ARA San Luis (S-32)
Type 209 submarine ARA San Luis (S-32) at Domecq Garcia Shipyard
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| History | |
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 Argentina
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| Name: | San Luis |
| Builder: | Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft, Germany |
| Completed: | 3 April 1973 |
| Commissioned: | 24 May 1974 |
| Out of service: | 23 April 1997 |
| Identification: | S32 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Type 209 submarine |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | 55.91 m (183.4 ft) |
| Beam: | 6.2 m (20 ft) |
| Draught: | 5.5 m (18 ft) |
| Propulsion: | Diesel-electric, 4 diesels, 1 shaft |
| Speed: |
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| Range: |
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| Endurance: | 50 days |
| Crew: | 31 |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
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| Armament: |
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ARA San Luis (S-32) is a Type 209 diesel-powered submarine of the Argentine Navy. Built in Germany, San Luis has a displacement of 1,285 tonnes and was commissioned in 1978. She was struck in 1997 after an incomplete overhaul.
San Luis is best known for serving in the Falklands War (Spanish: Guerra de las Malvinas/Guerra del Atlántico Sur) of 1982. Only one other submarine, the Second World War-era ARA Santa Fe, was operational at this time. After Santa Fe was captured and scuttled by the British in South Georgia on 28 April, and the nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror had sunk the cruiser ARA General Belgrano on 2 May, the Argentine fleet retired to port for the duration of the war, with the exception of San Luis, making her the only Argentine naval presence facing the British fleet.
San Luis was a major concern for the British as she presented a serious danger to all British warships in the area. Sea, depth and thermal conditions around the Falklands were favourable to diesel submarines, and difficult for anti-submarine ships. The Royal Navy (RN) aircraft carriers Hermes and Invincible were the priority targets for San Luis. Sources conflict on whether San Luis was capable of finding and attacking the RN carriers on the basis that the carriers were locked east of the Falklands at points determinable by Sea Harrier endurance, the ability of the Argentines to intercept RN ships satellite communications, and the degree of Soviet assistance.
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Wikipedia