| ARA Suboficial Castillo (A-6) | |
|---|---|
 ARA Suboficial Castillo in Antarctic waters | |
| Career (United States) |  |
| Name: | USS Takelma (ATF-113) |
| Laid down: | 18 Sep 1943 |
| Commissioned: | 1944 |
| Decommissioned: | 1976 |
| Fate: | transferred to Argentine Navy, 1993 |
| Career (Argentina) |  |
| Name: | ARA Suboficial Castillo (A-6) |
| Namesake: | Marine Julio Castillo |
| Acquired: | 30 Sep 1993 |
| Commissioned: | 7 Jun 1994 |
| Fate: | in service as of 2010 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 1731 tons (full) |
| Length: | 62.5 m |
| Beam: | 11.7 m |
| Draft: | 5.2 m |
| Propulsion: |
4 x Diesel-electric engines, single screw |
| Speed: | 16 knots (30 km/h) |
| Range: | 6500 milles at 15 knots (28 km/h) |
| Complement: | 85 |
| Armament: |
as Suboficial Castillo • 2 × dual 40 mm /60 Bofors gun, • 1 single 40 mm /60 Bofors gun, • 2 × Oerlikon 20 mm cannon |
The ARA Suboficial Castillo (A-6) is an Abnaki class tug patrol boat of the Argentine Navy. She previously served in the US Navy as USS Takelma (ATF-113) from 1944 to 1976.
Suboficial Castillo is used as support ship for both the Argentine Submarine Force and during the summer campaigns in Antarctica in the Patrulla Antártica Naval Combinada (English: Joint Antarctic Naval Patrol) with the Chilean Navy to guarantee safety to all touristic and scientific ships that are in transit within the Antarctic Peninsula.
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Takelma was built by United Engineering Co, at Alameda, California, USA and commissioned by the US Navy in 1944. She was transferred to Reserve fleet in October 1976.
Argentine service[]
The ship was acquired in 1993 by the Argentine Navy and classified as aviso.
It is the first ship to bear the name of Argentine Marines's Sub-Officer Julio Saturnino Castillo, an Argentine Nation to the Heroic Valour in Combat Cross recipient killed during the Falklands War (Spanish language: Guerra de las Malvinas ).
On 25 May 1995 captured the LW9579 trawler for illegal fishing in the Argentine Sea.[1]
On January 1998, she transported a French team to the Isla de los Estados island which install a replica of Jules Verne's The Lighthouse at the End of the World.[2]
On 19 August 1998 after finishing a naval exercise with the Chilean Navy and docked at the port of Ushuaia the ARA Comodoro Somellera sank following a collision with her during a storm.[3]
On 2007 she participated on the rescue of the ARA Almirante Irizar after the icebreaker caught fire.[4]
As of 2010 she is homebased at Mar del Plata naval base.
References[]
- Official site
- Castillo at Histarmar
External links[]
- Suboficial Castillo pictorial at Histarmar
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The original article can be found at ARA Suboficial Castillo (A-6) and the edit history here.