The ''Quidora'' was one of four torpedo boats built in Spain for the

Chilean Navy The Chilean Navy ( es, Armada de Chile) is the naval warfare service branch of the Chilean Armed Forces. It is under the Ministry of National Defense. Its headquarters are at Edificio Armada de Chile, Valparaiso. History Origins and the War ...

since 1962, based originally in the

Jaguar-class fast attack craft The Type 140 ''Jaguar''-class fast attack craft is an evolution of the German torpedo boats (E-boats) of World War II. The design was developed by Lürssen and designated ''Schnellboot 55''. The 20 boats that were built for the German Navy were ...

FPB-36 design of the German Lürssen Werft. Her sister ship ''Fresia'' PTF-81 is now a museum ship in Punta Arenas.

Design

The original design of the Jaguar-class included 4 Mercedes-Benz MB 518 B diesel engines, speed of 42 kn and 700 smi range of operation. But in order to operate in the

fjords and channels of Chile The southern coast of Chile presents a large number of fjords and fjord-like channels from the latitudes of Cape Horn (55° S) to Reloncaví Estuary (42° S). Some fjords and channels are important navigable channels providing access to ports like P ...

the boat needed a greater range and time of operation in sea, hence only two engines were installed and the speed was reduced to 28 kn. This class was later named "Barceló-class" in Spain.

''Quidora'' incident

In November 1967, under the command of Lieutenant Leonardo Prieto Vial, the ''Quidora'' entered in the Argentine Bay of Ushuaia repelling Argentine warships that where occupying the disputed canals during the

Beagle conflict The Beagle conflict was a border dispute between Chile and Argentina over the possession of Picton, Lennox and Nueva islands and the scope of the maritime jurisdiction associated with those islands that brought the countries to the brink of war i ...

. Lieutenant Prieto was retired from the navy after the incident by Chilean President Eduardo Frei.

ARA ''Gurruchaga'' incident

On February 19, 1982, six weeks before the beginning of the Falklands War, an incident occurred that could have sparked a full-fledged war between Chile and Argentina during the

Papal mediation in the Beagle conflict The papal mediation in the Beagle conflict followed the failure of negotiations between Chile and Argentina, when, on 22 December 1978, the Argentinian Junta started Operation Soberanía, to invade Cape Horn and islands awarded to Chile by the ...

. An Argentine patrol boat, the ARA ''Gurruchaga'' (Ex- USS ''Luiseno'' (ATF-156)) was anchored at Deceit Island inside the Beagle zone under mediation in Vatican, ostensibly providing support for sports boats participating in the Rio de Janeiro-Sydney boat race. The ''Quidora'' approached and ordered the Argentine ship to leave the area. She fired several warning shots when the Argentine craft refused to move, as other Chilean ships converged to the scene. Although originally ordered not to leave the area and to wait for Argentine warships to arrive, the Argentine patrol boat received new orders to proceed to port as it became obvious that the Chilean navy had no intentions of backing down.

Service boat

In 1997 the boat was refitted as general service boat (Lancha de Servicio General) and served in Valparaíso, Coquimbo, Iquique and Arica. Her

hull classification symbol The United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) use a hull classification symbol (sometimes called hull code or hull number) to identify their ships by type and by ind ...

was changed to LSG-1605.

Museum

Of the four boats, the ''Fresia'' is now exhibited in ''Embarcadero Tres Puentes'' at the

Punta Arenas Punta Arenas (; historically Sandy Point in English) is the capital city of Chile's southernmost region, Magallanes and Antarctica Chilena. The city was officially renamed as Magallanes in 1927, but in 1938 it was changed back to "Punta Are ...

Naval Base.

References

External links

* Chilean Navy website
Quidora
retrieved on 4 April 2013 * Hugo Alsina Calderón
Torpederas en acción
en Revista de Marina, * M. Agostini

retrieved on 4 April 2013 {{DEFAULTSORT:Quidora (PTF-82) Torpedo boats of the Chilean Navy 1965 ships