Central and Latin America Database
Portfolio: Comando de la Aviación Naval Argentina 40 Years Ago
By Tom Cooper
Jan 30, 2003, 06:26

Without any operational carrier remaining in service, the rich history of the Argentinian Naval Aviation (Comando de la Aviación Naval Argentina = COAN) is not very widely known in the public today.

In fact, during the 1950s and 1960s the COAN was a very active service, and in the mid-1950s the Argentinians were even trying to purchase one of the large US Essex-class carriers. When such plans did not materialize, a smaller vessel, the Colossus-class carrier named ARA Independencia, was purchased in the UK.

Entering service in 1959 the ship was given an air wing consisting of Chance Vougth F-4U Corsairs and North American AT-6/SNJ Texan aircraft, as well as - from 1962 - Gruman S-2A Trackers.

In 1958 also a small batch of Grumman F-9F-2 Panthers and TF-9Js was purchased, although these did only few (perhaps only one) landing aboard the carrier Independencia. Instead, in 1965 the Corsairs were replaced by a small batch of T-28 Trojans. In turn Trojans were to make place for 14 Douglas A-4Q Skyhawks and Sikorsky S-61D Sea Kings, which were acquired in 1972 in order to equip the "new" carrier, ARA Vienticinco de Mayo, again purchased from the UK.

Here is a sellection of four rare pictures from my collection; any additional details (foremost about the number of aircraft purchased and the units which operated them) or eventual backgrounds about the following photographs would be most wellcome!

Photographs of COAN F4U Corsairs in operation from ARA Independencia are relatively rare. This one shows an F4U-5 of the 2a Escuadrilla Aeronaval de Attaque during the landing, in the early 1960s. COAN Corsairs were serialled 2-A-201 thru 2-A-222. Argentinian Corsairs saw some combat service against during some clashes with Chileans, in 1965, and one is known to have been shot down on 9 November of the same year by Chilean anti-aircraft fire.

In 1958 a small batch of Grumman F9F-2 Panthers was purchased for COAN, but these were never embarked aboard the ARA Independencia. Instead- together with F4U-5s, COAN Panthers flew some "operational" sorties during the coup attempt, on 2/3 April 1963, when the parts of the Argentinian Navy mutinied against the government, and then clashed with loyal Army units. Corsairs and Panthers flew several strikes, destroying a number of Army tanks and other vechiles, but in turn at least on Panther was shot down by the fire from the ground. Additional COAN aircraft were destroyed in a strike flown by Fuerza Aerea Argentina (Argentinian Air Force) F-896s and Meteors against the air base on Punta Indio, on 3 April 1963.

A rare photograph of COAN Grumman TF-9J Panther two-seat trainer. Note the unusual position of national markings, applied in a similar manner like on the F9F-2 Panther above.

COAN also operated a small number of PBY Catalinas during the 1950s and 1960s, and it is possible that some of these were involved in the large search-operation undertaken after an unidentified submarine was detected inside the Argentinian territorial waters, on 30 January 1960. Any additional details about their service in Argentina would be most wellcome!