 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Chile | |
| Name | Flach |
| Laid down | 1866 |
| Fate | Sank in Valparaiso bay on May 3, 1866 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement | ~50 tons |
| Length | 12.5 m (41 ft) |
| Beam | 2.5 m (8.2 ft) |
| Propulsion | pedals |
| Complement | 11 |
| Armament | 2 cannons |
Flach was the first submarine designed and built in Chile in 1866. It was lost on a test run the same year, and is believed to lie on the seabed of the bay of Valparaiso.
The Flach was built in 1866 at the request of the Chilean government, by Karl Flach, a German engineer and immigrant. It was the fifth submarine built in the world [1] and, along with a second submarine, was intended to defend the port of Valparaiso against attack by the Spanish navy during the Chincha Islands War. (The second vessel, built by Gustavo Heyermann, sank on its maiden voyage.)
On 3 May 1866, after several days of successful testing, Karl Flach, his son, and nine other Chilean and German crewmen boarded the submarine for another test run. During the test, the submarine sank for unknown reasons; it is now thought to lie at a depth of about 50 meters (164 feet) within the bay of Valparaiso. The Flach was located two days after the sinking by seamen from the English frigate HMS Leander, and a diver named John Wallace was able to see and draw the wreck, which was buried nose-down in the bay's sediment.
The Chilean Navy, with support from others, has searched for the submarine and intends to raise it after finding it, even though there is as yet no agreement on what to do with the remains of the eleven bodies thought to be inside. A finding of an object that appears to be the Flach was reported in El Mercurio de Valparaiso on 25 April 2007.[ citation needed ] However, the finding has not been confirmed, because, as of August 2007, sediment still has to be cleared away from the object.
Valparaíso is a major city, commune, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the Valparaíso Region, Chile.
ARA Santa Fe was an Argentine Balao-class submarine that was lost during the Falklands War. Built by the US during the Second World War, the ship operated in the United States Navy as USS Catfish (SS-339) until 1971 when she was transferred to the Argentine Navy. She served until 1982 when she was captured by the British at South Georgia after being seriously damaged and subsequently sank along a pier, with just her conning tower (sail) visible above the waterline. The submarine was raised, towed out of the bay and scuttled in deep water in 1985.
The Chilean Navy 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.
Isaac Peral y Caballero, was a Spanish engineer, naval officer and designer of the Peral Submarine. He joined the Spanish navy in 1866, and developed the first electric-powered submarine which was launched in 1888. It was not accepted by political authorities, but it was accepted by the navy. He then left the navy to develop other inventions commercially.
Toro Submarino was a Peruvian submarine developed during the War of the Pacific in 1879. It is considered the first operational submarine or submersible in Latin America. Being fully operational, waiting for its opportunity to attack during the Blockade of Callao, it was scuttled to avoid its capture by Chilean troops on January 17, 1881, before the imminent occupation of Lima.
Rodeo is a traditional equestrian sport in Chile, declared the national sport in 1962.
Joaquín Edwards Bello was a Chilean writer and journalist of British descent.
Rucumilla was an H-class submarine of the Chilean Navy. The vessel was originally ordered by the United Kingdom's Royal Navy as HMS H17, but was handed over to Chile in 1917 as H3.
The S-80 Plus class is a Spanish class of four submarines being built by the state-owned Spanish company Navantia at its Cartagena shipyard for the Spanish Navy. In common with other contemporary submarines, they feature air-independent propulsion.
The Maritime history of Chile started when Chile gained independence, but traces it origin in the colonial era and has ultimately origin in the seafaring tradition of the Iberian Peninsula, Europe and the Mediterranean as well as from indigenous peoples of Chile.
Peral was the first successful full electric battery-powered submarine, built by the Spanish engineer and sailor Isaac Peral for the Spanish Navy, in Arsenal de la Carraca. The first fully capable military submarine, she was launched 8 September 1888. She had one torpedo tube and an air regeneration system. Her hull shape, propeller, periscope, torpedo launcher and cruciform external controls anticipated later designs. Her underwater speed was 3 knots. With fully charged batteries, she was the fastest submarine yet built, with underwater performance levels that matched those of First World War U-boats for a very short period, before her batteries began to drain. For example, the SM U-9, a pre-war German U-boat built in 1908, had an underwater speed of 8.1 knots, and an underwater range of 150 km (81 nmi) at 5.8 knots, before having to resurface to recharge her batteries. Although advanced in many ways, Peral lacked a means of charging batteries while underway, such as an internal combustion engine, thus had a very limited endurance and range. In June 1890, Peral's submarine launched a torpedo while submerged. It was also the first submarine to incorporate a fully reliable underwater navigation system. However, conservatives in the Spanish naval hierarchy terminated the project despite two years of successful tests. Her operational abilities have led some to call her the first U-boat.
The 1906 Valparaíso earthquake hit Valparaíso, Chile, on August 16 at 19:55 local time. Its epicenter was offshore from the Valparaíso Region, and its intensity was estimated at magnitude 8.2 Mw. This earthquake occurred thirty minutes after the 1906 Aleutian Islands earthquake.
Mario Antonio Núñez Villarreal is a Chilean former footballer well remembered for his spell at O'Higgins. He played as a striker.
San Antonio Canyon is a submarine canyon located offshore San Antonio, Valparaíso Region, Chile. The canyon crosses almost the whole continental shelf. It has a slope of 2° from its upper parts near the coast to 80 km offshore, then slope increases to a mean of 6.3°. The main channel has a large tributary coming from the south.
The corvette Magallanes was ordered by the Chilean government after the disastrous consequences of the War against Spain in 1864-1866 and the rising border conflict with the neighboring countries at the end of the 1870s.
ARA San Juan (S-42) was a TR-1700-class diesel-electric submarine in service with the Submarine Force of the Argentine Navy from 1985 to 2017. It was built in West Germany, entering service on 19 November 1985, and underwent a mid-life update from 2008 to 2013.
On 15 November 2017, the Argentine submarine ARA San Juan disappeared off the coast of Argentina while on a training exercise. After a search lasting 15 days, the Argentine Navy downgraded the operation from a rescue mission to a search for the submarine's wreck, implying they had given up any hope of finding survivors among its crew of 44. It was the worst submarine disaster since the accident on Chinese submarine 361 in 2003, and the second worst peacetime naval disaster in Argentina after the 1949 sinking of the minesweeper ARA Fournier.
The action of 17 November 1865 was a minor naval engagement that took place off Tomé, during the Chincha Islands War. Chilean tugboat Independencia captured a Spanish gunboat who belonged to the frigate Resolución.
Karl Flach was a German mechanic and engineer who designed and built the Flach, the first Chilean submarine.
