ARA Santa Fe ( S - 21 ) The ARA " Santa Fe " was an Argentine " Balao " - class submarine which was lost during the Falklands War . Built during the Second World War , the submarine served in United States Navy as before being commissioned into the Argentine Navy in 1971 . 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 sail visible above the waterline . The submarine was raised , towed out of the bay and scuttled in deep waters in 1985 . History . U . S . Navy service . The submarine was built during the Second World War by the Electric Boat Company of Groton , Connecticut , USA and was launched on 19 November 1944 . Commissioned into the US Navy as , the submarine entered service in March 1945 . As " Catfish " the submarine took part in the closing stages of the Pacific war against Japan . Afterwards she served in the US 7th fleet in the Pacific Ocean seeing service in the Korean War . After this period the boat was given a Guppy II conversion . In 1971 , " Catfish " was decommissioned and sold to Argentina where she was renamed ARA " Santa Fe " . Argentine service . In 1982 , the " Santa Fe " took part in the Falklands War ( ) alongside the ARA " San Luis " , the only two operative submarines in the Argentine Navy . The " Santa Fe " supported the Argentine invasion by landing tactical divers on Yorke Bay , who marked the beach for the main amphibious force and seized the lighthouse . Later she departed from the islands and stayed on station in the nearby area as a large British task force approached the South Atlantic . On 12 April , the " Santa Fe " was ordered to ferry a party of marines based at Puerto Belgrano and supplies to Grytviken , in South Georgia . She departed from Mar del Plata on the first hours of 17 April . On 23 April the Royal Navy ships , ; ; ; and the ice patrol boat were sent to retake the island of South Georgia with a detachment of Royal Marines and Special Boat Service commando s . The threat of " Santa Fe " forced the British ships to keep a distance as they landed troops on the island . The " Santa Fe " accomplished the resupply mission and landed the marine troops on 25 April . Members of the Argentine garrison had salvaged a crippled BAS launch , which was used to download the cargo . Some hours later , after leaving Grytviken , " Santa Fe " was detected on radar by Lieutenant Chris Parry , the observer of the Westland Wessex HAS . 3 anti - submarine helicopter from , and attacked with depth charge s . This attack caused extensive internal damage , including the splitting of a ballast tank , the dismounting of electrical components and shocks to the machinery . As the submarine struggled to return to Grytviken on the surface , launched a Westland Wasp HAS . 1 helicopter , and launched a Westland Lynx HAS . 2 . The Lynx dropped a Mk 46 torpedo , which failed to strike home , but strafe d the submarine with its pintle - mounted 7 . 62 mm L7 General Purpose Machine Gun ( GPMG ) . The Wessex also fired on the " Santa Fe " with its GPMG . The Wasp from HMS " Plymouth " as well as two other Wasps launched from fired AS - 12 air - to - surface anti - ship missile s at the submarine scoring hits . " Santa Fe " ' s men and the marines onshore attempted to fight off the attack by firing their rifles , machine guns and an old " Bantam " antitank missile on the aircraft , but the Argentine boat was damaged badly enough to prevent her from submerging or even from sailing away . The crew abandoned the listing submarine at the jetty at King Edward Point on South Georgia and surrendered , along with the Argentine garrison , to the British forces . Brilliant ' s diving officer , Lt . Chris Sherman , went down to place a charge to disable the submarine further , and blew off its rudder . Whilst under guard on the submarine by a British Royal Marine , Argentine Navy Petty Officer Felix Artuso , was mistakenly shot dead on 26 April while a prisoner of war and his body is buried at Grytviken Cemetery . He was shot in the belief he was trying to sabotage the vessel . According to some members of her crew , in the middle of the confusion that followed the incident , a number of valves and hatchways were left open , the submarine flooded and sank alongside the pier , with only her combat - damaged conning tower showing above the surface . After the conflict had ended , the " Santa Fe " was considered to be worthless as a war prize because she was non - standard , obsolete , badly damaged and too expensive to repair . As a result , the submarine was temporarily raised by the British , towed into deep water and scuttled on 10 February 1985 .