ARA ''Narwal'' was an Argentinian

fishing trawler A fishing trawler is a commercial fishing vessel designed to operate fishing trawls. Trawling is a method of fishing that involves actively dragging or pulling a trawl through the water behind one or more trawlers. Trawls are fishing nets tha ...

, equipped for

ELINT Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is intelligence-gathering by interception of '' signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly used in communication ...

purposes during the

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territori ...

and captained by Asterio Wagata.

Operational history

The ship had been given the task of shadowing the British fleet and performing ELINT operations along with other trawlers, and was observed for the first time by British air patrols on 29 April 1982. ''Narwal'' was heavily damaged in an attack by British

Sea Harrier The British Aerospace Sea Harrier is a naval short take-off and vertical landing/vertical take-off and landing jet fighter, reconnaissance and attack aircraft. It is the second member of the Harrier family developed. It first entered servic ...

s from on 9 May 1982. The ship was hit by a 1000-pound bomb, but it failed to explode as it had been released below the lowest prescribed height and did not arm in time. The bomb caused heavy damage and the Harriers then

strafed Strafing is the military practice of attacking ground targets from low-flying aircraft using aircraft-mounted automatic weapons. Less commonly, the term is used by extension to describe high-speed firing runs by any land or naval craft such ...

the ''Narwal'' with their 30mm guns. The aircraft were Sea Harriers of

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wil ...

800 Naval Air Squadron 800 Naval Air Squadron was a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm carrier-based squadron formed on 3 April 1933 by amalgamating No's 402 and 404 (Fleet Fighter) Flights. History 1930s The squadron was first equipped with nine single-seat Hawker Nimrod fight ...

, flown by Fl Lt Morgan and Lt Cdr Batt. The two Harriers had been dispatched to

Port Stanley Stanley (; also known as Port Stanley) is the capital city of the Falkland Islands. It is located on the island of East Falkland, on a north-facing slope in one of the wettest parts of the islands. At the 2016 census, the city had a popula ...

for a bombing mission, but the mission was not completed due to low clouds over the target area. On the return leg to ''Hermes'' they discovered the ship and obtained permission to engage the target. A boarding party of British SBS men reached the target via a Sea King Mk.4 of

846 Naval Air Squadron 846 Naval Air Squadron is a squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. Between December 1979 and the summer of 2013, 846 Naval Air Squadron operated the Westland Sea King HC4 helicopter to provide troop transport and load lifting support to ...

and captured the ship dead in the water, taking off all of the men, and the body of Omar Alberto Rupp, the

boatswain A boatswain ( , ), bo's'n, bos'n, or bosun, also known as a deck boss, or a qualified member of the deck department, is the most senior rate of the deck department and is responsible for the components of a ship's hull. The boatswain supervises ...

of the Argentine trawler, killed by the impact of the bomb. The ''Narwal'' was taken in tow, but sank the next day, 10 May. Among those captured was Captain Juan Carlos González of the

Argentine Navy The Argentine Navy (ARA; es, Armada de la República Argentina). This forms the basis for the navy's ship prefix "ARA". is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with t ...

's information services, who was released after the war.

Aftermath

Omar Alberto Rupp was buried at sea by the British on 10 May. Meanwhile, an

Aérospatiale SA 330 Puma The Aérospatiale SA 330 Puma is a four-bladed, twin-engined medium transport/utility helicopter that was designed and originally produced by the French aerospace manufacturer Sud Aviation. It is capable of carrying up to 20 passengers as well as ...

of the

Argentine Army The Argentine Army ( es, Ejército Argentino, EA) is the land force branch of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic and the senior military service of Argentina. Under the Argentine Constitution, the president of Argentina is the command ...

was sent to recover the crew of ''Narwal'' after receiving a

distress signal A distress signal, also known as a distress call, is an internationally recognized means for obtaining help. Distress signals are communicated by transmitting radio signals, displaying a visually observable item or illumination, or making a soun ...

, but was shot down by destroyer HMS ''Coventry'' with a

Sea Dart Sea Dart, or GWS.30 was a Royal Navy surface-to-air missile system designed in the 1960s and entering service in 1973. It was fitted to the Type 42 destroyers (United Kingdom and Argentina), Type 82 destroyer and s of the Royal Navy. Original ...

missile, killing all three members of the crew.

References

Notes

Bibliography

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External links

FV Narwal Wreck Site (116460)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Narwal Electronic intelligence ships Falklands War naval ships of Argentina Maritime incidents in 1982 Naval trawlers Ships built in Belgium Ships sunk by British aircraft Shipwrecks of the Falklands War 1962 ships