ARA Alférez Sobral

ARA Alférez Sobral (A-9) is an 800-ton ocean-going tug[1] that was in service with the Argentine Navy from 1972 until 2019, where she was classified as an aviso.[2] She had previously served in the US Navy as the fleet tug USS Salish (ATA-187). In Argentine service an aviso is a small naval vessel used for a number of auxiliary tasks, including tugging, laying buoys, and replenishing other ships, lighthouses and naval bases.[3]

Alférez Sobral in Ushuaia, 2008
History
United States
Name: USS Salish (ATA-187)
Namesake: Salish tribe
Laid down: 29 August 1944
Launched: 29 September 1944
Commissioned: 7 December 1944
Decommissioned: 10 February 1972
Fate: transferred to Argentine Navy, 10 February 1972
Stricken: 1 February 1975
History
Argentina
Name: Alférez Sobral
Namesake: José María Sobral
Acquired: 10 February 1972
Decommissioned: August 2018
General characteristics
Displacement: 835 tons (848 t) (full)
Length: 143 ft (44 m)
Beam: 33 ft 10 in (10.31 m)
Draft: 13 ft 2 in (4.01 m)
Propulsion:
  • Diesel-electric engines,
  • 1,500 shp (1,100 kW) single screw
Speed: 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph)
Complement: 45–49
Armament:

US Navy service
Main article: USS Salish (ATA-187)

Built by Levingston Shipbuilding Co., at Orange, Texas as a Sotoyomo-class rescue tug, she served as USS Salish (ATA-187) from 1944 to 1972.

Argentine Navy service
Sobral shortly after joining Argentina's Navy

The ship was named after Antarctic explorer Alférez José María Sobral (1880–1961). She was acquired on 10 February 1972 along with her sister-ship ARA Comodoro Somellera from Mayport, Florida on 6 March 1972 and arriving to Puerto Belgrano on 18 April.

Falklands War

In the early hours of 3 May 1982, the vessel was hit by at least two Sea Skua anti-ship missiles fired by British Westland Lynx HAS.Mk.2/3 helicopters.

At the time the ship was approximately 60 nautical miles (110 km)[4][5] north of the Falkland Islands searching for the crew of a downed Canberra (B-110) bomber that had been shot down two days earlier by an AIM-9 Sidewinder AAM (air-to-air missile) fired from a British BAe Sea Harrier FRS.Mk.1 (XZ451). The Sobral was initially spotted by a Westland Sea King helicopter. When the helicopter approached to investigate, it was shot at by the vessel's Oerlikon 20 mm fore cannon. The helicopter immediately retreated and called for assistance.

In response HMS Coventry and HMS Glasgow launched their Westland Lynx HAS.Mk.2/3 helicopters. Coventry's Lynx (XZ242) attacked first, firing two Sea Skua (air-to-surface) anti-ship missiles. One of the missiles narrowly missed the bridge, the second hit Sobral's fibreglass motorboat, injuring the crew of a 20 mm cannon and knocking out the radio aerials.

Twenty minutes later Glasgow's Lynx (XZ247) launched two more missiles, at least one of which struck the bridge, causing extensive damage. The attack killed eight of the crew—including the ship's captain, Lieutenant Commander Sergio Gómez Roca—and injured eight. The Sobral lost all her electrical power, radio, radar and compass; she had no working navigational aids other than a landing compass, unsuitable for sailing.[6]

She was found and helped by a Sikorsky S-61N LV-OCL (a civilian helicopter requisitioned by the Argentine Air Force as part of Escuadron Fenix[7] and piloted by First Lieutenant Lucero) which evacuated the injured. Sobral was then assisted by the civilian trawler María Alejandra[8] and finally reached Puerto Deseado on 5 May. The attack had occurred at the approximated position 49°50′00″S 58°37′00″W.

Post-war

From 1993 Sobral was based at Ushuaia; in February 2010 she moved to Mar del Plata switching places with ARA Gurruchaga (A-3).[9] In 2001 she assisted the expedition ship Caledonian Star which had been struck by a rogue wave during transit of the Drake Passage.[10] She remained in service until August 2018.

Legacy

The ship survived the conflict and remained in naval service until August 2018 and will now be preserved in Santa Fe.[11] The ship's badly damaged bridge is currently on display at the Naval Museum in Tigre, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina.

Argentina's final Espora class corvette was renamed ARA Gómez Roca (P-46) to honour Sobral's captain, Sergio Raul Goméz Roca, the first commander of an Argentine ship to be killed in action since the war with Brazil in the 19th century.[12] The aviso ARA Teniente Olivieri (A-2) is named after the guardamarina (midshipman) Claudio Olivieri, also killed in the action and posthumously promoted to lieutenant.[13]

Specifications

ARA (A-9) Alférez Sobral, Sotoyomo-class aviso[2][14]
Displacement 835 tonnes
Length 43.6 m
Beam 10.3 m
Draught 2.2 m
Propulsion 2 GM 12-278 A diesel-electric 2200 HP engines, 2 1500 HP generators, 1 propeller
Cruising speed 8 kn
Maximum speed 13 kn
Range 16,500 nm
Armament 1 Bofors 40/60 C cannon, 2 20mm Mk 4 Mod 6 machine gun mounts
Crew: 46

References

Notes
  1. "Directory of the Ocean Tugs of the Argentina Navy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 July 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  2. fuerzasnavales.com: Technical Specs and picture of aviso ARA Sobral (in Spanish)
  3. Aviso ARA A"lférez Sobral" en combate, article by her second-in-command in 1982 (in Spanish)
  4. Smith, Gordon (1989). "Battle Atlas of the Falklands War 1982 — by Land, Sea and Air, Reading Notes and Abbreviations" (PDF, html). Battles of the Falkland's War. Ian Allan. Archived from the original on 3 December 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
  5. Smith, Gordon (1989). "Battle Atlas of the Falklands War 1982 — by Land, Sea and Air, Preliminary British Operations (Parts 20-30), Part 26. HMS Sheffield Sunk, Week Six, Falkland Area Operations 3rd–9th May 1982" (PDF, html). Battles of the Falkland's War. Ian Allan. Archived from the original on 3 December 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
  6. Cavalieri, Daniel (2005). Deuda de sangre: historia naval y amnesia en la Argentina : 1810-1893 y 1982 (in Spanish). Instituto de Publicaciones Navales. p. 302. ISBN 9508990600.
  7. Escuadrón Fénix Web site: History (in Spanish)
  8. Muñoz, Jorge (2000) Misión Cumplida. Editorial Epopeya, p. 141 (in Spanish)
  9. Un navío heroico con nuevo puerto en Mar del Plata Archived 17 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine (in Spanish)
  10. Llegó a Ushuaia el crucero averiado y no podrá zarpar (in Spanish)
  11. Andreychuk, Luciano (22 August 2018). "Un buque heroico que participó en Malvinas será donado a la ciudad (A heroic vessel that participated in the Falklands War will be donated to the city)". El Litoral. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
  12. Rememoran el ataque al aviso “Sobral” Archived 24 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine La Gaceta Marinera, 5 May 2010. (in Spanish)
  13. A-2 official site (in Spanish)
  14. The US Sotoyomo-class were fleet tugs; this vessel was classified as an aviso in Argentine service

Bibliography
  • The Fight for the Malvinas, Martin Middlebrook, ISBN 0-14-010767-3
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