Later that day, the Argentine cruiser was attacked and sunk by the British attack submarine , with substantial loss of life to the Argentine Armed Forces. The following day, 3 May, Nicoletti anticipated that permission would now be granted by Anaya as fighting had now had broken out in the South Atlantic Ocean, and he asked if the team could claim to be acting for the Argentine military if they were caught. This was refused but they were ordered to execute the plan of attack.