.jpg) USSCatawba | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Catawba |
| Namesake | Catawba River |
| Builder | Gulfport Boiler & Welding Works |
| Launched | 15 February 1945 |
| Commissioned | 1945 |
| Decommissioned | 1972 |
| Fate | transferred toArgentine Navy, 1972 |
| Stricken | 1 February 1972 |
 Argentina | |
| Name | Comodoro Somellera |
| Acquired | 10 February 1972 |
| Commissioned | 10 February 1972 |
| Out of service | 1998 |
| Fate | Sunk during storm in Port ofUshuaia in 1998, hull recovered and stored before use as a target in 2017 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Sotoyomo-classtugboat |
| Displacement | 835 tons (848 t) (full) |
| Length | 143 ft (44 m) |
| Beam | 33 ft 10 in (10.31 m) |
| Draft | 13 ft 2 in (4.01 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 13knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) |
| Complement | 45–49 |
| Armament |
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ARAComodoro Somellera (A-10) was aSotoyomo-class rescuetug that served in theArgentine Navy from 1972 to 1998 classified as anaviso. She previously served in theUS Navy as USSCatawba (ATA-210) from 1945 to 1972. After being damaged beyond repair in 1998, she was deliberately sunk as a weapons target in November 2017.
The tug was 143 feet (44 m) long, with abeam of 34 feet (10 m). She had adisplacement of 835 tons.[1]
Catawba waslaid down as ATR-137 atGulfport Boiler & Welding Works shipyard inPort Arthur, Texas and reclassified ATA-210 on 15 May 1944. The ship waslaunched on 15 February 1945 andcommissioned by the United States Navy on 18 April 1945. The third ship of the United States Navy to carry the name, she was named after theCatawba River, inNorth Carolina. In 1959 she served inOperation Inland Seas.[1] She wasdecommissioned in 1972 and transferred to the Argentine Navy.[citation needed]
The ship was named after CommodoreAntonio Somellera, who joined the Argentine Navy in 1828 with hisbrigantineGeneral Rondeau to fight in theCisplatine War. She was acquired in 1972 along with hersister shipARA Alférez Sobral, departing together fromMayport, Florida on 6 March 1972 and arriving atPuerto Belgrano on 18 April.[citation needed]
Both ships served during the 1982Falklands War where they were involved in a confused episode. The British claimed to have sunkComodoro Somellera with aSea Skua missile,[2] but this claim was subsequently dropped when the British re-evaluated claims after the war.Comodoro Somellera spent the period of the war in the opening of theStrait of Magellan. From 1988 she was assigned toUshuaia naval base until 1995, when she was transferred back to Puerto Belgrano.[citation needed]
In 1997, she participated inOperacion Calypso, an attempt to locate GermanU-boats sunk along the Patagonian coast.[3]
The ship continued to serve in the Argentine Navy until 19 August 1998 when, after finishing an exercise with theChilean Navy, she sank in the port of Ushuaia during a storm following a collision with the patrol tugARA Suboficial Castillo.[4][5] The ship was later refloated,[6] but thehull was considered too old to be repaired and was finally retired from the naval service, being expended as atarget ship in November 2017, whenComodoro Somellera was sunk by anExocet missile fired by the destroyerARALa Argentina.[7]
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1998 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 2017 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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