Santa Fe-class submarine

The Santa Fe-class submarines, also known as the Tarantinos after the city in which they were built,^[1] 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. ^{[citation needed]} The class was named after Argentine provinces starting with “S”, as traditional in the Argentine Navy.^[2]

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

Design

All three ships in the Santa Fe class were built by the Franco Tosti Shipyard in Taranto, Italy.^[3]

Service history

Santa Fe^[3]

The Santa Fe was launched July 29, 1931 and was affirmed the national flag on October 26, 1932. It, along with its twins, "Santiago del Estero" and "Salta", sailed to Buenos Aires where it arrived April 7, 1933. It received its combat flag in its namesake port of Santa Fe on October 15, 1933. It arrived in Mar del Plata on September 1, 1933, where it was used until its decommissioning in 1956 for the training of Navy personnel.

In a strong storm in the July 1938, the Santa Fe rescued a fishing boat in the waters of Cape Corrientes.

Santiago del Estero

Specifications

Ship Name	Length	Beam	Depth	Average Draft	Surface Displacement	Submerged Displacement
Santa Fe	69.24 m	8.68 m	6 m	5.05 m	935 Tn	1,155 Tn [3]
Santiago del Estero
Salta

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.