South Georgia and The South Sandwich Islands - Military

Military

After the Falklands War in 1982, a full-time British military presence was maintained at King Edward Point on South Georgia. This was scaled down during the 1990s, and the last detachment left South Georgia in March 2001, when the new station was built and occupied by the British Antarctic Survey.

The main British military facility in the region is at RAF Mount Pleasant and the adjacent Mare Harbour naval base on East Falkland. Other than that, a handful of British naval vessels patrol the region. They visit South Georgia a few times each year, sometimes deploying small patrols of infantry. Flights by RAF C-130 Hercules and Vickers VC10 aircraft occasionally patrol the territory.

A Royal Navy destroyer or frigate and a Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessel carry out the Atlantic Patrol Task (South) mission in the surrounding area.

HMS Endurance, the British Royal Navy ice patrol ship, operated in the South Georgia area during part of most southern summer seasons until her near loss due to flooding in 2008. She carried out hydrological and mapping work as well as assisting with scientific fieldwork for the British Antarctic Survey, film and photographic units, and youth expedition group BSES Expeditions. Until a final decision on the fate of Endurance is made, the Royal Navy has chartered a Norwegian icebreaker, renamed the HMS Protector, to act as replacement for three years.