| We will be providing first hand accounts by the survivors from Foxtrot 4 and also by the Royal Navy team seconded to M.V. Monsunen. The press piece from Penguin News from an Interview with the civilian skipper of M.V. Monsunen, Fin Furguson is now available after I contacted Fin's daughter and she managed to get a copy for us. We are also putting pressure on Kew to get release of the 17 page report. We can though now say how could anyone create a full report on the events without interviewing the two survivors, which has been confirmed never happened by Mne Paul Cruden. All the news we are finding out is damning of one man and of 5 Brigade and we will have a full write up from several sources later this year. |
| Penguin News Interview with Fin Ferguson |
THE late Finlay Ferguson who sadly passed away in February this year was a hugely patriotic character who attended every Liberation Day in his quiet and respectful manner.
His absence was duly noted and a glass raised in his honour by his friends this year and it seemed appropriate to record some of Fin’s less known activities as a seafarer in 1982 and his brave efforts to assist the British Forces.
Fin’s war was an eventful one which began soon after the invasion when as captain of the Penelope he received an urgent message from the FIC manager Brook Hardcastle to sail to Egg Harbour in Falkland Sound to pick up the children of West Falkland who had been at the school hostel. Consequently they were driven overland from Stanley to Egg Harbour from where Fin transported them across to Port Howard for collection by their par-ents.
Just a day or so later an Argentine crew took over Penelope and the local crew were instructed to remain working on the ship initially, but they were finally allowed to leave the vessel at Egg Harbour from where they walked back to Goose Green only to be locked up together with the other civilians in the Social Club where they stayed until the lib-eration of the settlement on May 29.
Following the battle for Goose Green and the release of the locals from the hall, Fin took up the role of skipper on the Monsunen. Unfortunately for him there was already a Royal Navy officer on the ship, a Lieutenant McLaren, who was there to control their movements and operations. In Lt McLaren’s eyes, the Monsunen was his ship.
On June 7, Fin and the Monsunen moved a full load of about 200 Gur-khas and Paras from Goose Green to Fitzroy, as part of the effort to move the 5th Infantry Brigade forward as quickly as possible. Once unloaded, the Monsunen returned to GooseGreen for another load. The safe navigation of the Monsunen through the challenging waters of Choiseul Sound in the dark was entirely down to Fin. The trip was about four hours each way.
By first light on June 8 1982 the Monsunen was again alongside the jetty at Goose Green. She was joined by the LCU (Landing Craft Utility) Foxtrot Four from HMS Fearless, with Royal Marine Colour Sergeant Brian Johnston in command. Both vessels were loaded with further elements of 5 Brigade for the big move to Fitzroy. Foxtrot Four was loaded with six Land Rovers, sig-nals equipment, and some personnel of 5 Brigade’s HQ and Signal Squadron. The Monsunen’s derricks were used to load the vehicles on to Foxtrot Four. Monsunen meanwhile, was to transport another 180 soldiers that were predominantly Gurkhas.
Both vessels were to make a night passage to Fitzroy, but an Officer at Goose Green ordered them to sail in daylight as the rest of 5 Brigade required their loads at Fitzroy ur-gently. Colour Sergeant Johnston could see how important the signals equipment was and left immediately. Fin, on the other hand, refusedto go, arguing that the fine weather would almost certainly mean that Argentine jets would be out and he didn’t want to be caught in broad daylight with a ship full of soldiers. Very few had lifejackets and none had survival suits. Lt McLaren wanted to sail and ordered Fin to do so, but after a “heated exchange” Fin put him in his place and they stayed put until dark.
The soldiers were loaded on to Monsunen in the late afternoon. By then the tragic news had been received that Argentine Skyhawks had caught Foxtrot Four in Choi-seul Sound and attacked her. The bombs and cannon fire destroyed the wheelhouse and badly damaged the stern, killing six personnel including Colour Sergeant Johnston. The survivors shuffled the vehicles forward to raise the stern and keep Foxtrot Four afloat. A Sea King helicopter arrived and lifted the survivors off and took them to shore and to medical facilities on Uganda..
With Foxtrot Four abandoned and adrift near the entrance of Choiseul Sound, Fin received instructions via Lt McLaren that they were to locate the LCU, take her in tow and then proceed to Fitzroy. Fin told Lt. McLaren – “Thank Christ we didn’t go with her!” According to Fin, he didn’t reply. It wasn’t explained to Fin why it was necessary to go after the landing craft, but he found out why many years later. Two of the Land Rovers were fitted with cryptographic equipment for secure communications, and if they fell into Argentine hands then 5 Brigades communications could be compromised.
Fin pulled Monsunen away from the Goose Green jetty and headed off into the darkness and down Choiseul Sound in search of Fox-trot Four. They found her about two miles south-east of Fox Point, in the mouth of Choiseul Sound. Fin had spoken to his boys about how they would get a tow on Foxtrot Four, but Lt McLaren had his own ideas and good deal of chaos and confusion followed. Fin’s biggest concern then was avoiding heavy contact. With the two vessels in close proximity in a big swell there was a real danger that Foxtrot Four could punch a hole in Monsunen and send her to the bottom. It called for supreme ship handling on Fin’s part. As Fin fought to control Monsunen in a big wallowing swell, the line was passed before he was ready and it ended up tangled around Monsunen’s propeller. At that point Fin said he was ready to throw Lt McLaren overboard.
Some Gurkhas bravely tried to untangle the rope but failed and the ship was immobilised. Without propulsion Monsunen slowly swung side-on to the swell and started to roll heavily. Many of the poor troops in the hold got seasick.
McLaren reported their predica-ment by radio and HMS Yarmouth was ordered to go to their aid. Fin said that the arrival of Yarmouth was one of the most breath-taking things he had ever seen. She was in complete black-out and they could hear her long before they could see her. When at last she came in to view, her bow slowly loomed out of the darkness, towering above theMonsunen’s bridge wing. At first Fin thought Yarmouth was going to run them down, but she stopped suddenly, very close to Monsunen. They lowered a Gemini inflatable and two divers quickly cleared the propeller. Just as quickly as she ar-rived, HMS Yarmouth backed off and disappeared into the night.
By now most of the troops were very seasick and in a bad way in the stuffy hold. Fin got Monsunen under way and decided to anchor in the lee of the Sea Lion Islands in Choiseul Sound to give the soldiers a break. This was a familiar anchor-age that he was able to find easily in the dark.
Foxtrot Four had drifted off into the darkness and was never seen again. She sank, taking her dead and precious cargo with her. Orders came through for the Monsunen to return to Goose Green where a Chinook airlift awaited the troops. Fin had her back alongside the jetty before sunrise.
Fin’s refusal to sail in daylight probably averted a major disaster and saved countless lives. Had he sailed in company with Foxtrot Four then the Skyhawks would have had a choice of two targets, and with Monsunen being the largest it is reasonable to assume that they would have gone for her. His actions were nothing less than heroic and were never fully recognised.
Recalled by Allan White, from a personal account given by Finlay Ferguson.
A brief writeup about the events of the 8th of June 1982
Foxtrot 4 had sailed through the night to Goose Green where she was loaded with Land Rovers and trailers with specialist radio equipment aboard. The M.V. Monsunen was alongside and used her crane to lift the vehicles onto Foxtrot 4. There would be eight signallers and one Royal Engineers Officer aboard for the trip to Fitzroy.
The day was one of the best with clear skies and calm seas but, the day had already been dramatic with the attacks on the two LSL's Galahad and Tristram with those on Galahad suffering the worst of the day.
F4 was tasked with getting the equipment to Fitzroy as soon as possible so they set off in daylight which was not the normal procedure for a craft as they would be vulnerable.
We know the rough position from the officer who was aboard as he had been on the bridge just before the attack and Colour Sergeant Johnston had remarked that they were just off Johnson's Island. The officer then left and returned to his Land Rover.
The attack was by four Skyhawk A=4's under the code name 'Mazo flight,' they had spotted F4 and came towards her, at the time Marine Quigley was at the helm and proceeded to put her hard over to port in and evasive manoeuvre.
High above two Harriers were on CAP ( Combat Air Patrol) and the attack was witnessed by them, David Morgan (Sea Harrier ZA177) and his wingman Lt Dave Smith RN (Sea Harrier XZ499) were witness to the attack and put their planes into a deep dive towards the attacking planes. They saw the first plane strafe with its canons and miss by about 100 feet with its bomb, then the second plane flew in and scored a direct hit. Morgan managed to shoot down the first Skyhawk before it could attack again and quickly dispatched another, his wingman shot down the third with the fourth plane breaking away for Argentina, all three Argentinian pilots died with their planes. Morgan managed to give a very accurate account and position of the attack. Morgan sent out an immediate SAR request or Search and Rescue as he could see the damage was substantial to the vessel.
The bomb had torn through the vessel and exploded inside the engine room blowing a hole in the bottom a that saw one of the engines blown out, the explosion took out the radio shack and the bridge was blown apart Marine Quigley was blown from the bridge into the water but later managed to get back aboard over the rear that was slightly submerged as she was taking on water fast due to the gaping hole in the engine room. The bomb had damaged most of the starboard side of the rear of F4. Five of the crew are presumed to have been killed instantly in the blast, Marine Quigly had minor injuries and Marine Cruden had suffered injuries to his head and face, Marine Griffin suffered major injuries. Both Griffin and Cruden were rescued by the passengers on the Tank Deck who managed to get them through the damaged bulkhead from the crew accommodation. Marine Griffin had suffered fatal injuries and died on the deck despite the best efforts of those around.
Fires that had ignited were quickly extinguished using fire extinguishers from the Land Rovers. The light was starting to fade.
The survivors included Two Royal Marine crew, eight Royal Signals and a Royal Engineers Officer. The Royal Signals account states that “F4 was over a mile from land in the gathering dark. Both of F4's life rafts had been damaged, and no message had been sent due to the speed of the attack. The Signallers moved the Land Rovers as far forward as possible to help counterbalance and raise the slowly sinking stern and slow the rate of flooding. Marine Quigley checked the LCU forward watertight spaces vents to ascertain if they have been ruptured. No air had escaped, so a degree of forward buoyancy remained.
One of the Lance Corporal Signallers, managed to get a Clansman radio working and tuned into a 5 Infantry Brigade frequency. An urgent Mayday call for assistance was sent, This was received by 5 Brigade around 20.35. MV Monsunen received a directive on sailing at 20.40 to proceed and assist. The Lance Corporal did not give a Grid Reference; reporting the attack as “off Johnson’s Island.” It can reasonably be assumed that an operator at 5 Brigade converted this into the wrong location, when F4 would actually have been at least 2.5nm further east in the originally recorded attack position.
A Royal Signals account states that they received a message that two light helicopters (Scout or Gazelle) from 656 Sqn Army Air Corps would attempt to locate F4 to pinpoint its position for the RN rescue helicopter. A light was to be shown by survivors to aid these small helicopters when they were heard, but unfortunately it was not seen. If they had been sent to the right location it might have quickened the rescue from F4 in the dark. Thankfully an RN Sea King, was heard and the light from F4 was seen. The Aircrew man lowered himself onto F4 to ascertain the physical state of the survivors and to conduct the recovery briefing. It took about 30 minutes to lift all the survivors into the helicopter. The survivors were flown first to Ajax Bay Field Hospital to land the three injured and then on to HMS Fearless
Five and a half hours after the attack, Monsunen sent a detailed damage report to HMS Fearless when she found F4. “Sea water was entering the vessel from aft, causing her to be down at the stern. F4 had been hit on the quarterdeck aft behind the bridge; devastating the steering gear compartment, engine room and crews’ quarters. The forward part of bridge and transom were only just hanging on. The forward part of the bridge had only suffered minor whip damage. The after part of well deck was awash to a depth of approximately three feet but well deck itself was mostly dry. The Land Rovers had taken some minor shrapnel hits.”
F4 was at this point slowly sinking and the Monsunen’s civilian skipper advised strongly against towing F4, stating that F4’s 115 tons would take his vessel (326 tons) down also if F4 sank. Monsunen was also overloaded with 500 fully armed personnel and equipment embarked. There was an attempted tow which had to be aborted after the rope fouled Monsunen’s propeller. HMS Yarmouth, was close by ready to commence Naval Gunfire Support, came across Monsunen. Yarmouth’s divers cleared the rope from the propeller at 06.30. It was now essential that Monsunen should depart and return to Goose Green before dawn at 11.12 .
Monsunen signalled F4’s last known position and that she was sinking slowly. Monsunen was to return 17 hours later to conduct a radar and visual search for F4. This search extended 19nm out from the entrance of Choiseul Sound on 10 June. Nothing was found.