The Sinking St. Christopher Tug Boat of Ushuaia, Argentina
The Sinking St. Christopher Tug Boat of Ushuaia, Argentina
When I stayed in the southernmost city in the world, Ushuaia for a week I often drove pass this sinking boat. At first I thought it was an ordinary boat until I started to be curious about it. Why no one took care of the boat? Well, after hours of research I found out it is a tugboat and its name is St. Christopher Tug Boat.
How did it sink?
Ushuaia is the closest city to Antarctica and it borders Chile in Tierra Del Fuego and they shared the Beagle Channel. The Beagle Channel is one of most treacherous channels in the world. The infamous channel had sink many ships, cruises and boats since it was discovered 1826-1830 by HMS Beagle.
The Sinking St. Christopher Tug Boat of Ushuaia, Argentina.
In 1953 the rescue tug St. Christopher (formerly the HMS Justice (W-140)) was chartered to assist in the salvage operations. The tug ended up being beached and abandoned itself during the work and remains near Ushuaia today, a monument to the treacherous channel. In 1954 the attempt was begun to drag the wreck to Ushuaia where the more difficult dismantling could be undertaken. The salvage crew used floating devices to bring the ship back to the vertical. Finally the ship turned upright and slid off the reef, and on 14 October 1954 three tugboats began slowly pushing the remaining wreck to Ushuaia. However when the little convoy had traveled less than a mile, the ship again listed to port and slowly slid beneath the water. – Wikipedia.org
It had become the backdrop of the Ushuaia City for more than 50 years. I drove past this boat every day during my week stay there. St. Christopher tug boat is part of the history or yet a reminder on how unpredictable is the calm Beagle Channel of Tierra Del Fuego.
The St. Christopher tug boat is located near the port of Ushuaia.
