Combat of the Marga-Marga (1976)

The false sinking of a Peruvian submarine by the Chilean Navy


Not to believe it, Chile, which has taken so much from Peru since 1879 [Province of Arica (at that time belonging to the Department of Tacna) and Department of Tarapaca (with its Provinces of Tarapacá and Iquique), the Monitor “Huascar”, more than 40,000 books from the National Library of Peru, pisco (called in the 16th Century 'aguardiente de Pisco'), pisco sour, about two dozen typical gastronomic dishes, the origin of the potato, shot of 'chalaca', etc.], it turns out that he has also appropriated a curious and little known Peruvian naval history that in short is the following:

“Between 1970-1971 during the military government of General Juan Velasco Alvarado, four surface ships (destroyers) and three submarines belonging to the Peruvian Navy carry out naval exercises in the south of the country days prior to the UNITAS exercises (naval exercises carried out —since 1959— each year by the United States Navy in conjunction with other Latin American Navies); during these exercises, one of the participating destroyers, using its sonar, detects the presence of an intruder submarine (a fourth submarine), the protocols established to force it to surface are quickly followed and, given the repeated refusal to obey the orders, offensive measures are taken to kill it. The attack managed to cause damage but the spy submarine managed to flee. After the incident Intelligence of the Peruvian Navy obtains information that the submarine in question was of chilean nationality, it was the Thomson (SS-20) and that the damage caused was to its sail or tower”.

Well, that is the story that —word for word and enormous cynicism— Chile has stolen from Peru, it has called it Combat of the Marga-Marga and has published a misleading book about it in 1999 and then another in 2016 that is nothing more than an imitation of the book from 1999 where they are the ones who destroy a Peruvian submarine.

This naval history -or legend- is Peruvian, it was born in the first phase of the military-revolutionary government of Peru (1968-1975) and whatever it may be, be it a story or be it a legend, the truth is that it is a narrative authentically Peruvian, she was born to the Peruvian sailors of the early 70's and it is very grotesque that she has also been the object of theft by Chile.



© http://www.navsource.org
USS Tench (SS-417)

One of the 31 submarines named Tench Class, the SS-417,* was sold to Peru in 1976 (September 16) –after modernization (in 1951) by the GUPPY IA Program– to be scrapped. The Peruvian Navy never assigned a name and a numbering since it was only acquired for spare parts for the B.A.P. Pacocha (SS-48) and B.A.P. La Pedrera (SS-49) of the Balao Class acquired two years before; the Peruvian Navy always called him Tench or ex-Tench.


* The USS Tench (SS-417) built in 1944 it was the first of its type or class and until 1951 31 of them were manufactured. As is the custom of the shipyard, all production from the same series takes the name of the first one that is built:

Tench Class comes from USS Tench (SS-417); 31 submarines of this class were manufactured. The Peruvian Navy acquired 1 of them in 1976, precisely the first, the USS Tench (SS-417).
Balao Class comes from USS Balao (SS-285); 120 submarines of this class were manufactured. The Peruvian Navy acquired 2 of them in May 1974.
Gato Class comes from USS Gato (SS-212); 77 submarines of this class were manufactured. The Peruvian Navy did not acquire any of them.

After the Second World War, part of these three Classes of North American submarines were updated by the GUPPY Program.
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 HOW WAS THE FALSE MARGA-MARGA COMBAT DESIGNED?

"News of the alleged sinking of a Peruvian submarine by the Chilean Navy appears periodically in various chilean media, after a brief pursuit. This story, (...) never presents photos of the wreckage of the sunken submarine, nor are salvaged pieces shown that could confirm the veracity of the facts.".
                                                                          https://deftech.wordpress.com/2012/09/24/combate-de-marga-marga-derribando-un-mito

 We are not going to go into the details of the fake Combat of the Marga-Marga (1976) here because the story is simply a blatant plagiarism of what the sailors Peruvians called Ilo Naval Combat (1971) modifying it in this way:

"On September 10, 1976, Chilean Navy destroyers conducting Pre-UNITAS exercises in Valparaíso detect the presence of two strange submarines, shoot down one (Peruvian) and the other manages to flee (Soviet)".

Whoever wishes to read the complete narration of the fictitious Combate del Marga-Marga can visit these two web sites:
https://deftech.wordpress.com/2012/09/24/combate-de-marga-marga-derribando-un-mito
http://chileready.blogspot.com/2010/02/el-combate-del-marga-marga-1976-vina.html

As you can read, to give the story some originality —in the chilean narrative— they add the presence of a second spy submarine (which according to them manages to escape wounded after the attack) which they do not hesitate to identify as a nuclear submarine of the [former] Soviet Union. Now then, the first intruder submarine (which according to them they were able to sink with their entire crew of Officers and NCOs) also had no hesitation in pointing out that it was from the Peruvian submarine —oddly named— B.A.P. Rímac (SS-47) and which is none other than —again according to them— the USS Tench (SS-417) acquired on September 16, 1976 by the Peruvian Navy.


Faced with these serious inconsistencies, curious questions immediately arise:

1.- A few days after the UNITAS multinational exercises —corresponding to the year 1976— carried out with the North American Navy at the same time, was the Peruvian Navy doing naval espionage work in Chile along with the Soviet Navy?; this makes no sense and is totally absurd basically for two reasons:

First.- "The Peruvian Navy was the only Peruvian military institution that had not turned the Soviets into its main suppliers" during the Revolutionary Government of the Armed Forces (1968-1975), not even in its second phase (1975-1980); From the beginning, the Navy made known its displeasure with General Juan Velasco's policy; as has been written, it did not acquire any Soviet weapons as the Peruvian Army and the Peruvian Air Force did. The Peruvian Navy in those years had absolutely no relations or dealings with the Soviet Union.
                                   Jorge Ortíz Sotelo: LA ARMADA Y EL GOBIERNO REVOLUCIONARIO. (2018, Revista Aula y Ciencia Vol. 10 No. 14, pp. 153–178)


Second.- It is widely known that the one who has repeatedly spied on Peru is Chile and not the other way around:
- Chilean espionage case in Peru prior to the 1879 War of the Pacific
- Chilean espionage case in Peru in 1979 that ended with the execution for treason of Peruvian Air Force non-commissioned officer Julio Vargas Garayar.
- Chilean espionage case in Peru in 2009 involving Peruvian Air Force non-commissioned officer Víctor Ariza Mendoza, accused of delivering classified and secret information to Chile, and technical inspector Justo Rufino Ríos Aguilar.
                                                                      Guillermo Parvex: SERVICIO SECRETO CHILENO EN LA GUERRA DEL PACÍFICO, (Santiago 2017).
                                                                                                 Ítalo Sifuentes Alemán: LOS ESPÍAS DEL PACÍFICO, (Lima 2009).

Note.- As if this were not enough, there is also the case of espionage from Chile to Argentina in 2003, which shows that espionage on their neighbors is practically a State Policy and a Policy of Government of and in all regimes in power in Chile.

2.- Is the USS-Tench (SS-417) acquired by the Peruvian Navy on September 16, 1976 commissioned and sent six days before it arrives in Peru to Valparaíso to spy on Chile? chilean version this submarine was in chilean waters on September 10 of that year when it was sunk by them; this doesn't make any sense and is totally absurd basically for two reasons:


© https://www.pinterest.com.mx
USS Tench (SS-417)
1944 to 1951: Original Configuration - US Navy

© https://www.usmilitaryart.com
USS Tench (SS-417)
1951: Modernized by the GUPPY Program variant IA
1976: Acquired by the Peruvian Navy

First.- El USS-Tench (SS-417) was "(...) sold to Peru for spare parts, 16 September 1976 (...)"
                                                          Norman Friedman: U.S. SUBMARINES THROUGH 1945: An Illustrated Design History. (1995, pp. 285–304)

In other words, from the beginning it was known that the USS Tench (SS-417) was acquired by Peru as a source of spare parts for the B.A.P. Pacocha (SS-48) and B.A.P. La Pedrera (SS-49) of the Balao Class acquired two years earlier.


Second.- "There was an event that occurred during the False Paquisha conflict in 1981, known as “120 torpedoes in 48 hours”, where the Frigate Captain A. P. (r) Juan Arrisueño Gómez de la Torre narrates how the B.A.P. La Pedrera saw its propeller damaged on two occasions, being replaced for the last time by one taken from the ex-USS Tench, which was stored on the S.I.M.A. grounds, this being identical to the one required by the B.A.P. La Pedrera".

“(...) Our biggest surprise was that when the 24 torpedoes had already been landed (96 torpedoes so far) and we were ready to enter the dock, at that precise moment, a SIMA worker came running on board to tell us that in one of the the pampones of the SIMA, had found one of the propellers of the former TENCH (submarine that came towed, accompanying from the United States, B.A.P. "La Pedrera" and B.A.P. "Pacocha", but with the condition that this ship would be deboned for spare parts) (...)”.
                                                                                                             https://www.elsnorkel.com/2005/10/120-torpedos-en-48-horas_15.html
                                                                                                                                                                                                     sábado, 15 de octubre de 2005

"The question falls by itself: How is it possible that one of the propellers of the ex-USS Tench was found on the S.I.M.A. grounds, if it is assumed that this ship, under the fictitious name of B.A.P. Rímac, was sunk off Marga-Marga (Valparaíso-Chile) five years before?"


3.- Did the families of the Officers, NCOs (Non-Commissioned Officers), Technicians, Sailors, etc. of the USS-Tench (SS-417) [a Crew of more than 70 men] supposedly sunk by the Chilean Navy on September 10, 1976, they never complained to the Peruvian Navy or to the Government of Peru that their loved ones never returned home?; this makes no sense and is totally absurd.




4.- Did the Peruvian Navy baptize the submarine USS-Tench (SS-417) as B.A.P. Rimac (SS-47)?; this makes no sense and is totally absurd. The explanation is in the box below:

The Peruvuan Navy had four ships named "Rimac":
  1. A Wheeled Steam Frigate (1848-1855)
  2. An armed cargo and passenger Transport (1879-1881)
  3. A cargo and passenger Transport (1922-1959)
  4. A Freighter (1971-1992)
 Now, in the Navy of Peru it never happens that the name given to a ship (surface ship) is designated to a submarine and vice versa.

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1st B.A.P. "Rimac"

© https://archivohistoricodemarina.mil.pe


The 1st B.A.P. "Rimac" was a steamboat built in the United States, it arrived at Callao on July 27, 1848. It was the first steam warship in South America. It used a propelling wheel with a 200-horsepower steam engine. It reached up to 13 knots. It had a length of 52.12 meters and a beam of 8.53 meters. On March 1, 1855, while sailing to Islay (Arequipa) he hit a rock and was shipwrecked in Punta San Juan (Ica), that day 78 men of his crew died.

In 1854, Miguel Grau Seminario, recently admitted as Midshipman of the National Navy of Peru, sailed on this ship "Rimac".



© https://archivohistoricodemarina.mil.pe


2nd B.A.P. "Rimac"

 The 2nd B.A.P. "Rimac" was an iron-hulled propeller-driven transport built in England in 1872. It had a length of 88.93 meters. "It was the product of one of the famous feats of Rear Admiral Miguel Grau, navigating the Monitor "Huascar" with the corvette "Union" they captured off Antofagasta, on July 23, 1879, the transport of the Chilean Navy "Rimac" that had on board to the entire 'Carabineros de Yungay No. 1' Regiment (300 men), numerous weapons, ammunition and supplies".


Engraving of the transport "Rimac" captured by the "Huascar" and the "Union" published in the magazine The Spanish and American Illustration (1879)

"The loss of the "Rímac" caused a crisis in the Chilean command that meant the dismissal of Juan Williams Rebolledo, Rear Admiral in command of the Chilean squadron, as well as other senior officers and some ministers"


Photograph of the time: The "Rimac" transport captured arrives at the Port of Arica

On July 28, 1879, already under the Peruvian flag, he carried out his first commission, taking a battalion to Arica from Mollendo. He served for a year and a half in the Peruvian Navy until it was finally sunk by the Peruvians on January 17, 1881, at the entrance of the Chileans to Lima and El Callao so that the ship would not fall into their hands.


© https://www.facebook.com/PaulChavezDGDPanim
2nd B.A.P. "Rimac"

* Could the capture of the "Rimac" transport in 1879 mean such a great affront to Chile?

* Could it be that a consequence of the hatred that Chileans have never been able to hide towards Peruvians caused them to call, curiously and suspiciously, "Rimac" the supposed Peruvian submarine sunk by Chile?

Trying to answer those two questions, I think it is very likely and very possible that yes; This is compounded by the fact that -for example- until now it pains them that Peru defeated them in the Battle of Tarapaca (November 27, 1879) In their publications they deny the Peruvian victory and write that the winners of that battle were them.


3rd B.A.P. "Rimac"

© http://boletinmaritimo.blogspot.com
3rd B.A.P. "Rimac" in a floating dry dock

The 3rd B.A.P. "Rimac" (Originally SS Rhakotis and later USS Eten) had a Length of 132.8 meters and a Beam of 16.2 meters, "was a German passenger-cargo steamer built in 1907 for trade between Germany and South America. After the outbreak of World War I, SS Rhakotis operated briefly as a clandestine supply ship for German naval forces, before being interned in Peru. In 1918, SS Rhakotis was seized by the Peruvian Government and chartered to the United States Shipping Board, who had her converted into a troop transport. Renamed USS Eten, the ship made two trips to France to repatriate U.S. troops between May and July 1919.

"It was once again returned to the Peruvian Government and was first part of the Peruvian Vapor Company (C.P.V.) from 1922 and later became an auxiliary transport for the Navy in 1934. The "Rimac" served as a transport for the Navy for 25 years until 1959 and ended its activity when it was sold to Japan at the end of its efficient and long services to our Squad".


© wikipedia
USS Eten (ID-4041) in 1919. It was the 3rd B.A.P. "Rimac"


4th B.A.P. "Rimac"

© http://boletinmaritimo.blogspot.com
4th B.A.P. "Rimac"

The 4th B.A.P. "Rimac" had a length of 153.90 meters and a beam of 20.50 meters. "December 12, 1971: The 13,500-ton B.A.P. "Rimac" freighter built at the SIMA shipyards is launched. The ceremony is presided over by the Head of State, Division General Juan Velasco Alvarado." It was discharged in 1992.


© http://boletinmaritimo.blogspot.com
4th B.A.P. "Rimac"


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APPENDIX 1

© http://www.shipbucket.com
USS Gato (SS-212): Original Configuration
1941-1943: 77 submarines of Gato Class were built

© http://www.shipbucket.com
USS Balao (SS-285): Original Configuration
1942-1946: 120 submarines of Balao Class were built

© http://www.shipbucket.com
USS Tench (SS-417): Original Configuration
1944-1951: 31 submarines of Tench Class were built



APPENDIX 2

GUPPY (Greater Underwater Propulsion Power) PROGRAM

NUMBER OF SUBMARINES
VARIANT
YEAR OF EXECUTION
2 GUPPY I in 1947
24 GUPPY II between 1948 and 1950
10 GUPPY IA in 1951
20 Fleet Snorkel in 1953
16 GUPPY IIA between 1952 and 1954
4 GUPPY IB in 1954
9 GUPPY III between 1960 and 1962



Iván Illanes Mendoza