History of the Pacocha
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B.A.P. Pacocha
USS ATULE, a "Balao-class" submarine is milled: Portsmouth, New Hampshire 1943.Joins wolfpack known as "Clarey's Crushers": South Pacific, 1944 - 1945.
Responsible for sinking ~30,000 tons of enemy shipping.
1945 - 1974: Upgraded twice to GUPPY-1 and GUPPY-2.
Throughout the cold-war, she was used mainly for reconnaissance and training.
1974: Transferred to Peru. She was named after the famous 19th-century sea-battle in which the Iron-Clad monitor HUASCAR, the pride of the Peruvian Navy, successfully fought British Admiral de Horsey and two Royal-Cruisers (HMS Shah and HMS Amethyst) to a stand-off. This was the first recorded battle in history where the "torpedo" was used in combat. The HUASCAR successfully out-maneuvered the torpedo. Fighting the Royal Navy to a stand-off was considered a major victory for the Peruvians.
In the 1980's Roger Cotrina Alvarado joins the crew of the Pacocha, under the command of Captain Daniel Nieva Rodriguez. Roger attends school for a nuclear submarine but upon completion of his studies, there is difficulty finding an open slot. Consequently, he is offered an alternate slot aboard one of the oldest ships in the Peruvian fleet, the BAP Pacocha. He humbly agrees to take the job.
Roger would later repair the hatch on the escape trunk in an effort to occupy some free time. No one would ever dream that this very hatch would be their lifeline to the surface in the following year.
On August 26, 1988, the Pacocha is returning from a torpedo exercise, in preperation for the UNITAS training operations that are conducted each year in coordination with the US NAVY. She is accidentally rammed by a Japanese deep-sea fishing boat named the Kyowa Maru.
Unsure of what she hit, the Kyowa Maru continues on for approximately 1 mile before stopping to investigate the situation. Meanwhile, the Pacocha sinks in 140 feet of water in less than 10 minutes.
On the way to the ocean floor, 4 men die inside the ship. Another 3 died on the surface. Several hours later, divers arrived on the scene and the Peruvian navy began orchestrating an escape for the 22 men that were trapped inside.
In an incredible rescue scenario, 22 men swim to the surface less than 24 hours later. Six months later, the United States Department Of Defense (US-DOD) does a report on the accident. One unusual note appears in the US-DOD report on the accident. The note is that Lieutenant Roger Cotrina considered the closing of the forward torpedo-room hatch to be nothing less than a miracle.
After another series of events, the Vatican would eventually get involved in the investigation of the alleged miracle because it was being attributed to the intercession of a nun who was up for cannonization.
1 year later, in 1989, Frigate Captain Eduardo Darcourt Adrienzen (commander in chief of the Peruvian navy for the year 2007) would successfully REFLOAT the Pacocha. She was later towed into port and studied by the Peruvian navy and the Vatican investigators.
Unfortunately, being an old vessel and ruined at that, the Peruvian navy made the decision to dismantle her.
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