A toast to the Marina de Guerra del Peru

As part of my curiosity when it comes to everything naval, I follow a lot of fleets around the world, and the Peruvian Navy has been very busy in the past few months. Besides the Caribbean cruise of the tall ship BAP Union to participate in Operation Sail 250 (which is what I am enjoying in New Orleans this week!), the fleet has been getting it done. Submarino BAP Chipana Peru has a rich 100+ year submarine tradition and operates a six-pack of German-made Type 209/1100 (Islay-class) and 209/1200 series (Angamos-class) SSKs delivered in the late 1970s and early 1980s. One of these, the Angamos-class BAP Chipana (SS-34), recently left her homeport headed West to join U.S. forces in RIMPAC and SUBDIEX, both of which she has participated in in the past. Commissioned in October 1982, Chipana gave 35 years of dedicated service without incident in the first half of her career. I say “first half” because Chipana last year completed an intensive 7.5-year (December 2017 to June 2025)…