Eliana María Krawczyk
May your name be written with golden threads in the history books of our Nation.
Being a woman and part of the Argentine Navy is a different life option.
The Argentine Republic has had submarines since 1933. Seventy-nine years passed until December 2012, when Eliana María Krawczyk, with the best average of her class, changed the course of naval history and became the first female Submarine Officer of the Republic and the first one in South America as well.
Every woman is represented in Eliana María Krawczyk: those who wear a uniform, those who study, those who work, those who form a family, and those who prioritize their professions.
We honor her strong military naval vocation and her efficiency to devote life to the service of our Nation at sea.
We honor her many virtues, including her determination, courage and willpower, but above all, through her career we honor women who bring an attitude in the face of adversity and strength in the face of challenges.
Beginnings
In December 2003, Eliana passed her test and was admitted and enrolled in the Naval Military Academy (Escuela Naval Militar) of the Argentine Navy.
On February 2, 2004, she was incorporated to promotion No. 137.
She completed a five-year career that concluded with a training trip aboard the ARA Libertad vessel.
She graduated as a Midshipman on December 11, 2008.
She participated in two Antarctic Summer Campaigns between 2010 and 2011 aboard the ARA Canal Beagle.
She led a mission of permanence and sovereignty at the ‘Comandante Luis Piedrabuena’ Argentine naval station located in Puerto Parry, Isla de los Estados, where she was responsible of surveillance and maritime traffic control.
Personal Development
With her first promotion to Corvette Lieutenant, she had her experience on the ARA Robinson corvette.
Her next destination was the Argentine Navy School of Officers (ESOA, for its Spanish denomination), and it was there where she defined her specialization: to be a submariner.
That vocation came into being on June 20th, when she pledged allegiance to the Argentine flag in the Mar del Plata Navy Base. It was there where she first encountered the imposing figure of a submarine. That day, under a heavy rain, while pledging to our noble flag, she could spot the silhouette of that which had conquered her vocation: a steel giant.
There I got to know submarines. The mystery around them called my attention, and that day, and in that place, I knew that I wanted to be a submariner.
She graduated from the Submarine and Diving School in December 2012 with the best average marks in her promotion, and became the first woman official submariner in the Argentine Republic and in South America. She was then appointed to the submarine ARA Salta with a permanent crew of 36 members. Eliana referred to this situation:
I never had any complains or intervention from anyone. I never had any problem; in fact, I sleep with my male companions in the same cabin. I am the only woman on board and everyone makes me feel very at ease, indeed.
Personal Promotion
Subsequently, she was promoted to the rank of Frigate Lieutenant and at the end of 2016 to Ship-of-the-line Lieutenant (Teniente de Navío), assigned as Chief of the First Division, Chief of the Weapons Division, Chief in Charge of Submarine Gunnery, Chief of fire control and Chief of naval material in the ARA San Juan (S-42), a TR-1700 type submarine, built in Germany and serving the Argentine Navy since 1985.
Many ask me if submarines scare me. I must say, no. To me, they are impressive, somehow intriguing and exciting. It is a different life.
Eliana died on November 15, 2017, while patrolling the Argentine Sea. She died with her 43 comrades when the submarine sunk, remaining forever under the sea, in ‘Eternal Patrol’. As her father Eduardo used to say, Eliana will always be the ‘Queen of the seas’.
Eliana had an excellent military naval career, leaving her mark and writing her own history.
May her name be written with gold letters in the history books of our nation.
Eliana María Krawczyk.
Ship-of-the-line Lieutenant
Chief of Gunnery in the S-42 ARA San Juan submarine
Corvette Captain
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