Gibraltar’s role in Falklands war explored in new novel

The role played by Gibraltar during the 1982 Falklands war is being explored in a new thriller novel.
‘Rock Scorpion’ is inspired by one of the least-known secret operations of the brief but bloody war, when Argentina sent an elite team of naval divers to Spain to carry out sabotage attacks against Royal Navy ships during stopovers at Gibraltar whilst en route to the South Atlantic.
“I’ve long been fascinated with the Falklands conflict, and felt that the critical part played by Gibraltar in supporting the Task Force has been unfairly ignored, so this story presented an opportunity to explore that connection,” said author Steven Taylor.
After British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher despatched a naval task force to recover the Falkland Islands, following Argentina’s surprise invasion of the British territory on 2 April 1982, the commander of the Argentine Navy Admiral Jorge Anaya sent a four-man team of divers – led by intelligence officer Lieutenant Hector Rosales – to Algeciras to identify a suitable ship to destroy with limpet mines.
Eventually, Rosales and his team settled on the Leander-class frigate HMS Ariadne, which arrived in Gibraltar in early May to serve as guardship.
However, just hours before the frogmen were due to set off from Algeciras in a dinghy to launch their dive attack, the Argentines were arrested at the hotel in San Roque where they were staying by Spanish police.
The police had received a tip-off from the owner of a vehicle rental company the Argentines had hired a car from, who suspected they were a gang of South American bank robbers local businesses had earlier been warned by the police were thought to be active in the area.
Within a few hours of their arrest, the team was quietly deported back to Argentina, without any charges being pressed by the Spanish authorities.
Rock Scorpion follows an ex-British soldier turned MI5 officer, who’s sent to Gibraltar in the opening weeks of the conflict and uncovers a conspiracy involving Argentina and rogue elements of the Spanish military to destroy a vital British supply ship docked in the harbour.
Taylor is also a military historian, who’s published books about military aviation in Northern Ireland during ‘The Troubles’ and high-altitude aircraft of World War II.

● Rock Scorpion is now available to buy in ebook and paperback format from Amazon. Author website: www.steventayloronline.co.uk