Santa Fe-class submarine (1931)

The Santa Fe-class submarines were a class of three pre-World War II submarines, designed and built in Italy in 1928-1933, as part of an Argentine expansion plan for its navy. They were in service with the Argentine Navy from the early 1930s to the late 1950s. The class was named after Argentine provinces starting with “S”, as traditional in the Argentine Navy.[1]

The 3 "Santa Fe"-class submarines in Mar del Plata, in the background mother ship ARA "General Belgrano", date unknown
Class overview
Name:	Santa Fe-class submarine
Builders:	Cantieri navali Tosi di Taranto, Taranto, Italy
Operators:	Argentine Navy
Built:	1928-1958
In service:	1932-1960
In commission:	1933-1960
Planned:	3
Completed:	3
Retired:	3
General characteristics
Type:	submarine
Displacement:	935 (surface) to 1,155 (submerged) tons
Length:	64.24 m (210.8 ft)
Beam:	6.68 m (21.9 ft)
Draft:	5.05 m (16.6 ft)
Propulsion:	2-shaft; surface: 2 × Tosi diesel engines @ 3,000 ihp (2,200 kW), 90 tons oil; submerged: 1 x electric motors @ 1,400 ihp (1,000 kW)
Speed:	surface: 17.5 knots (20.1 mph; 32.4 km/h); submerged: 8.5 knots (9.8 mph; 15.7 km/h)
Range:	7100 nautical miles @ ?kn
Test depth:	80 m (260 ft)
Complement:	40
Sensors and processing systems:	2 periscopes
Armament:	8 × 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes (4 bow, 4 stern) 1 × 102 mm (4.0 in)/35 gun 1 × 40 mm (1.6 in)/60 gun
Armour:	none
Notes:	Specifications from “Conway’s All the World’s Fighting Ships, 1947-1995” and “Histarmar” website.

Ships in class

Ship Name	Pennant Number	Other names	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Service entry	Decommissioning
Santa Fe	S-1	none	Franco Tosi, Taranto	1928	28 July 1931	1932	1956[n 1]
Santiago del Estero	S-2	pennant to S-3 (later date, unconfirmed)	Franco Tosi, Taranto	1928	28 March 1932	1933	1959[n 2]
Salta	S-3	pennant to S-2 (later date, unconfirmed)	Franco Tosi, Taranto	1928	17 January 1932	1933	1960[n 3]

See also

• List of ships of the Argentine Navy
• Italian submarines of World War II
• Submarine Force Command

Footnotes

1. Scrapped by Dirección General de Fabricaciones Militares (date not confirmed).
2. Sold to Roberto Aguirre and used as oil hulk at the Buenos Aires port.
3. Sold to Aaron Gutman in 1961; final fate unconfirmed.

References

Notes

1. Historia - Tradiciones - Nombres de buques Armada Argentina, sitio oficial (in Spanish) Official website of the Argentine Navy (accessed 2016-12-29)

Bibliography

• Gardiner, Robert (1996). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1947-1995. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press. p. 675. ISBN 978-155-75013-25.
• Arguindeguy, Pablo (1972). Apuntes sobre los buques de la Armada Argentina (1810-1970) (in Spanish). Buenos Aires, Argentina: Comando en Jefe de la Armada.

Further reading

• Burzio, Humberto (1960). Armada Nacional (in Spanish). Secretaria de Estado de Marina.
• Burzaco, Ricardo (1999). SUBMARINOS DE LA ARMADA ARGENTINA 1933 - 2000 (in Spanish). Buenos Aires, Argentina: Eugenio B. ISBN 9789879676417.

External links

• “Tarantinos” class submarines - Histarmar website (Historia y Arqueología Marítima – Submarinos Clase “Tarantinos”) (accessed 2016-12-30)
• “Santa Fe” submarine S1 - Histarmar website (Historia y Arqueología Marítima – Submarino “Santa Fe” S1) (accessed 2016-12-31)
• “Santiago del Estero” submarine S2 later S3 - Histarmar website (Historia y Arqueología Marítima – Submarino “Santiago del Estero” S2 luego S3) (accessed 2016-12-31)
• “Salta” submarine S3 later S2 - Histarmar website (Historia y Arqueología Marítima – Submarino “Salta” S3 luego S2) (accessed 2016-12-31)