The ARA Comodoro Somellera (A-10) was a Sotoyomo-class rescue tug that served in the Argentine Navy from 1972 until 1998. Originally built for the United States Navy, she was launched as USS Catawba (ATA-210) on 15 February 1945, after being laid down at the Gulfport Boiler & Welding Works shipyard in Port Arthur, Texas. She was commissioned on 18 April 1945 and served as an auxiliary tug, named after the Catawba River in North Carolina. With a length of 143 feet (44 meters), a beam of 34 feet (10 meters), and a displacement of 835 tons, she was designed for rescue and tug operations. In 1959, USS Catawba participated in Operation Inland Seas, and she remained in U.S. service until her decommissioning in 1972. She was then transferred to the Argentine Navy, where she was renamed Comodoro Somellera, after Commodore Antonio Somellera, a notable figure who joined the Argentine Navy in 1828. Her transfer included her sister ship, ARA Alférez Sobral, with both ships departing from Mayport, Florida, and arriving at Puerto Belgrano in April 1972. During her service with the Argentine Navy, Comodoro Somellera was classified as an aviso and was involved in various operations, including the Falklands War in 1982. Although claimed by the British to have been sunk by a Sea Skua missile, these claims were later retracted. She spent the war period in the Strait of Magellan and was stationed at Ushuaia from 1988 until 1995, before returning to Puerto Belgrano. Notably, she took part in Operacion Calypso in 1997, an effort to locate German U-boats along the Patagonian coast. Her service ended on 19 August 1998 after a collision with the patrol tug ARA Suboficial Castillo during a storm in Ushuaia, which caused her to sink in port. Although she was later refloated, her hull was deemed too aged for repair. She was ultimately retired and, in November 2017, was deliberately sunk as a target ship by an Exocet missile fired from the destroyer ARA La Argentina, marking the end of her maritime career.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.