Sharkey Ward

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Commander

Nigel MacCartan-Ward

DSC AFC
Birth nameNigel David Ward
Nickname(s)"Sharkey"
Born(1943-09-22)22 September 1943
Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada
Died17 May 2024(2024-05-17) (aged 80)
Grenada
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchRoyal Navy
Years of service1962–1985
RankCommander
UnitFleet Air Arm
Commands held700A Sea Harrier Intensive Flying Trials Unit, 899 Naval Air Squadron, 801 Naval Air Squadron
Battles/warsFalklands War
AwardsDistinguished Service Cross
Air Force Cross
WebsiteOfficial website

Commander Nigel David "Sharkey" MacCartan-Ward, DSC, AFC (born Nigel David Ward, 1943–2024) was a Royal Navy officer who introduced the Sea Harrier aircraft to service with the Fleet Air Arm and commanded 801 Naval Air Squadron during the Falklands War. His nickname of "Sharkey" is traditional for anyone called Ward in the navy, after the Barbary corsair Jack Ward.[1]

Early life[edit]

Nigel David Ward was born on 22 September 1943 in Medicine Hat where his father, John Ward, was serving as a Squadron Leader in the RAF.[2] He changed his surname by deed poll in the early 1990s to MacCartan-Ward after his father’s death, in honour of the latter’s Irish ancestry.

Ward travelled to the United Kingdom in 1944 with his mother and elder brother – a five-week journey by sea, avoiding the U-boat threat. He was stricken with bronchiectasis and hospitalized for a year at the age of 5, and only survived the disease by spending three years in the dry climate of Pakistan at RAF Mauripur where his father was posted.[2]

After a return to England, he was educated as a boarder at Reading School where he became Head Boy and captained the rugby Team.[2] He learned to fly with an RAF Flying Scholarship in 1959, earning his Private Pilot’s Licence in a de Havilland Tiger Moth.[2]

Military career[edit]

In 1962, he entered Britannia Royal Naval College as a Naval Cadet on the General List.[3] After basic flying training he completed his training with the Fleet Air Arm on the Hawker Hunter and Sea Vixen. He was court-martialled in 1969 for terrifying members of the public on a low-level flight over Devon and Cornwall, receiving a formal reprimand. He then joined 892 Naval Air Squadron and flew the F-4K Phantom from HMS Ark Royal, where he qualified as an instructor. He then worked as a nuclear planning officer at NATO Allied Forces Northern Europe.[2][4] In 1976 he was appointed to be the naval staff officer responsible for the development of the Sea Harrier. By 1979, the Sea Harrier was ready to enter service, on cost and on time. That year, he took command of the Sea Harrier FRS.1 Intensive Flying Trials Unit at 700 Naval Air Squadron. Ward featured in an episode of Pebble Mill at One that year when he landed a Sea Harrier in a sports field next to the Pebble Mill Studios. This earned him the nickname "Mr Sea Harrier".[5][2] He was soon given command of 801 Squadron, based in HMS Invincible and was promoted to Commander.[2]

Falklands War[edit]

As commanding officer of 801 Squadron, Ward had to prepare the Sea Harrier for action in the South Atlantic. Aircraft and pilots were borrowed from the conversion unit, 899 Naval Air Squadron, and with a strength of eight aircraft they embarked in HMS Invincible on 4 April 1982.[6][7]

21 May 1982[edit]

Ward, flying Sea Harrier XZ451/006, was leading a division of three aircraft launched to carry out combat air patrol over the Falkland Sound, southwest of San Carlos Water. Two Pucara ground-attack aircraft operating from Goose Green at low level were detected by the air defence controller in HMS Brilliant. The three Sea Harriers were in the climb en route to Invincible when they were vectored towards the Pucaras. One of the Pucaras was attacked from abeam by the two Sea Harriers flown by Steve Thomas and Alisdair Craig but evaded being hit. Simultaneously, Ward attacked Major Carlos Tomba's aircraft from behind with his ADEN cannon, setting the starboard engine on fire and damaging the port aileron. He immediately re-attacked hitting the fuselage and port engine. In his third and final run flying as low as 10 feet above the ground, he destroyed the cockpit canopy and upper fuselage. Tomba ejected from the Pucara at very low-level before the aircraft crashed north-west of Drone Hill. Tomba was unhurt and walked back to Goose Green.[7][8]

Later that same day Ward, in Sea Harrier ZA175, and his wingman, Steve Thomas, were carrying out a low-level combat air patrol to the west of San Carlos over the land. Whilst in a turn, Ward sighted two Argentine Air Force Mirage V "Daggers" approaching from the west at very low level. They were on their way to attack the landing force in San Carlos Water. He flew between them head on and then turned hard to engage them in combat. The Daggers also turned hard but not towards their target. They were running for home. This placed them in front of Steve's Sea Harrier and he shot them down with two AIM-9L Sidewinder missiles. Meanwhile, a third unseen Dagger was firing its cannon from behind Ward's aircraft at him but missed. Ward turned on the Dagger and shot him down with a Sidewinder. Whist this dog fight was going on, a fourth Dagger had evaded intercept and had attacked the air defence control ship Brilliant: fortunately with little damage. The three Dagger pilots, Major Piuma, Captain Donadille and Lieutenant Senn, ejected safely.[citation needed]

1 June 1982[edit]

Ward, in Sea Harrier XZ451, and Steve Thomas were in the climb returning to Invincible after combat air patrol when they were alerted by HMS Minerva to an intermittent radar contact 40 miles to the northwest. Ward immediately led his wingman in a hard turn towards the reported contact position and detected a large aircraft target on his Blue Fox radar, at 38 miles and 4,000 feet below. He immediately took charge of the intercept and tracked the target turning towards Argentina and descending. At high speed, the two Sea Harriers closed in on the target and, as he emerged through the low cloud, Ward became visual with a four-engined Lockheed C-130 Hercules transport aircraft at 200 feet above the sea. Short of fuel for the return to Invincible, immediate action was required. Ward's first Sidewinder missile fell just short of the C-130, but the second started a fire between the inner and outer starboard engines. Ward then fired 240 rounds from his Harrier's two ADEN cannons and this action caused the enemy aircraft to lose control, sending it crashing into the sea and killing the seven crew members.[citation needed]

Ward flew over sixty war missions, achieved three air-to-air kills, and took part in or witnessed a total of ten kills; he was also the leading night pilot, and was decorated with the Distinguished Service Cross for gallantry.[citation needed]

Later life[edit]

After retiring from the Royal Navy in 1985, Ward wrote the book Sea Harrier Over the Falklands: A Maverick at War, first published in 1992. In 2001, he returned to the RNAS Yeovilton to fly with his son Kris, after the younger Ward qualified to fly the Sea Harrier FA2.[9][10] His son died 15 November 2018, aged 45.[11]

In 2011, while residing in Grenada, he had a radio interview with Ezequiel Martel, son of the C-130 Hercules pilot shot down by Ward during the conflict.[12]

Ward died from a suspected heart attack at his home in Grenada, on 17 May 2024, at the age of 80.[2]

Honours and awards[edit]

Works[edit]

  • Ward, Commander Sharkey (1992). Sea Harrier Over the Falklands: A Maverick at War. Leo Cooper. pp. 299 pages. ISBN 978-0-85052-305-8.
  • Ward, Sharkey (2020). Her Majesty's Top Gun: and the Decline of the Royal Navy. Mill City Press. pp. 516 pages. ISBN 978-1-6312-9867-7.

References[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Robson, Martin (2008), Not Enough Room to Swing a Cat: Naval Slang and Its Everyday Usage, Conway, p. 144, ISBN 978-1-84486-073-9
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "Commander 'Sharkey' Ward", The Times, pp. 41–2, 20 May 2024, archived from the original on 20 May 2024, retrieved 20 May 2024
  3. ^ Sharkey Ward, Hachette, 12 July 2018, archived from the original on 21 May 2024, retrieved 21 May 2024
  4. ^ "www.phoenixthinktank.org/the-team". Archived from the original on 11 December 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
  5. ^ "www.youtube.com – Sea Harrier at Pebble Mill at One 1979". YouTube. 9 April 2012. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  6. ^ Fleet Air Arm, Falklands War 1982
  7. ^ a b Burden et al 1986, pp 208–223
  8. ^ "Major Carlos Tomba's Pucara". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2 September 2007. Retrieved 24 June 2009.
  9. ^ "Navy News – News Desk – News – Harrier pilot follows in father's footsteps". Archived from the original on 31 December 2005. Retrieved 26 June 2006.
  10. ^ "Unique double for Navy Harrier father and son". Daily Telegraph. 30 March 2001. Archived from the original on 14 November 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
  11. ^ "Kristian Ward, naval Harrier pilot who saved the lives of US soldiers pinned down by the Taliban – obituary". Daily Telegraph. 30 December 2018. Archived from the original on 23 July 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  12. ^ (in Spanish) Argentine radio interview Archived 29 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ "No. 49008". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 12 June 1982. p. 26.

Bibliography[edit]

  • Burden/Draper/Rough/Smith & Wilton, Falklands – The Air War. London: Arms & Armour Press. 1986. ISBN 0-85368-842-7

External links[edit]

Ward, Nigel (1982). "IWM interview [Audio diary recorded by Ward]". IWM Collections Search. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
IWM (30 October 1992). "IWM interview [with Ward]". IWM Collections Search. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
IWM (2002). "Transcript: Commander Nigel 'Sharkey' Ward [on shooting down an Argentine Mirage aircraft]". The Falklands Conflict (archive.iwm.org.uk). Retrieved 27 April 2013.
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