The ex-USS Guam (LPH-9) takes a hit from an anti-ship missile.
She was expended as a target on October 16,
2001.
This photo was taken by a crewman on a life
raft, after abandoning the Argentine cruiser
General Belgrano, built in the USA as the USS Phoenix. In the late afternoon of May 2, 1982, she
was struck by two Mark 8 torpedoes fired
from the British sub HMS Conqueror. The first
hit just forward of the aft turrets and doomed
the vessel, while the second wrecked the
bow. This photo was taken 10-20 minutes after
the hits, and the vessel sank by the stern
20-25 minutes later. General Belgrano earned the dubious honor of being the largest
ship sunk since WWII, and the first ever
to fall victim to a nuclear submarine.
The British destroyer HMS Coventrysinking after being struck by bombs dropped
by Argentine aircraft May 25, 1982.
