Invincible mobilizes for the Falklands

Hermes became the Falklands task force flagship because her recently improved communications and greater staff accommodation better suited the role. Invincible prepared to sail while dockyard workers and sailors loaded fuel and ammunition simultaneously, setting aside normal safety arrangements. Her eight Sea Harriers joined twelve aboard Hermes, giving the departing carriers twenty aircraft between them. Invincible's second-in-command went ahead with a planned transfer because his replacement was ready and a diplomatic settlement still seemed possible, a decision he later regretted. Soon after departure, a gearbox coupling required replacement and the carrier continued on one shaft. An RAF Chinook delivered the component with a Sea King guiding it through fog, and the engineers carried out the repair at sea. The air group trained during the passage while Captain Jeremy Black recorded apprehension about the unfamiliar prospect of combat against modern aircraft, missiles, and submarines.