The Aviation Historian — January 2018

Issue No 22 THE AVIATION HISTORIAN 83

end of Panama Canal, were purchased from the
US Foreign Liquidation Commission at Balboa
for US$3,500 each. By the end of 1946 the CNA
in the USA, headed by Capt Corb Vicente Baroja,
had inspected 23 J2F-5s and seven J2F-6s stored
at various locations including Memphis, Norfolk,
Atlantic City, Seattle and even Guantanamo Bay.
The J2F-5s and J2F-6s were initially allocated the
AN codes 2-O-13 to 2-O-42 and were taken on
strength on December 19, 1947.

ANTARCTIC ADVENTURES

Of the many and varied operations undertaken

by the AN amphibious fleet during this period,

one in particular stands out: the use of Walruses

to explore uncharted areas within Argentina’s

claimed Antarctic territory. The first such

operation, the Primera Gran Expedición Antártica

(also known as the Sixth Argentinian Naval

Antarctic Campaign), ran from January 4 to April

23, 1947, under the command of Tte Frag Luis M.

Garcia. His objectives were to conduct surveys

of Deception Island, Hope Bay, Dallmann Bay,

Graham Land and adjacent islands, as well as

establish a permament meteorological station and

begin hydrographic surveys and buoy markings

of places of interest for navigation, oceanographic

meteorology, survey and scientific study.

Seven ships took part in the expedition:

transports ARA Patagonia and ARA Chaco; whaler

Don Samuel; minesweeper ARA Granville; tanker

ARA Ministro Ezcurra and patrol vessels ARA King

and ARA Murature. Walrus 2-O-24 was assigned

as the expedition’s support aircraft, along with

Tte Frag Oscar Edgardo Tachella and mechanic

and radio operator Cabo Roberto Jorge Román.

The expedition’s flagship was ARA Patagonia,

which was modified with a deployment system

and recovery crane for the Walrus on the aft deck,

together with new radio equipment to improve

ship-to-aircraft communications. The amphibian

was loaded aboard the vessel on January 3,

Powerplant 1 x 750 h.p. nine-cylinder single-row

Bristol Pegasus VI air-cooled radial piston engine

Dimensions

Span 45ft 10in (13·97m)

(wings folded) 17ft 6in (5·33m)

Length (on chassis) 37ft 7in (11·45m)

Height (on chassis) 15ft 3in (4·65m)

Undercarriage track 7ft 7in (2·32m)

Propeller diameter 10ft 0in (3·0m)

Wing area 610ft² (56·67m²)

Weights

Empty 4,900lb (2,233kg)

Loaded 7,200lb (3,266kg)

Performance

Maximum speed 135 m.p.h. (217km/h)

Cruising speed 95 m.p.h. (153km/h)

Alighting speed 57 m.p.h. (92km/h)

Initial climb 1,050ft/min (320m/min)

Service ceiling 18,500ft (5,600m)

Range 600 miles (965km

at 92 m.p.h. at 148km/h)

Armament 2 x 0·303in Vickers K machine-guns,

one in bow and one amidships; 4 x 112lb (51kg)

anti-submarine bombs aimed through Wimperis

course-setting bombsight and dropped by observer

SUPERMARINE WALRUS I DATA

ABOVE In 1943 Argentina defined its Antarctic territory

as between 25°W and 74°W, south of 60°S, which

included Deception Island, the safest natural harbour

in Antarctica, located at 60°W, 63°S — and thus much

disputed by the various nations that had visited. Here

M-O-4 is seen on the shore of the island’ s volcano

caldera during the 1947–48 Argentinian expedition.

JUAN C. CICALESI VIA AUTHOR