ARA ''Santa Cruz'' (S-41) is a member of the of diesel-electric
submarine
A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...
s of the
Argentine Navy.
Design
''Santa Cruz'' was built by
Thyssen Nordseewerke.
It has a single-
hull design, with a lightweight
bow and stern and a watertight
superstructure
A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships.
Aboard ships and large boats
On water craft, the superstruct ...
in the central part. Its sister vessel, was the only other one of its type, though the program originally sought to produce a larger number of submarines.
''Santa Cruz'' received its mid-life modernization at
Arsenal de Marinha, Rio de Janeiro Brazil between September 1999 and 2001.
The work involved the replacement of the engines, batteries, and sonar.
History
''Santa Cruz'' was built by
Thyssen Nordseewerke and completed on 18 October 1984.
On 15 June 2014, ''Santa Cruz''
ran aground in an accident near
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
.
["Argentine Navy active duty diesel-electric attack submarine runs aground"](_blank)
, Asian Defence News. (accessed 22 June 2014) She was being towed to Tandanor shipyard for maintenance, and was unlocked without damage.
, InfoBae 17/06/2016 (in Spanish), Argentina.. (accessed 05 November 2017)
Mid-life extension
In September 2016, ''Santa Cruz'' started a renovation and life extension program at the
Tandanor
Tandanor (an acronym for Talleres Navales Dársena Norte) is an Argentine shipyard located south of Buenos Aires port which together with Almirante Storni yard constitutes CINAR (Argentina's Industrial and Naval Compound) dedicated to shipbuildin ...
shipyard in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The work was to include changing all 960 batteries, periscope and snorkel maintenance, revision of engines, and overall system upgrades.
["http://www.telam.com.ar/notas/201609/161809-tandanor-renovacion-submarino-santa-cruz.html"](_blank)
, Telam 05/09/2016 (in Spanish), Argentina. (accessed 05 November 2017)
Renovation work was halted on 15 November 2017 when sister ship imploded and subsequently sunk, to determine whether the cause of the incident was due to a failure that could be repeated on ''Santa Cruz''. Work was restarted in February 2019, from where it was expected to take two years to return ''Santa Cruz'' back to service in 2021. However, by the end of 2020 the refit of ''Santa Cruz'' had been reported cancelled leaving the navy without an operational submarine.
See also
*
List of ships of the Argentine Navy
This list includes all major warships that entered service with the Argentine Navy since being formally established in the 1860s.In 1861 the modern Argentine Republic was born, after the Battle of Pavón. It also includes ships that were purcha ...
References
Notes
Bibliography
Further reading
*
*
External links
Santa Cruz class Patrol submarineSubmarino de ataque (SSK) classe Santa Cruz / TR-1700Classe TR-1700
*
Argentine Navy official website - Submarine Force page (Poder Naval - Fuerza de Submarinos - Unidades
(accessed 2017-02-04)
*
Latin-American Submariners Community website
(accessed 2017-02-04)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Santa Cruz
TR-1700-class submarines
1982 ships
Ships built in Emden