5. The British assembled a naval task force to steam to the South Atlantic
On April 3, HMS Conqueror, a nuclear-powered fast attack submarine, left its moorings at the Royal Navy base at Faslane at the start of its voyage to the Falklands. HMS Invincible and HMS Hermes, both aircraft carriers equipped with Sea Harrier jump-jets, departed Her Majesty’s Naval Base Portsmouth. They were escorted by several frigates, destroyers, and support ships. On April 7, SS Canberra, an ocean liner, was requisitioned by the Royal Navy and used to carry 3 Commando Brigade to the war zone. Without time to convert the liner to a troop ship, the commandos undoubtedly enjoyed one of the more comfortable voyages of their military career. In May, Queen Elizabeth II was similarly used by the Royal Navy. It sailed with the 5th Infantry Brigade.
The British eventually deployed over 125 ships to the war zone, 43 of which were commissioned vessels of the Royal Navy. The rest were from the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) or were commercially owned cargo vessels. The fleet was nonetheless vulnerable. The two carriers combined could support 42 Harrier jump jets. By contrast, the Argentine Air Force had at least 50 air-superiority fighters, before receiving additional airplanes (and pilots, according to some accounts) from Peru. In total at the start of the war, 122 Argentine aircraft were available to be used as strike aircraft or air-to-air fighters. To counter the disparity, Ascension Island in the South Atlantic was quickly reinforced with long-range bombers, reconnaissance planes, and airborne tankers.