation, a subsidiary of the main Operation Corporate (recapture of the Falkland Islands from Argentina) was successful, leading to the island being restored to British control on 25th April 1982.

Prompted by the British war cabinet who needed a demonstration of political resolve, the operation was ordered by Admiral John Fieldhouse at Northwood Headquarters and planned by staff at 3 Commando Brigade. Major General Jeremy Moore of the Royal Marines was told to provide a Commando company group for a secret mission. Originally selecting 45 Commando who had recently completed jungle warfare training, the final selection was 42 Commando who had recently been on a winter deployment to Norway. The second-in-command of 42 Commando, Major Guy Sheridan, an experienced mountaineer, was selected to be Landing Force Commander. M Company of 42 Commando, commanded by Captain Chris Nunn, was augmented by specialists from the Reconnaissance Troop, the Support Company, signals and medics; a total of 132 men. Sheridan requested the support of the Royal Marine Mountain and Arctic Warfare Cadre, but was instead given 19 (Mountain) Troop from D Squadron Special Air Service (SAS) from Ascension Island. In the event, the whole of D Squadron comprising not only the Mountain Troop, but also 16 (Mobility) Troop, 18 (Air) Troop and 17 (Boat) Troop along with the Squadron HQ all joined the force at Ascension. Finally, 2 Troop, Special Boat Squadron (2 SBS) and, as requested by Sheridan, two Naval Gunfire Forward Observation Parties (NGFOs) also joined the task group.

The already crowded accommodations in available ships became difficult with the inclusion of additional troops. The task group sailed from Ascension on 11th April, pausing to redistribute the SAS troops between ships on 13th April. The final disposition was that M Company were on the tanker Tidespring, 2 SBS, and the Mountain and Boat Troops SAS on the frigate, HMS Plymouth, with the rest of D Squadron on the destroyer HMS Antrim. Finally, 6 SBS were embarked in the submarine HMS Conquero his group, known as CTG 317.9, was commanded by Captain Brian Young of Antrim. The task group met with HMS Endurance on 14 April and on the following day, received written orders (dropped by an RAF Nimrod aircraft) for the operation from Admiral Fieldhouse dated 12 April and giving a landing date of 21st April.

HMS Conqueror was first on the scene and carried out a survey of key areas of the South Georgia coast. The operation was originally supposed to involve both SAS and Special Boat Service (SBS) forces being infiltrated onto South Georgia by helicopters from Tidespring and Antrim, but the plan had to be changed when the two Wessex helicopters transporting the SAS troops from an ambitious location on the northeast coast crashed in bad weather on Fortuna Glacier; the troops and aircrew were rescued by Antrim's Wessex helicopter, the last Wessex remaining to the expedition.

The Argentine submarine forces consisted of four boats. Two were modern type 209 submarines and two were GUPPY conversions of United States World War II fleet submarines. One of the latter, ARA Santa Fe, was the only Argentine submarine to see combat during the conflict. Her sensors were unreliable, and the charge capacity of her aged batteries was much reduced from their original design. Santa Fe transported troops while under orders to remain undetected, not to attack any ships, and to break contact with any ship which might detect her.

On 9th April Santa Fe left port in Argentina with eleven technicians to restore utility services on New Georgia and nine marines with Bantam anti-tank missiles to reinforce the original invading force armed only with rifles and machine-guns.

There followed a helicopter assault by an improvised group of Special Forces and Royal Marines, with two Royal Navy vessels (Antrim and Plymouth) conducting a naval bombardment demonstration on the low hills opposite Grytviken. The garrison at Grytviken and the crew of the disabled Santa Fe surrendered to M Company, 42 Commando, Royal Marines, after fifteen minutes at 17.15 GMT, although the garrison at Leith Harbour, under the command of Lieutenant Commander Alfredo Astiz, surrendered the following day. Sweden and France requested Astiz's extradition from the British authorities after learning about his capture, but his captors rejected the petition.

Wildlife film maker Cindy Buxton and her assistant Annie Price, who had been filming in an isolated part of the island before the invasion, were evacuated by a helicopter to HMS Endurance on 30 April.

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