Wreck of ARA Santa Fe (S-21)

 military, shipwreck, submarine

ARA Santa Fe was the former US Navy Balao Class Submarine USS Catfish (SS-339)which was sold to the Argentine Navy in 1971. The Santa Fe was active in the Falklands War and had completed a resupply mission to Argetine Commandos on South Georgia when she was spotted and attacked by Royal Navy Helicopters on April 25th, 1982.

The Santa Fe was repeatedly strafed and hit with several anti-ship missiles and damaged so severely she was unable to submerge to escape her attackers. Her crew sailed the heavily damaged sub back into Grytviken harbor where they set booby traps onboard and abandoned the sinking submarine alongside the jetty at King Edward Point.

The crew were later captured by British Commandos who also took the Santa Fe as a war prize once the ship was cleared of explosives. The damage sustained by the sub proved to be too great to repair or refit, and that coupled with the subs age and led to her being towed off the King Edward Point Jetty and scuttled in shallow water. In 1985 the Santa Fe was raised from her shallow water location and towed offshore of Georgia Island where she was scuttled again in deep water.

www.navsource.org/archives/08/08339.htm