86 THE AVIATION HISTORIAN Issue No 22
conditions was ultimately found at Whaler’s
Bay, the same location used by the Australian
explorer Sir George Hubert Wilkins during his
flights over the Antarctic during 1928–30. The
naval detachment, Destacamento Naval Decepción,
was built in 44 days and inaugurated on January
25, 1948. For the photo-surveys, the Walrus flew
20 north–south lines, 70 per cent of which were
made at 1,800m (5,900ft), the remainder at 1,500m
(4,900ft) owing to low cloud. In total, M-O-4 made
20 flights between December 11 and January 27,
logging 26hr 40min of flying time. ARA Pampa
left Deception Island on January 30 and arrived
at Puerto Belgrano on February 11, 1948.
Meanwhile, back in the UK the House of
Commons was debating potential difficulties that
might arise should British ambitions in Antarctica
conflict with those of other countries. Argentina’s
establishment of the Observatorio Meteorológico at
Gallows Point on Observatorio Island on March
31, 1947, and the subsequent setting up of the
Destacamento Naval Decepción in the heart of
British interests were to lead a series of incidents
between the two countries at Melchior Island.
On February 15, 1948, Britain despatched the
cruiser HMS Nigeria from Cape Town to the
Falkland Islands to support the frigate HMS
Snipe. The Argentinian government responded
by ordering the Flota de Mar, then under the
command of Almirante Harald Cappus, to sail to
Antarctica to reaffirm Argentinian sovereignty in
its sector. Fuerza de Tareas No 1 (Task Force 1) came
under the command of Contraalmirante Ismael
Perez del Cerro and consisted of the destroyers
ARA Entre Rios, ARA San Luis, ARA Santa Cruz,
ARA Misiones and ARA Cervantes. Walruses
M-O-3 and M-O-4 were allocated to the ARA 25 de
Mayo and ARA Almirante Brown respectively.
The task force left Puerto Belgrano on February
12, 1948, bound initially for Ushuaia. After
crossing the Drake Passage the task force arrived
at the South Shetland Islands. It then sailed
through Bransfield Strait, which at the conclusion
of the operation was renamed Mar de la Flota on
Argentinian nautical charts. Two Argentinian
cruisers arrived at Deception Island on February
21, dropping anchor at Port Foster, in front of
the detachment established that January. The
Walruses were then employed on a number of
reconnaissance sorties over Bransfield Strait, with
M-O-3 flown by Tte Frag Enrique Garcia Mansilla
and M-O-4 By Tte Frag Jorge A. Funes. These
reconnaissance flights continued for about a week
until, its flag-waving operation complete, the task
force returned to Puerto Belgrano on February 29.LAST DAYS OF THE WALRUS
Advances in radar technology by the late 1940s
rendered the AN’s Walruses and Ducks too slow
for spotting purposes, and the air arm began
phasing out its shipborne types. Survivors were
assigned to general duties, while the catapults
fitted to ARA La Argentina, ARA Almirante Brown
and ARA 25 de Mayo were removed.
The death knell of the Walrus’s career in
Argentina was firmly sounded on April 20, 1950,
when Tte Nav Hermes Quijada made the first
AN helicopter landing aboard ARA Almirante
Brown. Trials with Bell 47s and Sikorsky S-55s
were undertaken with the cruisers ARA GeneralOver she goes! Walrus 7-O-6
sustained considerable damage
after overturning on landing at BA
Comandante Espora on October 12,
- It was, however, still deemed
worthy of repair and served for
another five years before finally being
struck off charge in 1958.
GUILLERMO GALMARINI VIA AUTHOR