The Spanish submarine ‘Isaac Peral’ returns to Cartagena after 46 active mission days with the OTAN

Set into the OTAN's 'Sea Guardian' operation, 840 hours of immersion and over 5.5050 nautical miles are the clear proof of the main active capacity of the Spanish submarine.

Today, Friday November 28th, the submarine ‘Isaac Peral’ (S-81) has returned to its headquearters in Cartageba.  It has been 46 intense days of sailing through Mediterranean waters, for the first time under the active control of the OTAN and set in the 'Sea Guardian' operation ; and now it has to lower sails with the satisfaction of the fulfilled duty. With the arrival to port, the operation is finished with a total of 840 hours of immersion and over 5.050 nautical miles sailed,  which shows the main active capacity of the Spanish submarine. In addition, during its journey, it has carried out resistance cruiser, a demanding test destined to testing the capacity of new units of the Army in the fulfillment of the duties for which it was created. 

At the front of the submarine and its functioning there has been its commander, the corvette captain Fernando Clavijo, who does not stop pointing out, with great satisfaction, «the importance of this milestone in the defense industry, since our `Isaac Peral’ is a design vessel and totally national construction», in addition to thanking the dotation «its commitment and excellent work during this important mission, since nothing could have been possible without its commitment, abnegation and service spirit»

Today, in the port of the Murcian locality, the submarine and its dotation have received a warm welcome, presided by the commander of the Fleet of Submarines of the Spanish Army —the vessel captain Alfonso  Carrasco Santos—, where members of the Submarine Army and, in a well-deserved first line, their family members, have also been present. All of them awaited with a lot of excitement and pride the reencounter with the marines of the `Isaac Peral, to —in addition to celebrating the return home— thanking them their efficient contribution to the knowledge of the maritime environment and support in the fight against terrorism in water of the Mediterranean sea.  

Four months of sailing through history 

Thanks to its advanced technology, that guarantees its total discretion and stealth, the vessel has carried out surveillance tasks without interrupting the life pattern of other surface units, at the same time it could localize and identify activities inside the area os operation in the Mediterranean. 

During its mission, the submarine has remained in periscopic state, with the goal to maximize the obtaining of intelligence in benefit of the mission. Amongst the most important milestones, many vessels have been identified, which has been reported to the OTAN. In addition, monitorizing the naval activity in the Mediterranean sea, the main traffic lines of merchant vessels, the acitivity in different ports and the main fishing areas, amongst many more activities. 

Regarding scales, the S-81 has carried out three international scales throughout the mission. On first placem, at the end of the month of October, it arrived to the port of Augusta, in Siciliy Italy. Afterwards, already in November, the ‘Isaac Peral’ carried out a historical scale in Alexandry (Egypt), since it had been already 91 years since a Spanish submarine disembarked in this country of North Africa. Lastly, a few days later, it did a resting scale for the submarine and its troop in the naval base of Souda (Crete, Greece), from where it set sail to Cartagena to ends the mission with success. 

Finally, in its last days of sailing, the submarine has joined the exercises ASW “MARBORÁN”, where it has carried out training activities with other surface units: the frigates ‘Blas de Lezo’ (F-103) and ‘Numancia’ (F-83), as well as the active veteran submarine ‘Galerna’ (S-71). 

Now, the submarine is already in Cartagena, where it is recovering from so many hours of good sailing; and its troop — points out commander Clavijo— awaits «a well-deserved rest to enjoy time with their families and loves ones; and to recover strenght for the next mission aboard the submarine». Many effort, preparation and excitement hours to carry out this first international active mission, that shows the technological maturity of the S80 Spanish program and thet «will always be in our memory. We're very proud of how much we've achieved, and we will keep up with this good trajectory». 

From 2017, Spain participates constantly in the Operation ‘Sea Guardian’, which highligts its commitment with collective safety and stability in the Mediterranean; and shows a clear sample of the Spanish commitment with the fight against terrorism and safety before threats with our allies to guarantee international stability. It is important to point out that Spain, as full member committed with European safety and defense, is one of the main contributors to this OTAN's initiative. 

In this context, the first mission of the ‘Isaac Peral’ submarine inside of this OTAN operation has been a determinating contirbution to reinforce the knowledge of the maritime environment, by the support in the fight against terrorsim and construction of regional capacities of maritime safety.