After the surrender of the Argentine ground forces on the islands, the British still faced the problem of potential Argentine air attacks from Argentina, so an aircraft carrier had to remain on station to guard the islands with its squadron of Sea Harriers until the local airfield was prepared for jet aircraft. was the first to take guard duty, whilst went north to change (at sea) a main engine. "Invincible" then returned to relieve "Hermes" which urgently needed to return to the UK for boiler cleaning. "Invincible" returned until she was relieved by the newly built , which was quickly rushed south and commissioned during the journey. Once the Port Stanley runway was available for jets, "Illustrious" was relieved by 23 Squadron operating the F-4 Phantom FGR.2. Initially stationed at RAF Stanley, the unit moved to Mount Pleasant upon its opening.