This is a list of hostile incidents at the Argentine border. This timeline does not include events from the 1982 Falklands War, nor the 1978 peak of the Beagle crisis with Chile. It should be note that Argentina's use of force against Chile and the United Kingdom has been the exception rather than the rule, and some of the hostile acts or armed incidents appear to have been caused by zealous local commanders, and not as the result of a widespread strategy. [1]
Most of the naval incidents involve illegal fishing boats predating squids and fish species outside exploitation seasons and allowed seizing by the Argentine law in Argentine Exclusive Economic Zone waters. [2]
The Argentine Navy is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the Army and the Air Force.
This article describes the composition and actions of the Argentine naval forces in the Falklands War. For a list of naval forces from the United Kingdom, see British naval forces in the Falklands War.
ARA Almirante Irízar is a large icebreaker of the Argentine Navy. She was ordered from a shipyard in Finland in 1975.
The Argentine Naval Prefecture is a service of Argentina's Security Ministry charged with protecting the country's rivers and maritime territory. It therefore fulfills the functions of other countries' coast guards, and furthermore acts as a gendarmerie force policing navigable rivers.
ARA Sarandí is the fourth and last ship of the MEKO 360H2 series of destroyers built for the Argentine Navy. The ship is also the fourth ship in the Argentine Navy to bear that name. Sarandí is the name of a victory of the Argentine army during the Cisplatine War.
ARA Espora (P-41) is the lead ship of the MEKO 140A16 Espora class of six corvettes built for the Argentine Navy. Commissioned in 1985, she is used for fishery patrol. She is homeported at Puerto Belgrano Naval Base and is part of the Navy's 2nd Corvette Division with her five sister ships. The ship is the sixth ship to bear the name of Colonel (Navy) Tomás Espora, who fought in the Argentine Navy during the Cisplatine War. Generator failure left her stranded in South Africa for 73 days in late 2012.
The sinking of Chian-der 3 was an incident that occurred on 28 May 1986, when the Taiwanese-flagged trawler Chian-der 3 was detected, tracked, fired upon, set on fire and eventually sunk by the Mantilla-class patrol vessel PNA Prefecto Derbes of the Prefectura Naval Argentina, at a location 24 nautical miles outside the United Kingdom's Total Exclusion Zone, which covers a circle of 200 nautical miles from the centre of the Falklands Islands. Two Taiwanese fishermen were killed; four others were injured.
ARA Drummond (P-31) is the lead ship of the Drummond class of three corvettes of the Argentine Navy. She is the second vessel to be named after Scottish-born Navy Sergeant Major Francisco Drummond.
ARA Suboficial Castillo (A-6) was an Abnaki-class tug/patrol boat of the Argentine Navy. She previously served in the United States Navy as USS Takelma (ATF-113) from 1944 to 1992. The ship was acquired by Argentina in 1993 and was in service until the 2020s. In 2022, the ship was put up for sale. Suboficial Castillo was used as support ship for both the Argentine Submarine Force and during the summer campaigns in Antarctica in the Patrulla Antártica Naval Combinada with the Chilean Navy to guarantee safety to all touristic and scientific ships that are in transit within the Antarctic Peninsula.
ARA Alférez Sobral (A-9) is an 800-ton ocean-going tug that was in service with the Argentine Navy from 1972 until 2019, where she was classified as an aviso. She had previously served in the US Navy as the fleet tug USS Salish (ATA-187). In Argentine service an aviso is a small naval vessel used for a number of auxiliary tasks, including tugging, laying buoys, and replenishing other ships, lighthouses and naval bases.
ARA Guerrico (P-32) is a Drummond-class corvette of the Argentine Navy. She is the first vessel to be named after Rear Admiral Martín Guerrico who fought in the 19th century Paraguayan War.
ARA Narwal was an Argentinian fishing trawler, equipped for ELINT purposes during the Falklands War and captained by Asterio Wagata.
Lu Yan Yuan Yu 010 was a fishing trawler registered in China. The vessel had a length of 66 m (217 ft). It was sunk on 15 March 2016 off the coast of Argentina by the Argentine Coast Guard during a territorial fishing dispute. There were no fatalities.
PNA Azopardo (GC-25) is a Mantilla-class patrol boat of the Argentine Naval Prefecture, built at the Empresa Nacional Bazán shipyards and commissioned in 1983. The vessel is named after Juan Bautista Azopardo, a Maltese privateer and officer of the Argentine Navy during the Independence and Cisplatine wars, and Harbourmaster of Buenos Aires; she is the second PNA ship with this name.
PNA Thompson (GC-26) is a Mantilla-class patrol boat of the Argentine Naval Prefecture, built at the Empresa Nacional Bazán shipyards and commissioned in 1983. The vessel is named after Martín Jacobo Thompson, an Argentine naval officer during the Independence War, and first Harbourmaster of Buenos Aires; she is the first PNA ship with this name.
PNA Prefecto Fique (GC-27) is a Mantilla-class patrol boat in service with the Argentine Naval Prefecture, built at the Empresa Nacional Bazán shipyards and commissioned in 1983. The vessel is named after Luis Pedro Fique, a former commander of the “Prefectura de Ushuaia” of the PNA; she is the first ship of this service with this name.
PNA Prefecto Derbes (GC-28) is a Mantilla-class patrol boat in service with the Argentine Naval Prefecture, built at the Empresa Nacional Bazán shipyards and commissioned in 1984. The vessel is named after Pedro Derbes, a former commander of the “Prefectura de Puerto Madryn” of the PNA; she is the first ship of this service with this name.
ARA Luisito (Q-51) is a training ship of the Argentine Navy, in service since 1985 and based in Mar del Plata; where she is used to train students from Argentina’s National Fishing School. The vessel is the first Argentine naval ship with this name.