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ARA San Juan submarine wreck found 12 months after sinking
Author:Mariusz Dasiewicz
On November 17, a wreck of the Argentine submarine ARA San Juan (S 42) was found, which sank a year and two days earlier. Its remains lie at a depth of 907 m, at the bottom of the Atlantic at position 45°56′59′′S 59°46′22′′W. Its loss along with the entire 44-member crew – including Lt. María Krawczyk, the first in Argentina to be a submariner, including Polish origin – was the second most tragic consequences of the disaster in Armada Argentina during peace. In 1949, 77 men were killed along with the trawler ARA Fournier. She was also the bloodiest, after taking off 118 crew members of Russian atomic Kursk, a modern submarine accident.
[related1] Let's recall, on November 15, 2017, the command of the Argentine fleet lost communication with the submerged San Juan. The ship was engaged voyage School from the port of Ushuaia on Fire Land to the native base in Mar del Plata in the northeast of the country. The start of the rescue operation did not produce positive results, although large forces were involved, which included at the peak of 30 aircraft and 27 vessels from 13 countries. The operation was conducted in a large area of approximately 482 000 square km, located 370 km southeast of Jorge Bay, in an area where seismic devices of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) organization guarding the ban on nuclear weapons, detected acoustic anomalies that could indicate the implosion of San Juan's strong hull. Unfortunately, after 15 days of fruitless action, in the face of deteriorating weather and estimates indicating a lack of chance of keeping the crew alive, Armada Argentina has announced the mission's end. Since then, only the search for the wreck has begun to answer the question of what caused this tragedy?
[related2] Since September of this year, the American Ocean Infinity company has been involved in marine bottom exploration, hydrographic and geophysical research. In the area of exploration, her Seabed Constructor ship carrying, among other things, five Hugon 6000 autonomous vehicles from Kongsberg, each equipped with a precise multi-band and side sonar, and two remote-controlled vehicles with TV cameras. The action began on 7 September, and the plan provided for a 60-day operation for which the USD 7.5 million fee was to be paid by the Argentine government only in the event of its success.
On November 16, the site of the backlog of items worth careful examination was initially selected. The next day, they identified the remains of a wanted ship. They are scattered in a ravine in an area of 80 x 100 m, approximately 600 km east of Comodoro Rivadavia, cities in southern Argentina over San Jorge Bay, which is roughly in the area of original exploration and not far from the previously recorded underwater sounds. On November 17, a press conference was held at the headquarters of the General Staff of the Navy of Argentina, presenting a photo footage made by submarines from Seabed Constructor.
[related3]
Shown personnel leave no doubt about the identification of the unit. The photos show a forward half-spherical watertight bulkhead with six torpedo launchers, a kiosk enclosure and a drive screw. The damage indicates that the depth of immersion, which was 300-400 m, was exceeded. However, no direct causes of the disaster have yet been identified.
The ARA San Juan submarine was of type TR-1700. Two such units were built at Thyssen Nordseewerke shipyard in Emden, and another were to be created in Argentina an license power, but despite the initiation of the construction of another pair, they were never completed. San Juan began his service on November 19, 1985. From 2008 to 2013, he completed the main renovation and modernization of the Complejo Industrial y Naval Argentino industrial complex (CINAR, created by Tandanor and Almirante shipyards). Storni in Buenos Aires). Some media are looking into the poor quality of these works of the causes of the ship's disaster.
Signature: tg
