ARA Alférez Sobral
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2015}}
| {{Infobox ship begin
}} {{Infobox ship image | Ship image = ARA Alférez Sobral (A-9).jpg | Ship caption = Alférez Sobral in Ushuaia, 2008 }} {{Infobox ship career | Ship country = United States | Ship flag = {{USN flag|1972}} | Ship name = | Ship namesake = Salish tribe | Ship ordered = | Ship builder = | Ship laid down = 29 August 1944 | Ship launched = 29 September 1944 | Ship commissioned = 7 December 1944 | Ship named = Salish, 16 July 1948 }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = yes | Ship decommissioned = 10 February 1972 | Ship fate = transferred to Argentine Navy, 10 February 1972 | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = yes | Ship struck = 1 February 1975 | Ship reinstated = | Ship honours = | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header=title | Ship country = Argentina | Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|Argentina|naval}} | Ship name = Alférez Sobral | Ship namesake = José María Sobral | Ship acquired = 10 February 1972 | Ship commissioned = | Ship decommissioned = August 2018 | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = | Ship struck = | Ship reinstated = | Ship honours = | Ship fate = | Ship status = | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption = | Ship class = | Ship displacement = 835 tons (848 t) (full) | Ship length = {{convert|143|ft|abbr=on}} | Ship beam = {{convert|33|ft|10|in|abbr=on}} | Ship draft = {{convert|13|ft|2|in|abbr=on}} | Ship propulsion = *Diesel-electric engines,
| Ship speed = {{convert|13|kn|lk=in}} | Ship range = | Ship complement = 45–49 | Ship sensors = | Ship EW = | Ship armament = *as Salish
| Ship notes = }} |
{{Falklands War}}
ARA Alférez Sobral (A-9) is an 800-ton ocean-going tug{{Cite web|url = http://www.towingline.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/Argentina-Navya.pdf|title = Directory of the Ocean Tugs of the Argentina Navy|access-date = 9 July 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150710211454/http://www.towingline.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/Argentina-Navya.pdf|archive-date = 10 July 2015|url-status = dead}} that was in service with the Argentine Navy from 1972 until 2019, where she was classified as an aviso.[https://web.archive.org/web/20080220144555/http://www.fuerzasnavales.com/flomar/ficha_buque_sotoyomo.htm fuerzasnavales.com: Technical Specs and picture of aviso ARA Sobral] {{in lang|es}} 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.[http://www.irizar.org/malvinas-acciones-5.html Aviso ARA A"lférez Sobral" en combate], article by her second-in-command in 1982 {{in lang|es}}
US Navy service
{{main|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
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 {{ship|ARA|Comodoro Somellera|A-10|6}} 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 {{convert|60|nmi}}{{cite web| last = Smith | first = Gordon |title = Battle Atlas of the Falklands War 1982 — by Land, Sea and Air, Reading Notes and Abbreviations | work = Battles of the Falkland's War | publisher = Ian Allan | year = 1989 | url = http://www.naval-history.net/F03Abbrevs.htm | format = PDF, html | access-date = 9 December 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081203232752/http://www.naval-history.net/F03Abbrevs.htm| archive-date= 3 December 2008 | url-status= live}}{{cite web| last = Smith | first = Gordon | title = 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 | work = Battles of the Falkland's War | publisher = Ian Allan | year = 1989 | url = http://www.naval-history.net/F36opsweek6.htm | format = PDF, html | access-date = 9 December 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081203232956/http://www.naval-history.net/F36opsweek6.htm| archive-date= 3 December 2008 | url-status= live}} north of the Falkland Islands searching for the crew of a Canberra 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 Alférez Sobral was initially spotted by a Westland Sea King helicopter. When the helicopter approached to investigate and was engaged by Alférez Sobral
In response {{HMS|Coventry|D118|6}} and {{HMS|Glasgow|D88|6}} 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 Alférez 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 Alférez Sobral lost all her electrical power, radio, radar and compass; she had no working navigational aids other than a landing compass, unsuitable for sailing.{{Cite book|title=Deuda de sangre: historia naval y amnesia en la Argentina : 1810-1893 y 1982|last=Cavalieri|first=Daniel|publisher=Instituto de Publicaciones Navales|year=2005|isbn=9508990600|pages=302|language=es}}
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[http://www.escuadronfenix.org.ar/nuestrahistoria.html Escuadrón Fénix Web site: History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924002025/http://www.escuadronfenix.org.ar/nuestrahistoria.html |date=24 September 2015 }} {{in lang|es}} and piloted by First Lieutenant Lucero) which evacuated the injured. Alférez Sobral was then assisted by the civilian trawler María AlejandraMuñoz, Jorge (2000) Misión Cumplida. Editorial Epopeya, p. 141 {{in lang|es}} and finally reached Puerto Deseado on 5 May. The attack had occurred at the approximated position {{coord|49|50|00|S|58|37|00|W}}.
= Post-war =
From 1993 Alférez Sobral was based at Ushuaia; in February 2010 she moved to Mar del Plata switching places with ARA Gurruchaga.[http://www.gacetamarinera.com.ar/nota.asp?idNota=1635&idSec=7 Un navío heroico con nuevo puerto en Mar del Plata] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100317003505/http://www.gacetamarinera.com.ar/nota.asp?idNota=1635&idSec=7 |date=17 March 2010 }} {{in lang|es}} In 2001 she assisted the expedition ship Caledonian Star which had been struck by a rogue wave during transit of the Drake Passage.[https://archive.today/20120703015313/http://www.lanacion.com.ar/nota.asp?nota_id=54730 Llegó a Ushuaia el crucero averiado y no podrá zarpar] {{in lang|es}} She remained in service until 2018.
Legacy
The ship survived the conflict and remained in naval service until August 2018. There are plans to preserve Alférez Sobral as a museum ship in Santa Fe.{{Cite news |url=https://www.ellitoral.com/index.php/id_um/177310-un-buque-heroico-que-participo-en-malvinas-sera-donado-a-la-ciudad-tras-largas-gestiones-del-centro-de-ex-combatientes-local-area-metropolitana.html |title=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) |last=Andreychuk |first=Luciano |date=2018-08-22 |work=El Litoral |access-date=2018-08-23}} In 2022 it was reported that she might be placed on the disposal list.{{Cite web |last=Defensa.com |date=2022-07-27 |title=Buques de la Armada Argentina para chatarra - Noticias Defensa defensa.com Argentina |url=https://www.defensa.com/argentina/buques-armada-argentina-para-chatarra |access-date=2022-08-08 |website=Defensa.com |language=es}} 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 {{ship|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.[http://www.gacetamarinera.com.ar/nota.asp?idNota=1838&idSec=7 Rememoran el ataque al aviso “Sobral”] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100524035415/http://www.gacetamarinera.com.ar/nota.asp?idNota=1838&idSec=7 |date=24 May 2010 }} La Gaceta Marinera, 5 May 2010. {{in lang|es}} 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.[http://www.ara.mil.ar/pag.asp?idItem=292 A-2 official site] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110621225334/http://www.ara.mil.ar/pag.asp?idItem=292 |date=21 June 2011 }} {{in lang|es}}
Specifications
ARA (A-9) Alférez Sobral, Sotoyomo-class avisoThe US Sotoyomo-class were fleet tugs; this vessel was classified as an aviso in Argentine service
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 x 20mm Oerlikon cannons
Crew: 46
References
- {{DANFS}}
= Notes =
{{Reflist}}
= Bibliography =
- The Fight for the Malvinas, Martin Middlebrook, {{ISBN|0-14-010767-3}}
External links
- [http://www.histarmar.com.ar/Armada%20Argentina/ArmadaHoy/Sobral.htm Histarmar Site pictorial ]
- [http://www.naval-history.net/F36opsweek6.htm naval-history.net: Details of the Falklands War incident]
- [http://nafts.org/sobral.htm nafts.org: Pictures of the damage done by the Sea Skua missiles]
- {{in lang|es}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20081205074547/http://www.ara.mil.ar/pnav_buques.asp#08 ARA official website: Side view (profile) of ARA Alférez Sobral]
- {{in lang|es}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20081212225324/http://www.ara.mil.ar/poder_naval/buques_superficie/pnav_esp_avisos_sanaviron.htm ARA official website: Technical Specifications of ARA Alférez Sobral]
{{Sotoyomo class tug}}
{{Argentina ship classes}}
{{1982 shipwrecks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alferez Sobral (A-9), Ara}}
Category:Falklands War naval ships of Argentina
Category:Sotoyomo-class tugs of the Argentine Navy
Category:Ships transferred from the United States Navy to the Argentine Navy