PACIFIC OCEAN (Nov. 1, 2019) An MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter from the Magicians of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 35 conducts a hoist exercise with the Peruvian navy submarine BAP Angamos (SS-31) off the coast of San Clemente Island. HSM-35 is conducting antisubmarine warfare training to maintain readiness by utilizing a live submarine. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Patrick W. Menah Jr./Released)
SUBRON 11 this week announced that they would, for the next two months, host the Peruvian Submarine BAP Angamos (SS-31), a German-built Type 209 submarine (SSK), at Naval Base Point Loma as part of the Diesel-Electric Submarine Initiative (DESI) program.
“Each year, Submarine Squadron 11 looks forward to DESI and we are thrilled this year to be working with our Peruvian counterpart,” said Capt. Patrick Friedman, CSS-11. “By having an SSK operate and train with us, it allows us to practice on a platform that has a similar signature to our adversaries. Not to mention, there is a great deal of diplomatic goodwill that is fostered through these engagements.”
Peruvian submarines have been a part of the DESI since 2001 and have rotated through the program no less than 16 times since then including sending Angamos’s sistership, BAP Arica, north last year.
The Latin American country has been in the submarino biz since the 1880s and, a full century ago, ordered a quartet of U.S.-made boats, sparking a long run of close U.S-Peruvian submarine partnerships. Those four 187-foot R-class submarines— BAP Islay (R-1), BAP Casma (R-2), BAP Pacocha (R-3), and BAP Arica (R-4)— were ordered from the Electric Boat Company in Connecticut, and delivered in the mid-1920s. Carrying four torpedo tubes, these diesel-electric subs were involved in both the Colombian-Peruvian War and Peruvian-Ecuadorian War before being upgraded back at Groton to extend their life after WWII, at which point they were probably the last 1920s-era diesel boats still in front-line service. Of note, the U.S. Navy used some 27 R-class boats of their own.
The four Peruvian R-class subs. Built during Prohibition in Connecticut, they remained with the fleet until 1960
To replace these were four more Electric Boat-produced modified U.S. Mackerel-class submarines ordered in 1953. Termed the Abtao-class in service, the quartet– BAP Lobo/Dos de Mayo (SS-41, BAP Tiburon/Abato (SS-42), BAP Atun/Angamos (SS-43) and BAP Merlin/Iquique (SS-44)— remained in service in one form or another into 1998.
Peru then picked up a pair of aging U.S. Balao-class diesel boats in 1974– BAP Pabellón de Pica/La Pedrera (SS-49), ex-USS Sea Poacher (SS/AGSS-406) and BAP Pacocha (SS-48), ex- USS Atule (SS-403)— which they kept in service as late as 1995.
BAP Dos de Mayo, Peruvian submarine
Peru has since acquired six German-built Type 209 (1100 and 1200 series) boats, commissioned starting in 1974:
BAP Angamos (SS-31)
BAP Antofagasta (SS-32)
BAP Arica (SS-36)
BAP Chipana (SS-34)
BAP Islay (SS-35)
BAP Pisagua (SS-33)
The evolution looks like this:
And they are effectively the U.S. Navy’s designated SSK OPFOR team