Mystery Sub

Last week, for the first time in this century, Argentina's navy fired in anger at a foreign target--maybe. President Arturo Frondizi called a press conference at the Casa Rosada to announce the news. The President disclosed that an Argentine squadron had sighted a periscope while on fleet exercises in Golfo Nuevo, a quiet Patagonian bay, and carried out four depth-charge attacks when the sub ignored the warning to surface as required by international law.

"After the attacks," said Frondizi, "there were oil slicks on the surface of the sea as when a submarine is damaged." Sonar gear aboard the Argentine ships established that the unidentified sub was a "high-speed" modern craft, i.e., U.S., British or Russian.

Washington and London officially denied that any of their submarines were missing or overdue. Moscow was silent, though the Soviet embassy in Buenos Aires said it knew of no Russian submarines in the area. Rear Admiral Isaac Rojas, who was Vice President under Provisional President Pedro Aramburu, believes that the submarine was surveying the lonely Patagonian coast, where there are several bays that could be used to shelter big fleets in the event of war.

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