Upon entry to the Strait of Magellan, Blue Ridge took on a "passage pilot" from the Chilean Navy. The Chilean patrol boat lost its mast and damaged one of BR's "basket" antennas, just aft of the port sponson, in the boarding operation. Somehow in that night's transit of the Strait, Blue Ridge was navigated into a closed inlet of that karst and fjord topography, requiring an emergency reverse, as sonar showed a rapid seabed rise. [10]

The Chilean Navy officer "passage pilot" had additional "responsibilities" as he steamed with BR back to the Chilean Navy base in Valparaiso. The Cold War was very hot and the recent minority election of the pro-communist Salvador Allende in Chile was a flash point. President Nixon was determined there would not be a "second Cuba" in the Western Hemisphere. [11] With the initial infighting and confusion among the ranks of the Chilean military, Blue Ridge did its part.