ARA Suboficial Castillo (A-6)

The ARA Suboficial Castillo (A-6) is an Abnaki class tug patrol boat of the Argentine Navy. She previously served in the US Navy as USS Takelma (ATF-113) from 1944 to 1976.

Suboficial Castillo is used as support ship for both the Argentine Submarine Force and during the summer campaigns in Antarctica in the Patrulla Antártica Naval Combinada (English: Joint Antarctic Naval Patrol) with the Chilean Navy to guarantee safety to all touristic and scientific ships that are in transit within the Antarctic Peninsula.

US Navy service
Takelma was built by United Engineering Co, at Alameda, California, USA and commissioned by the US Navy in 1944. She was transferred to Reserve fleet in October 1976.

Argentine service
The ship was acquired in 1993 by the Argentine Navy and classified as aviso.

It is the first ship to bear the name of Argentine Marines's Sub-Officer Julio Saturnino Castillo, an Argentine Nation to the Heroic Valour in Combat Cross recipient killed during the Falklands War (Guerra de las Malvinas).

On 25 May 1995 captured the LW9579 trawler for illegal fishing in the Argentine Sea.

On January 1998, she transported a French team to the Isla de los Estados island which install a replica of Jules Verne's The Lighthouse at the End of the World.

On 19 August 1998 after finishing a naval exercise with the Chilean Navy and docked at the port of Ushuaia the ARA Comodoro Somellera sank following a collision with her during a storm.

On 2007 she participated on the rescue of the ARA Almirante Irizar after the icebreaker caught fire.

As of 2010 she is homebased at Mar del Plata naval base.