Nick Barker (Royal Navy officer)

Nicholas Barker

CBE FRGS
Birth nameNicholas John Barker
Born(1933-05-19)19 May 1933
Sliema, British Malta
Died7 April 1997(1997-04-07) (aged 63)
Low Farnham, Northumberland, England
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
BranchRoyal Navy
Service years1951–1988
RankCaptain
Commands
WarsFalklands War
Awards

Nicholas John Barker CBE FRGS (19 May 1933 – 7 April 1997) was an English senior Royal Navy officer and commanding officer of the survey ship HMS Endurance during the Falklands War.

Career

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Barker served in the Royal Navy between 1951 and 1988. Besides Endurance, he held the following commands: HMS Brereton, HMS Jupiter, HMS Nubian, HMS Arrow and HMS Sheffield. He was also commander of the Fishery Protection Squadron between 1984 and 1986.[1]

While permanently stationed in the South Atlantic, he warned the British Ministry of Defence of increased activity of the Argentine forces and the potential of an invasion of the Falkland Islands.[2]

Barker believed that Defence Secretary John Nott's 1981 Defence White Paper (in which Nott described plans to withdraw the Endurance, the UK's only naval presence in the South Atlantic) had sent a signal to the Argentines that the UK was unwilling, and would soon be unable, to defend its territories and subjects in the Falklands.[2][3]

Despite Barker's messages, the United Kingdom took no action and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher claimed there had been no warning.[4]

Barker's warnings were dismissed in Whitehall as an attempt to save the Endurance, which was due to be paid off as part of defence cuts.[5] The conflict he had tried to forewarn would later be called the Falklands War. Barker was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in October 1982 for his actions during the war.[2]

Publications

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  • Beyond Endurance: An Epic of Whitehall and the South Atlantic Conflict. London: Leo Cooper. 2002. ISBN 9780850528794.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Deaths: Capt Nicholas John (Nick) Barker". Navy News. 1997. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  2. ^ a b c Briley, Harold (9 April 1997). "Obituary: Captain Nicholas Barker". The Independent. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
  3. ^ Barnett, Correlli (1997). "The high cost of cuts". The Spectator. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
  4. ^ "War in the Falklands: Maggie's finest hour". The Northern Echo. 9 April 2013. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
  5. ^ Sloyan, Patrick (24 April 2013). "And that's the way it was: April 24, 1982". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
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