Lieutenants Francis Lajous, Osvaldo Repeto, Eduardo Ceballos and Vicente Ferrer served in the United States Navy during the First World War.

[citation needed] Like the rest of the Argentine armed services, the submarine force struggled to maintain its readiness due to budget constraints affecting equipment maintenance and personnel training.

The units arrived in Buenos Aires on 7 April 1933, and transferred to Mar del Plata on 3 September, which became the Anniversary Day for the newly created Submarine Force.

[9] Santiago del Estero took part in the blockade of the Rio de la Plata during the 1955 Revolución Libertadora, where she fought off a strike package of Gloster Meteor fighter aircraft loyal to president Juan Domingo Peron.

[11] In 1996, Argentinian officials disclosed that a group of tactical divers had carried out an incursion on the Falkland Islands on board Santiago del Estero (S-12) in October 1966.

She landed a team of Buzos Tácticos (tactical divers) on the initial amphibious assault and weeks later, after a successful resupply mission, was spotted on the surface.

During the 1982 Falklands War only San Luis (S-32) was in service; she reported two encounters with Royal Navy ships but without scoring hits due to problems with her torpedo's firing system.

[15] There was an attempt to deploy Salta to the Falklands area at the end of May, but excessive noise and problems with the torpedo firing system similar to those found on San Luis prevented her operational use.

[17] As part of a major fleet renovation plan which included the MEKO frigates classes, a contract was signed in 1977 with West Germany's Nordseewerke for six TR-1700-class submarines, the last four of them to be built in Argentina.

[citation needed] The Argentine Navy sponsored the development of the CAREM nuclear reactor to be installed on these submarines,[18] but for political reasons the whole program was cancelled and only the two German units were delivered.