The South Atlantic medal awarded to Lieutenant D. R. Mugridge, Royal Navy, who was duty...

The South Atlantic medal awarded to Lieutenant D. R. Mugridge, Royal Navy, who was duty navigating officer in the frigate H.M.S. Antelope when she was bombed and sunk in San Carlos Water in May 1982 South Atlantic 1982, with rosette (Lt D R Mugridge RN HMS Antelope) extremely fine £1,200-£1,600 --- Importation Duty This lot is subject to importation duty of 5% on the hammer price unless exported outside the UK --- --- Provenance: Alan Hall Collection, June 2000. David Rhodri Mugridge was born in Cardiff, Glamorganshire in July 1953, and entered the Royal Navy as a Midshipman in the Royal Naval College Dartmouth in September 1971. Confirmed in the rank of Sub Lieutenant on his passing out in September 1973, he joined the frigate H.M.S. Naiad, followed by time in the counter measures ship Crichton, in which he was advanced to Lieutenant in January 1978. But it was in the courses of his subsequent appointment to the frigate Antelope in 1981-82 that he witnessed active service in the South Atlantic. Antelope arrived on station off the Falklands on 21 May 1982, and, two days later, was allocated to air defence duties at the entrance to San Carlos Water. Here she came under attack from four Argentine Skyhawks, operating in pairs. The first pair swept in low from astern, one of them being damaged by a Sea Cat missile and forced to break away but the other delivering a 1,000lb. bomb through Antelope’s starboard side. It failed to explode but killed one of her crew. The second pair of Skyhawks attacked moments later from the starboard side and one of them delivered another well-aimed 1,000lb. bomb which penetrated Antelope amidships but also failed to explode. The aircraft in question was hit by Oerlikon 20mm. fire and collided with Antelope’s main mast before disintegrating. Antelope withdrew to more sheltered waters to await the arrival of two bomb disposal specialists from the Royal Engineers, Warrant Officer Phillips and Staff Sergeant James Prescott. On arrival, one of the bombs was deemed inaccessible and work commenced on the other, but three attempts to remove the fuse by remote means failed. Tragically a fourth attempt, using a small explosive device, detonated the bomb, killing Prescott immediately and severely wounding Phillips. The detonation tore Antelope open from her waterline to her funnel, fracturing the starboard fire main in addition to further serious damage. With major fires spreading and no electrical power, Commander Nick Tobin gave the order to abandon ship. He was the last man to depart the crippled frigate and, about five minutes later, her missile magazines started to explode, thereby providing some of the most iconic photographs to emerge from the conflict. By dawn it was evident that Antelope had broken her keel, and her superstructure appeared as a mass of melted, twisted metal. She sank later that day. An excellent firsthand account of Antelope’s fate appears in Michael Ashcroft’s Falklands War Heroes, as provided by Chief Petty Officer Malcolm Cooper. Following his return from the Falklands, Mugridge resigned from the Royal Navy in 1983. Commander Nick Tobin was awarded the D.S.C.