ARA Narwal
{{short description|Argentine fishing trawler}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image | Ship image = | Ship caption = }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = | Ship country = Argentina | Ship flag ={{shipboxflag|Argentina|naval}} | Ship name = ARA Narwal | Ship owner = Cia Sudamericana de Pesca | Ship namesake = | Ship ordered = | Ship builder = Beliard-Murdoch, Ostend | Ship yard number = | Ship laid down = | Ship launched = 1962 | Ship acquired = | Ship commissioned = | Ship decommissioned = | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = | Ship struck = | Ship reinstated = | Ship identification = {{IMO|5247445}} | Ship honours = | Ship fate = Sank on 10 May 1982 | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Ship class= |Ship displacement= |Ship tonnage= 1,398 GRT |Ship length={{convert|231|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|38|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship draught={{convert|17|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship propulsion= 2 x diesel engines |Ship power= 2330 h.p. |Ship speed= |Ship complement= |Ship armament= |Ship armour= |Ship aircraft= }} |
ARA Narwal was an Argentinian fishing trawler, equipped for ELINT purposes during the Falklands War and captained by Asterio Wagata.
Operational history
The ship had been given the task of shadowing the British fleet and performing ELINT operations along with other trawlers, and was observed for the first time by British air patrols on 29 April 1982.{{cite book |title=One Hundred Days: The Memoirs of the Falklands Battle Group Commander |pages=126–127}}
Narwal was heavily damaged in an attack by British Sea Harriers from {{HMS|Hermes|R12|6}} on 9 May 1982. The ship was hit by a 1000-pound bomb, but it failed to explode as it had been released below the lowest prescribed height and did not arm in time.{{cite book |title=Sea Harrier Over The Falklands}}{{page needed|date=March 2013}} The bomb caused heavy damage and the Harriers then strafed the Narwal with their 30mm guns. The aircraft were Sea Harriers of Fleet Air Arm 800 Naval Air Squadron, flown by Fl Lt Morgan and Lt Cdr Batt. The two Harriers had been dispatched to Port Stanley for a bombing mission, but the mission was not completed due to low clouds over the target area. On the return leg to Hermes they discovered the ship and obtained permission to engage the target.
A boarding party of British SBS men reached the target via a Sea King Mk.4 of 846 Naval Air Squadron and captured the ship dead in the water, taking off all of the men, and the body of Omar Alberto Rupp, the boatswain of the Argentine trawler, killed by the impact of the bomb. The Narwal was taken in tow, but sank the next day, 10 May.{{cite web |url=http://www.naval-history.net/F36opsweek6.htm |title=Naval History - Part 26. HMS SHEFFIELD SUNK - WEEK SIX, Falkland Area Operations 3rd-9th May 1982 |access-date=25 September 2021}} Among those captured was Captain Juan Carlos González of the Argentine Navy's information services,{{cite book |title=One Hundred Days: The Memoirs of the Falklands Battle Group Commander |pages=191–195}} who was released after the war.{{fact|date=January 2022}}
Aftermath
Omar Alberto Rupp was buried at sea by the British on 10 May.{{cite web |title=El hundimento del pesquero Narwal en la Guerra de Malvinas |trans-title=The sinking of the fishing vessel Narwal in the Falklands War |url=https://www.malvinense.com.ar/smalvi/0109/1084.html |website=EL MALVINENSE |date=8 May 2009 |language=es |access-date=25 September 2021}} Meanwhile, an Aérospatiale SA 330 Puma of the Argentine Army was sent to recover the crew of Narwal after receiving a distress signal, but was shot down by destroyer HMS Coventry with a Sea Dart missile, killing all three members of the crew.
References
= Notes =
{{Reflist}}
= Bibliography =
- {{cite book |last=Ward |first=Commander Nigel "Sharkey" |author-link=Nigel Ward |title=Sea Harrier Over The Falklands |publisher=Cassell |location=London |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-304-35542-6}}
- {{cite book |title=One Hundred Days: The Memoirs of the Falklands Battle Group Commander |last=Woodward |first=Sandy with Patrick Robinson |year=1992 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis |isbn=1-55750-652-3}}
External links
- [http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?116460 FV Narwal Wreck Site (116460)]
{{1982 shipwrecks}}
{{Coord|-52.7545|-58.0389|region:FK|format=dms|display=title}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Narwal}}
Category:Electronic intelligence ships
Category:Falklands War naval ships of Argentina
Category:Maritime incidents in 1982
Category:Ships built in Belgium
Category:Ships sunk by British aircraft