The last photos of the Spanish ship 'Martín Posadillo' before being sunk with missiles

@DefAviation ES 6·30·2023 · 6:07 0

This Thursday, June 29, the old transport ship "Martín Posadillo" A-04 went down in history and was sent to the bottom of the Atlantic.

The photos of the Spanish aircraft carrier 'Príncipe de Asturias' that are kept in the US
The Air Arm of the Spanish Navy in old photographs of the US National Archives

This ship, launched in 1973 as a civil ro-ro ship under the name "Rivanervión", was acquired by the Spanish Army in 1990, receiving the number ET-02 and the surname of the Colonel of the Intendancy José María Martín-Posadillo Muñiz, assassinated by the terrorist group ETA on July 19, 1989 in an attack in Madrid. The ship was attached to the former Logistics Support Group No. 23 (AALOG 23, current Logistics Unit No. 23), based in Ceuta, serving to transport supplies between the Iberian Peninsula and that city.

In the year 2000, the "Martín Posadillo" ET-02 and "El Camino Español" ET-03 began to be managed by the Navy, receiving the numerals A-04 and A-05, respectively. The "Martín Posadillo" was withdrawn from service in September 2020. Early this Thursday, she was towed to the south of the Canary Islands by the Navy tug "Mar Caribe" A-101. The "Martín Posadillo" was sunk as part of the Sinkex 23 exercise. The Navy published yesterday the latest photos of the ship that you can see below and that show us the towing operation towards the exercise area.

H.M. the King Felipe VI attended the operation to sink the ship, which he followed from the Information and Combat Center (CIC) of the frigate "Méndez Núñez" F-104. As reported by the Casa Real , the "Martín Posadillo" was sunk through the coordinated launch of missiles from the frigates "Méndez Núñez" and "Canarias" and from an SH-60B Seahawk helicopter of the 10th Navy Squadron.

The Royal Household has published this video of the exercise (at the moment, the Navy has not yet published images of the sinking):