The Spanish Navy over the weekend decommissioned the Agosta-class SSK Tramontana, capping a career that began in 1985.
One of four DCNI S-70 Agostas built under license in Spain at the Cartagena dockyard, in her career, Tramontana sailed 315,144 nautical miles, 218,384 of those while submerged.
Besides her Cold War career and her role in the very curious 2002 Perejil Island crisis, she clocked in on a myriad of NATO missions over the years including the 2011 Libyan blockade (Operation Unified Protector) as well as the more recent NATO Active Endeavor and Sea Guardian/European Union’s Operation Sophia counter migrant smuggling efforts.
Consoussiours of bad 1980s/90s action films will perhaps recognize Tramontana from the Charlie Sheen vehicle, Navy SEALS, where she subbed for an American boat.
She was decommissioned on 16 February 2024 at Cartagena Arsenal submarine base with VADM Pedro Luis de la Puente García-Gang in attendance.
Slated to be disarmed and stripped of anything usable or still classified, Tramontana will be expended as a target at some future date.
Only class member Galerna (S-71), commissioned in 1983, remains in Spanish service, with sisters Siroco (S 72) and Mistral (S 73) already discarded. The class will be replaced by the four new Isaac Peral/DCNI S80 Plus Scorpène AIP variants under construction.