Ariete - D36
- Name: Ariete – D36
- Type of vessel: military, frigate
- Flag: Spain
- Date of sinking: 26 February 1966
- Cause: mechanical breakdown, run aground due to storm
- Location: Ardeleiro beach, Lira (Carnota). Still to be located
- Diving level: –
- GALP territory: Costa da Morte (Coast of Death)
HISTORY
Heroic rescue of the crew of the frigate Ariete
The Ariete – D36 was a fast anti-submarine military frigate with three 105 mm guns, four 37 mm guns, eight 20 mm guns and six torpedo tubes. It was built in Ferrol IN 1955, in the shipyards of the national company Bazán.
The ship was covering the route from the departmental city to Cartagena under the command of commander Francisco Carrero Ruiz when a strong storm caused a mechanical breakdown leaving it to go adrift and finally, run aground at ten o’clock at night next to Ardeleiro beach (Lira, Carnota).
There were no casualties
The 168 crew members managed to save themselves thanks to their skill, ingenuity and the help of the villagers of Carnota. According to the testimony of Manuel Noya García, professor of Neurology at the USC in “Brief note on the salvage of the Ariete”, exhibited in the nearby Lariño lighthouse and today converted into a hotel establishment, the crew stretched a cable rope between the base of a machine gun and a rock on land. The sailors slid down, two by two, using a metal chair over many hours, in the middle of the strong waves, but some of them fell into the sea and were rescued by the villagers of Carnota who formed human chains to pull them out of the water. On the last trip, came the ship’s captain.
The sailors were treated for hypothermia and minor injuries in private homes and then transferred to the Marin Naval Hospital. “I did not detect anxiety crises or abnormal emotional states in any of the survivors I assisted. (…) Years later, I am still impressed by the image of those men who showed such serenity, discipline and companionship in such dangerous circumstances,” said Noya García.
The heroic behaviour of the villagers would lead to 67 of them being awarded the Cross of Civil Merit and the awarding of the “Very humanitarian” title to the Town Council of Carnota.
As a reminder of the feat, the anchor of the battleship -which was scrapped after the shipwreck- is exhibited on Ardeleiro beach. Nearby, next to the sanctuary of the Virgen de los Remedios, is the monolith placed in 2006 in memory of the event.
Many local businesses are also named after the Ariete.
GALLERY
