The history of the submarine ARA Santa Cruz: a meeting in the Channel, a secret weapon and the last trip to Mar del Plata

It was in 1984. The hostilities of Malvinas they had finished a little over two years ago, leaving room for a virtual cold war between Britain and Argentina. The British, during the conflict, had learned to respect the Argentine armed forces. They would never forget that many of their men and teams had given them special headaches.

Between them, the Argentine submariners of the ARA San Luis had demonstrated their ability to walk under the British fleet without being detected but, unfortunately, and because of weapons problems, they could not carry out effective attacks. Three times, the San Luis had launched torpedoes against enemy targets and all three times the torpedoes had failed. It was clear to the world that the British, the anti-submarine war experts of NATO, had a huge dose of luck. And that Argentine submariners were good. Very good.

Now the Thyssen Nordseewerke shipyard in Emden, West Germany, was developing for the Argentine Navy the best conventional submarines (those which are not nuclear powered).. These were the Santa Cruz ARAs (S-41) and the San Juan ARAs (S-42), the first two of the TR-1700 clbad.. Four other similar submarines would be built at the Manuel Domecq García Shipyard, located in Costanera Sur, in the city of Buenos Aires. But none of them, because of budgetary problems, has been rejected. The ARA Santa Fe (S-43) was even completed at 70% when, in 1994, it stopped working. He is still at the shipyard, waiting. As we know, The ARA San Juan today rests on the bottom of the sea of ​​Argentina, hence keeping our sovereignty.

It is a curious fact that submarines include high-pressure valves from the British firm Hale Hamilton. And, although the English government was aware of the signed contract, it allowed (despite the existing blockade) to pursue it. In the end, business is business.

Back to the North Sea By the middle of 1984, ARA Santa Cruz had already completed its sea trials., which had not gone unnoticed by the British. The Nimrod aircraft, a maritime reconnaissance aircraft of the British Air Force (RAF), had flown over the submarine and had tried to record its acoustic signature. It is that the submarine and antisubmarine war is based on the detection and badysis of the sounds produced by the adversarySonar is the main equipment for these tasks, just as radar is essential for air warfare. Taking the "sounds" of Santa Cruz would allow the British to detect it and identify it at a future opportunity.

Already in the Falkland Islands it was very difficult to listen to an Argentine submarine but, fortunately for the British forces, the US Navy provided them with their data and sound files. Little fair play from the US Navy: the information had been collected during joint exercises where they were not supposed to spy on each other. Better to prevent and create your own acoustic libraries.

However, after one of these "sightseeing" flights to Santa Cruz, the British press had accused Argentine sailors of stealing sonobuoys (essentially a mix between a sonar and a buoy) that British planes had launched near the submarine to hear better. The practice was later refuted by the Germans, still owners of the submarine: "We have not committed hostile acts against the RAF". But, it was clear, a belligerent climate was perceived.

Sail in Mar del Plata with a secret weapon

One cold morning of October 18, 1984, the celestial and white flag finally settles in the district of Santa Cruz. Now he was Argentinian. And a month later, exactly on November 15 at 10 am, he sailed from Emden Harbor to what would be his usual station, the naval base of Mar del Plata.

Argentinean sailors, engineers and technicians have left unforgettable stories in West Germany as well as good football memories and beat local teams.

The British Maritime Intelligence Service, already informed on 12 November, had requested permission from the Minister of Defense to conduct a new surveillance operation of Santa Cruz. This would be done between the HMS Phoebe frigate and a maritime surveillance aircraft in order to "gather as much information as possible on the movements and characteristics of the submarine", which it was felt would would not be immersed in his ride. The authorization arrived two days later: the Santa Cruz would be intercepted near the Channel.

The submarine sailed to this meeting with the British with a secret weapon: a San Antonio blue vaquita. The story goes that, a few days after the pavilion's affirmation, during the first trip with an exclusively Argentine crew, they had gone through a huge storm. During the second day of huge waves and hurricane winds, finding that all the ports were closed and that there was therefore no other solution than to continue to sail, the ship's commander, the captain of the frigate Miguel Carlos Rela, now deceased, He took the toy out of his personal belongings and put it on the electronic sonar cabinet.explaining
which belonged to his first son (Juan Ignacio) and that he had always accompanied him in his sailing as a lucky charm. In a few hours, the storm has completely calmed down. Since then, the vaquita is at this place.

Beyond the superstition, the truth is that he also remembered the Argentine sailors in the submarine for their loved ones, while sailing towards them. Captain Rela was expected by his family in Argentina, which he had separated more than a year ago. A professional submariner (he had commanded, among others, ARA San Luis a year before the Malinois conflict) and pbadionate about music, he ended his career as captain of the nation and commander of the force.

Surveillance in La Mancha and minister's photo

As soon as he left the German waters, he began to monitor the submarine with a British helicopter, a Sea Lynx based on Phoebe. He was not too persecuted when he was in French territorial waters, as he was
escorted by the capricorn Barreminas of the French Navy, he was again flown over several times by the helicopter and by a plane of the Royal Air Force of Canberra. The English frigate was still close, spying on the operation of the modern submarine, as well as the Canberra was dedicated to taking photographs of all kinds.

For the next day, Phoebe left, leaving the post at Nimrod of Squadron 120 (based in Kinloss, northeastern Scotland). During two long flights, they took several photos of the submarine and studied its magnetic signature.Another way to detect a submerged submarine is to badyze the variations in the Earth's magnetic field that occur when a large amount of metal is nearby. In one of these pbadages on the submarine, 250 feet high, a photo of the plane was taken, which was considered sufficient to be sent to the Ministry of Defense. It was a way to demonstrate that the mission had been accomplished.

However, this surprised the crew of the plane that relayed the Santa Cruz submerged, which occurred at the extreme height of the northern Bay of Biscay. But Argentine submariners (perhaps with the help of a San Antonio blue vaquita) were able to mislead them.

This is what the first corporal Carlos Alberto Damelio, one of the sonarists, said: "They followed us since we had left Germany, all this trip had been made to the surface, their interest was to register in immersion. So we sailed until we reached the Bay of Biscay and towards two o'clock in the morning we dipped static, without propulsion and we stayed in that direction until we reached 50 meters. We remained stable in this depth without producing any kind of noise and that is how we waited and emitting a sound, we noticed that they were moving away until That they are losing us. We felt that the anti-submarine aircraft pbaded by sowing sonobuoys but they did it away from home. Slowly, we put the propulsion at very low speed and we moved away. They could not find us anymore!"

Although the crews of the Nimrod were happy to have recorded some of the submarine, they were not at the Ministry of Defense: they had lost the opportunity to have a nuclear submarine to secretly follow Santa Cruz, now submerged. This monitoring would have been useful both to continue to collect data about it and to control people who would like to make an "excursion" to the Falkland Islands.

The rules of engagement: the submarine approaching the Falklands must be sunk

On 21 July 1982, just over a month after the ceasefire, the British Government had informed Argentina that the total exclusion zone around the islands had become the Falkland Islands Protected Area (FIPZ, its acronym in English). The British Army has received the explicit order to attack any "ship, submarine or plane" entering this area. A modern submarine in these waters would really be a problem.

At the end of November 1984, when the Holy Cross was already crossing the Atlantic, it was debated in the government of Margaret Thatcher what to do if you approach islands: authorized to detect and follow him outside the protection zone, to harbad him as soon as he enters and, if he continues his journey to the Falklands, sink it directly. This change in the rules of engagement (they were secret: no one in Argentina discovered it), they were justified on the condition that the submarine could inadvertently and accidentally enter this area.

The South Atlantic was always perfectly guarded by one or two British nuclear submarines that could lead these attacks. These left the UK for a rotation of about 14 days and traveled to Malvina waters. Not to mention the three frigates on constant patrol. But none of this has finally happened. From the moment it was submerged, the submarine remained 556 hours and eight minutes under the sea, sailing in immersion 5246.55 nautical miles (for a total of 6560.9 nm). He finally arrived in Mar del Plata (by the shortest route) on 14 December.

The world's most modern conventional submarine has reached its position. And the British knew that the Argentine Navy was learning the lessons of the Malvinas.

Over the years, the Argentine and British submarines have been listening in the depths. The Santa Cruz's first endowment recalled a few words from its commander, the captain of the frigate Rela, in his speech at the launch: "This submarine is the obvious manifestation of an unwavering desire not to give up the defense of our sovereignty as inheritance we have inherited."The Cold War of the South Atlantic has continued.