MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

British built sub, first Chilean nautical museum

The O'Brien is an Oberon-class submarine

Valdivia in the Chilean Los Rios region will become the final resting place for the Chilean British-built submarine “O'Brien” which is to be converted into a nautical museum, reports the local press.

The submarine which has been decommissioned from the Chilean navy was taken to Valdivia by the tug "Galvarino". The local port authority has chosen a special dock for the submersible that is to become the first Chilean nautical museum and third in South America. The O'Brien is an Oberon-class submarine specially built for the Chilean Nay at Scott's Shipbuilders Engineering Co. Ltd., Greenock, Scotland and launched on December 1972. She arrived in Punta Arenas in August 1976. It was still on service in 2002 but since has been replaced by the newer Thomson class submarines, Thomson and Simpson. The ship is named after Irish born liberator of Chile and Argentina John Thomond O'Brien who was involved in the independence struggle against the Spanish empire.