In 1980 he was promoted to commander and took command of the frigate HMS "Ardent", and deployed to the Indian Ocean taking part in the first Armilla Patrol. In 1982 he laid a wreath off Norway, on the spot inside the Arctic Circle where the previous "Ardent" had been sunk in 1940 by the German battleships "Scharnhorst" and "Gneisenau". Shortly after, the ship deployed to the South Atlantic for the Falklands War, where she was sunk in Falkland Sound on 21 May during the successful retaking of the islands. West was the last to leave the sinking ship and was subsequently awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his leadership. West led the victory parade through the City of London on return from the Falkland Islands. He remains the President of the HMS Ardent Association.