ARA San Juan
Marker: recorded wreck position (Date not recorded).
Key facts
| Name | ARA San Juan | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Ship type | diesel-electric submarine, attack submarine | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Nationality / flag | Argentina | Wikidata P8047 country of registry |
| Operator | Argentine Navy | Wikidata P137 operator |
| Sea / ocean | South Atlantic Ocean | Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon |
| Position | -45.9497, -59.7728 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
ARA San Juan (S-42) was a TR-1700-class diesel-electric submarine in service with the Submarine Force of the Argentine Navy from 1985 to 2017. It was built in West Germany, entering service on 19 November 1985, and underwent a mid-life update from 2008 to 2013.
On 15 November 2017, San Juan went missing with 44 crewmen during a routine patrol in the South Atlantic off Patagonia. She was believed to have suffered an electrical malfunction, and a multi-nation search operation was mounted. Within hours of San Juan's last transmission, an acoustic anomaly consistent with an implosion was detected in the vicinity of the vessel's last known location. When the submarine was not located for a week, the crew were presumed dead by the Argentine government. On 30 November, the search and rescue operation was abandoned.
The Argentine Navy reported on 16 November 2018 that the wreck of San Juan had been found at a depth of 907 metres (2,976 ft), 460 kilometres (290 mi) southeast of Comodoro Rivadavia. The submarine's imploded wreckage was strewn over an area of 8,000 square metres (86,000 ft2).
Diving & visiting
On 16 November 2018, the remains of ARA San Juan were found at a depth of 907 metres (2,976 ft), at 45°56′59″S 59°46′22″W (20 km or 12 mi NNW from the seismic anomaly previously reported by the CTBTO) and nearly 270 nautical miles (500 km; 310 mi) from Comodoro Rivadavia, by a remote submersible operated by the Norwegian ship Seabed Constructor of the company Ocean Infinity, a private maritime company hired by the Argentine government.
It had been considered that the probability of locating the wreck in the area where it was eventually found was 90%, but previous searches failed to find it due to insufficient technology and presence of numerous submarine canyons.
Location
- Recorded position: -45.9497, -59.7728 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
- Sea / ocean: South Atlantic Ocean
Wreck positions on this site are for interest only and are not for navigation. Many wrecks are war graves or legally protected: never disturb human remains or remove artefacts, and check local law before diving.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article ARA San Juan (S-42) (revision 1380878372), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Wreck discovery”; condensed by selecting paragraphs; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).
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