They also did pretty good work in the Falklands War.
Well that one was by the skin of their teeth eh - had they waited a few more months then there would have been no chance of sending Warspite south
The Argentine Government only acted after HMS Warspite had gone into a planned deep refit (which John Nott turned into here decommissioning the cad) and her sister HMS Queen Elizabeth of course which had taken over from Warspite had the hanger fire over Xmas 82 in the Solent during her post refit working up which suddenly (on paper at least) left the UK with out a proper carrier*
It was only the Dockworker strike during the Winter of 83 that meant that Warspite's Decommissioning had not yet really started (The Argentine intelligence had seen all of the porta-cabins and bric a brac on her deck as well as some paint stripping etc and assumed that she was too far along to quickly return to service) as it was those same dockworkers and others throughout the UK that returned her to service in just 6 days
The sudden Air strike by a force of 12 Buccaneer MK3s on May 1st on the Rio Grande air base destroyed 10 of the Argentine Navy's 14 Super Étendards as well as 1 of the 2 SH-2 Neptune's on the Ground as well as the Fuel depot and much of the Military base part of the Airport. It was thought at the time that all of the AM-39 Exocets where destroyed by several direct hits to the bases Ammo bunker and weapon workshops - but subsequent events proved that his was not the case.
Badly damaged on the 15th May by an launched missile hit while closing with the mainland to conduct a third raid Warspites crew managed to return her to the battle 3 days later (the Argentine Navy claimed she had been sunk) and 5 Specialised Buccaneers who had flown out from the Ascension Islands (a minor epic) returned the favour by hitting 21st De Mayo and the Hercules with several Sea Eagle missiles as the Argentine Carrier group tried to close the range to the British Amphibious task force.
With Hawkeye directed F4KBs providing air cover the landings were virtually uncontested and the Marines and Paras of 3rd Cdo Brigade (rerolled as an Air Assault Brigade) soon defeated the Argentine defenders around port Stanley in a series of well executed night assaults.
*There was some talk of the Commando carrier HMS Bulwark and the recently commissioned Light Carrier HMS Indomitable operating Hawker/BAe kestrel VTOL Fighters to cover a task force - but they would not be a match for the Fast Isreali and French Jets then being operated by the Argentines.