Missing Argentine Submarine at Fort Fantasy Forum

Maklarr4000 Nov 18 '17

The submarine is, as of this writing, still missing. Argentina has most of it's navy working to find it, and now have called in backup from neighboring countries, the British Royal Navy, US Navy, NASA (who has lent them some search aircraft designed to find things on the water), and even commercial vessels who are searching the vast area of open ocean where the submarine may yet be. The Argentinian navy is still optimistic that the sub is simply out of communication and is likely on the surface awaiting a tug into port. Fingers crossed that they are right.

Updated story is HERE.

The Forum post is edited by Maklarr4000 Nov 18 '17

#2

Maklarr4000 Nov 27 '17

Well, 11 days on since the sub vanished, the Navy seems to think that the sailors of the ARA San Juan may yet be alive, though likely trapped underwater due to power failure. Without energy their air supply would run out in roughly 7 days, but equipment and training to the crew would be able to extend that much further. Supplies like food and water aboard the sub would, theoretically, could support the crew for more than a month granted the stores are accessible. Despite the optimism, all agree that time is running out for a happy ending to the story of the ARA San Juan.

Though practically every navy on Earth has dedicated some form of vessel to the search (including specialized submarine tracking ships from China, special submarine detection vessels from the Russian Federation, and the US Navy's elite submarine rescue unit, the sub has not yet been located.

A watchdog group keeping tabs on possible nuclear tests detected an explosion of some sort in the area around the time the sub vanished, which dampens the hopes of finding the crew alive, but the search continues until proven otherwise.

Story is HERE.

#3

Maklarr4000 Nov 27 '17

Personally, I'm fairly confident there was some sort of explosive event on the sub and it sank fast. It will be very important that the vessel is recovered so that the cause of it's loss can be discerned for other nations operating these types of submarines. Argentina states the sub did not have any torpedoes aboard, leaving a lot of questions as to what could have exploded to cause the sub to sink in the first place- but that all yet remains to be seen. While I hope that the crew are still alive, but the odds of them still being alive at this point, considering the circumstances of the sub's disappearance and the difficulty in locating it, aren't good.

#4

Fitch Dec 11 '17

May they rest in peace.

#5

Maklarr4000 Dec 16 '17

Well, Argentina has officially fired it's Naval leader, Admiral Marcelo Eduardo Hipolito Srur over the sub's loss, adding fuel to rumors of potential negligence or disrepair that may have led to the submarine's apparent disappearance.

The story can be found HERE.

#6

Maklarr4000 Dec 26 '17

News today, the US Navy has found a sonar contact that isn't a fishing boat, and in a rare bit of cooperation, the Russians are sending one of their submarines to check it out. Story is HERE.

#7

Maklarr4000 Jan 2 '18

Well, the search for the San Juan is going from bad to worse. The United States has pulled out of the search (as have several other countries) as allegations that Argentina doesn't actually want to find the submarine, as some sort of last ditch effort to cover up alleged negligence, bribery, and corruption that led to the San Juan's batteries being replaced by unknown contractors with batteries of unknown origin pile up. According to the story, a German firm had allegedly bribed Argentine navy officials $6-million to get the contract to replace the batteries on the San Juan, but where the batteries came from and who actually did the work remains a mystery no one seems able to solve.

The Russian Federation has discovered "New Objects" (whatever that means) in the search and now the Argentine navy is assisting in looking over what the "objects" may be.

The consensus now is that the batteries may have caused a tremendous fire, detonating the submarines munitions, or that the batteries themselves may have exploded. In either case, it has been revealed that those looking for the sub are not looking for an intact vessel any more, compounding the already fever-pitch rumors that Argentina knowingly sent out a faulty submarine to it's doom.

Story is HERE.

The Forum post is edited by Maklarr4000 Jan 2 '18

#8

Maklarr4000 Jan 14 '18

Well, it looks like the story of the ARA San Juan mystery is coming to a close.

United States officials reporting on the acoustic signature (the "explosion") from back in November have determined that the sound was generated by a submarine implosion- when the hull of a submarine fails, the pressure is released, and the ocean squashes it flat like a tin can in under a second. For this particular incident, they believe the time from the breach that destroyed the sub to the subs destruction was about 40 milliseconds- the sub was crushed and everyone inside was killed before they would have even had time to process what had happened.

It is somber news, but does give some semblance of closure to the families, some who had no doubt worried that their loved ones may have drowned or suffocated at the bottom of the ocean- that they died instantly and painlessly is a slight comfort.

Now, of course, the big question is how did a modern submarine on a routine patrol succumb to a catastrophic implosion? This is not a "normal" thing to happen to submarines in this day and age. Argentina and it's navy still have much to answer for, and these questions most likely can't be settled until the sub is located. At present, the Russian Federation is still exploring "objects" in a set search field, which may indicate that the submarine was broken apart when it was crushed or shortly afterwards, so they may be looking for debris that indicates what went wrong. Alas, we won't know what's going on there until Russia tells us.

Story is HERE and HERE.

#9

Maklarr4000 Feb 25 '18

As the Russian navy search seems to be coming to a close empty handed, the Argentinian Defense Ministry is now offering 98 million Pesos, or roughly $4.8 million US Dollars, for any information or assistance that can find the remains of the sub. It seems like a desperate last stab in the dark, revealing how little is actually known about the submarine's last known location.

News story is HERE.

#10

Maklarr4000 Mar 18 '18

So, some fresh news on the ARA San Juan has surfaced, this time from Argentina's records. The San Juan's mission was less of a "patrol" and more of a dedicated spy mission on tanker and logistics ships from the British Royal Navy in the area the sub was lost. It comes as little surprise given the rather sour diplomatic relationship the United Kingdom and Argentina still share following the Falkland Island War of 1982. Maintaining some strategic intelligence on British military assets in the area wouldn't be too unreasonable an explanation for the sub's strange path back to base. The question again turns to the subs repairs, or lack thereof- and whether the Argentinian Navy knowingly sent a defective submarine on a doomed mission. It's difficult to tell if we'll ever really know at this point.

A more complete story can be found HERE or HERE.

The Forum post is edited by Maklarr4000 Mar 18 '18

#11

Jasper Apr 7 '18

Damn. Rip guys.

#12

Maklarr4000 Apr 27 '18

Well, while Argentina has committed to finding the sub by whatever means necessary, it won't be with the Russian Federation's tools. The Russian navy has packed up it's crews and equipment, their search concluded empty handed. This is a major blow to the families of the crew of the lost sub, as Argentina lacks the deep-ocean search equipment needed to find the sub at the depths it's believed to have been lost at, meaning the final Russian scans may be the last serious search of the area for some time.

Story on the Russian withdrawal is HERE.

Meanwhile, Argentina's defense minister Oscar Aguad has said they are still going to find the sub, somehow. He failed to mention any details, aside from noting an Argentinian-funded effort to hire a US-based company to try and find it. That search effort lasted 100 days, and was unsuccessful.

The story on that can be found HERE.

#13

Jasper May 20 '18

Did they find anything yet?

#14

Maklarr4000 May 23 '18

Nope. Evidently the reward money offered and the companies hired by Argentina have been insufficient to find the lost submarine. Without international aide (like that withdrawn by the United States and Russian Federation) it seems unlikely the submarine is going to be found anytime soon.

There is a news story from the other day that cropped up in the feed- it's been 6 months since the submarine vanished. They also noted that the families can't legally get at any of the sailor's pensions, bank accounts, or insurance until either their bodies are found, or Argentina finally gives up and declares them dead- something they seem unwilling to do. The real slap in the face is that Argentina gave all the families a "hardship payout" that amounted to $15 US dollars. Wow.

That story is HERE.

#15

Maklarr4000 Jul 14 '18

More news! None of it good though. Relatives and supporters of the families of the missing crews of the ARA San Juan recently protested Argentina's lack of effort to find the missing submarine, chaining themselves to the gates of the "Presidential Palace" in Argentina's capital city of Buenos Aires. Many of the families believe that President Mauricio Macri is, at best, sitting on his hands doing nothing as it's cheaper than acting, and at worst assisting in what many suspect is a cover up of the faulty repairs that sent the submarine to it's doom. Story is HERE.

Through it all, this little tidbit is mot biting to me.

That their people won't even talk about it is pretty disgusting.