The next event marking the final farewell to the ARA Alférez Sobral , a veteran ship of the Argentine Navy , took place on Monday, May 19.
Leaving the port of Mar del Plata , in silent tow and amidst the absence of official announcements to perpetuate its history, the ship was taken into the depths of the sea.
This iconic ship, which on the night of May 2, 1982, witnessed one of the most heroic scenes of the Malvinas War, will be sunk as a simple target in a naval exercise, symbolizing the state's indifference toward its own heroes and its history.
The decision to get rid of him, a symbol of resistance and sacrifice , is an example of how Javier Milei's government continues with its policy of de-Malvinization and surrender of Argentine sovereign rights in the South Atlantic.
The ARA Sobral was much more than a warship. It witnessed and participated in one of the most heroic chapters in Argentine history.
On the night of May 2, 1982, while coming to the aid of pilots ejected during the fighting in the Malvina Islands, it was attacked by British helicopters , losing eight of its crew in the combat, including its commander, Lieutenant Commander Sergio Raúl Gómez Roca.
More than four decades have passed, but its wounds remain intact in the memories of those who lived through that night of fire and courage.
Former combatant Ricardo Abel Cuevas himself, who was part of the crew, recalls that “my commander, Gómez Roca, was the most senior officer of the naval fleet who lost his life in combat.”
Today, amidst the pain and helplessness, Cuevas sadly expresses that what is happening to Sobral “ causes me great sadness, because we consider it part of our survival during the war .” For years, various attempts to preserve its memory and turn it into a heritage symbol seemed in vain.
The hull, corroded by time, was moored at the Mar del Plata Naval Base, awaiting a destination that never arrived. Promises to transport it to Santa Fe, Ushuaia, Santa Cruz, Chubut, and Entre Ríos foundered due to a lack of support, resources, and political will.
The history of Sobral was then left in limbo, in that sort of institutional oblivion that is now materializing in its collapse .
On September 10, her name appeared on an auction list alongside other iconic Malvinas vessels . The reaction was immediate, generating a wave of complaints.
The Ministry of Defense and the Argentine Navy , in a final gesture, decided to withdraw the ship from that sale and give it a three-month deadline to present a conservation plan , but silence and a lack of concrete actions ultimately sealed its fate.
“ Every May 3rd, the entire surviving crew would gather and hold a vigil in honor of our fallen ,” says Cuevas , who was unable to visit the ship in its final days. “ I always walked around it, it was etched in my memory, and yesterday I didn't have the strength to go see it set sail, ” the veteran said.
The history of this ship transcends its steel structure: it is a living symbol of sacrifice, heroism, and patriotism that the passage of time and official neglect try to erase.
The Sobral was built in 1944 in the United States and participated in auxiliary duties in the Pacific during World War II . Later, in 1972 , it was handed over to the Argentine Navy and named after the military explorer and geologist José María Sobral, who carried out important campaigns in Antarctica .
That same year, the ship rescued Jacques Cousteau's ship Calipso, a heroic act that further enhances its history. Its last voyage, in August 2018, was from the Port of Santa Fe , where it was towed and left in captivity in a state of total abandonment.
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