The crude history of a survivor of General Belgrano

One day, as today, 37 years ago, Daniel Ramírez survived the wreck of A.R.A. General Belgrano.

Daniel Ramírez hails from Santa Fe. At the age of 15, he enlisted in the Navy never to return to his hometown, San Lorenzo. He now lives in Cipolletti and wrote his book "Balsas: Effort and Self-Surrender in the South Atlantic", in which he describes everything that had to happen to preserve himself from the collapse of the sea. 39; ARA General Belgrano, May 2, 1982, during the Malvinas War. Reliving it was not easy. Today, his memory is the only thing intact.

The man remembers that Sunday, when they were hit by two torpedoes fired by the Conqueror, a British nuclear submarine that caused the sinking. As a result of this attack, 323 Argentine soldiers lost their lives, of whom 220 were between the ages of 17 and 20. The losses accounted for nearly half of the losses suffered by the country throughout the armed conflict.

When enlisted, the Navy appeared to some as a cure for young people considered to be in difficulty, but also as an opportunity for families who can not afford to pay for higher education. & # 39;
"We are reforming the hangmen here" was the phrase that they used as a joke to change the meaning of the acronym ARA. This was not his case, he clarifies. His brother was already part of the forces and had convinced him of the benefits and study opportunities offered.

Daniel ends up getting ready.

In the armed forces, they were first trained in electronics, then in radar repair and radio frequency detection. At the age of 21, he was badigned to a workshop at the naval base of Puerto Belgrano, where a series of events unfolded that led him to embark on the ship. ARA Belgrano.

He recounts that there was in this port a NCO to whom they had ordered to board, but his partner was very ill and his desire was to accompany and take care of him. she. "I volunteered," he says, inflating his chest. "Nobody thought this ship was going to sink."

This huge cruise was purchased from the US Navy in 1951, at the time, it was called the USS Phoenix. According to information that Daniel could gather, shortly before the war, the Belgrano ARA would be sold in the United States. It would be reformed and transformed into a museum. "It's been 40 years since the attack on Pearl Harbor took place and it's the only one left," he says.

In Argentina, its fate was also historic: it was the only ship sunk by a nuclear submarine in history, and the losses it engendered involved 50% of the ships that fell in battle throughout the confrontation.
For example, Corporal Primero Ramírez, a specialist in radar electronics and electronic countermeasures, was one of the most tragic chapters of the war.
Ramírez was on duty and was responsible for the technical maintenance of the radars.

During the 16 days of navigation that preceded the bombing, they also simulated anti-aircraft attacks, practiced fire-fighting strategies and repeated abandonment of the ship. Something that "was finally a big help to get out alive," he admits.

The shipwreck

In the afternoon of Sunday, May 2, the conscript Berti awoke him after several minutes of turning to bed. Already standing, while he was looking for his clothes, he felt the blow on the helmet. The ship had just been hit by the first of the torpedoes that fired at the British nuclear submarine that was following in the footsteps of General Belgrano.for several hours.
In minutes, much of this gigantic mbad of steel had burned.

Immediately, the light was cut off and the corridors filled with soldiers running and screaming, many of them wrapped in fire.

"He was able to smell sulfur, charred flesh, burnt hair, plastic," he says with painful precision.

"The political or strategic reasons for the war do not heal death or the wounds of the soul," warns Daniel. "You can not survive so much improvisation and neglect," repeats itself in memory as a deafening echo.

The stairs were destroyed by fire and explosion. The only space to get out of there was a 60-centimeter iron tube with a ladder in the middle. It was difficult to open; the shockwave had all distorted and the openings were evened out. By the time it was possible to enter, the water was about to completely cover them.

Almost without clothes and oil covered by the explosion, Daniel managed to reach the surface with a lot of effort. The image that he saw was dark. The ship was practically at heel and the back was already visible when the waves ignited.
The structure had been folded and for what was left to walk, people were coming and going to help the wounded. The picture was mixed with the mixture of oil and oil that covered his eyes and that from time to time, someone cleaned to see him wobble. "It looked like the bow had been hit by the bite of a giant sea monster," he imagined.

Jump in the space
The order of abandonment was given and when he leaned overboard, he was able to take on the magnitude of what was happening: "men swimming while trying to s & dquo; To hang on to something, remains of all kinds floated in the water and hit the hull because of waves. "
When he threw himself on the roof of the raft, a rain of men began to fall on him. He went into the water and grabbed another empty raft nearby.

By the time he was able to enter, there were already several people inside.

He had to be at the height of a window and could look out. In a way, he felt privileged not to be in the dark. Urination was perceived as one of the most enjoyable moments. The temperature of the pee makes it possible to forget for a few seconds the 10 degrees below zero that their body had to endure during nearly 48 hours.

At night, the guilt became unbearable, listening to the appalling appeals for help, in the distance, was an endless torture.

They had barely more than 24 hours submerged in the fragile security provided by being contained in the flooded rafts, when they were spotted by a ship.
A mechanical failure prevented him from stopping and removing them from this torture. The rescue had to wait another day and the fear of not going out alive has developed there. They began to weaken and their bodies did not react.

"The second night arrived, I felt that the arms were not reacting, that my whole body hurt and that I could not stretch my legs", remember.
They began to worry because it was going to get dark again and the storm was getting worse. Life expectancy was reduced and in the midst of this anguish, and with the day escaping between the waves that never stopped growing, they were finally saved by the ARA Gurruchaga in the early morning May 5th.

793 soldiers were selected this Wednesday, of whom 23 were found dead.

"I was stunned and I felt in a horror film.Two people took me by the arm where they took off our wet clothes and full of oil," he said. -he declares.
"After a while, they gave me a pot of broth, and then I understood what had happened."I saved myself, I thought, I was hot and it got me out of my numbness. "