Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Assessment/British nuclear weapons and the Falklands War

British nuclear weapons and the Falklands War

Instructions for nominators and reviewers

Nominator(s): Nick-D (talk)

While nuclear weapons were obviously not used in the 1982 Falklands War, there's an interesting nuclear aspect to the conflict. The Royal Navy warships that were sent to the South Atlantic carried most of the British stockpile of nuclear depth bombs, mainly as it would have taken too long to have offloaded them. The British government and military did not seriously consider using nuclear weapons and the War Cabinet never wanted the depth bombs sent south. It was reported during and after the war that a British ballistic missile submarine had been sent to menace Argentina but historians have found no evidence that such a deployment took place. Interestingly, it emerged in recent years that British Prime Minister Thatcher might have been willing to use nuclear weapons if the war had gone disastrously for her.

I developed this article to set the record straight after a really bad article on this topic was developed and rightly deleted. It's turned out to be a much more complex and interesting topic than I expected. The article was assessed as a GA in mid-June and has since been considerably expanded and improved so I'm hopeful that the A-class criteria are met. Thank you in advance for your comments. Nick-D (talk) 09:57, 28 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Hawkeye7

Great work on this article. A fine piece of scholarship.

Jumbled phrase: "for if the had war gone badly"
- Tweaked Nick-D (talk) 10:12, 30 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

"Prior to the war Britain had ratified the Treaty of Tlatelolco" Say when this was?
- Done Nick-D (talk) 10:12, 30 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Link kilos of TNT? Convert?
- Done Nick-D (talk) 10:12, 30 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

"the British government issued a 'Negative Security Assurance'" Use double quotes per MOS:DOUBLE
- Done Nick-D (talk) 10:12, 30 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Link Ministry of Defence, Permanent secretary (UK), Foreign Secretary
- Done Nick-D (talk) 10:12, 30 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

"a 300-yard (270 m) radius" The metric should be used first, with the imperial source in parentheses. (MOS:METRIC)
- Done Nick-D (talk) 10:12, 30 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

" a RFA vessel wasn't" an RFA? And "wasn't" should be "was not" (MOS:CONTRACTION)
- Fixed Nick-D (talk) 10:12, 30 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

"The containers holding several active and inert nuclear weapons were damaged during transfers" The source says seven.

Hawkeye7 (discuss) 21:38, 28 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

- Clarified. Thanks a lot for this review Nick-D (talk) 10:12, 30 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Source review

All sources are of good quality.

fn 2 and 4: Imperial War Museums is italicised in the former, but not the latter
- Fixed Nick-D (talk) 10:19, 30 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

fn 34: This is on pp. 57-58 (My 2005 edition may be different?)
- It would seem so - the material on nuclear weapons starts on page 59 in my version, which is the paperback edition. Nick-D (talk) 10:19, 30 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

fn 39: Should be pp. 60-62, not 62
- @Hawkeye7: Can I check which iteration of this footnote you're referring to here? Nick-D (talk) 10:19, 30 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Spot checks: fn 41, 49 - okay
- Thanks for this Nick-D (talk) 10:19, 30 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Image review - pass

File:Falklands, Campaign, (Distances to bases) 1982.jpg - US Army image - PD - okay
File:Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.jpg - White House photograph - PD- okay
File:WE177 training nuclear bomb at Explosion Museum.jpg - Wikipedia image - UK had freedom of panorama - okay
File:HMS Hermes (R12) underway on 16 March 1982 (6350754).jpg, File:RFA Fort Austin (A386) underway c1982.JPEG, File:HMS Repulse (S23) in the Firth of Clyde c1979.jpg - US Navy image - PD- okay
File:Avro 698 Vulcan B2, UK - Air Force AN1236893.jpg - GNU FDL - okay

All images are appropriately licensed Hawkeye7 (discuss) 19:15, 28 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]