`HMS Sheffield`

Galvanic-corrosion theory of why the aluminum superstructure of the Sheffield burned after the Exocet hit. Connects to the steel-aluminum transition joint case (§4.p1). Tom flags this as a disputed theory.

The only problem is you've now put a galvanic couple of aluminum and iron into a seawater environment, and it corrodes just great. There are theories — there are disputes about this — but I told you about the Exocet missile that hit the Sheffield. This was before most of you were born, but those of us living in the early '80s remember. The Argentinians decided to take over the Falkland Islands, which are off the coast of South America, off the coast of Argentina. Argentina claims them, but the British have had them from when the British Empire ruled the world and the sun never set on it. They call them the Falklands, which is a Scottish name, and the Argentinians call them something else. In the early '80s the Argentinians decided that Britain was now a third-world country, so far away they couldn't fight a war in the Argentinians' backyard. They invaded the Falklands. This is sort of the same thing going on now between China and Japan over little islands — these things get to be important because underneath them you have oil deposits.