BUENOS AIRES — In the year since 44 Argentine sailors vanished aboard a submarine, some relatives of the missing crew members had refused to speak of their loved ones in the past tense as they held out hope for a miracle — or at least clarity as to what befell them.

This weekend, Argentine officials said the wreckage of the submarine had been found, offering the first concrete answers about one of the deadliest and most confounding maritime disasters in modern times.

“If we had a speck of hope, now there is none left,” said Gisela Polo, the sister of Esteban Alejandro Polo, 32, one of the sailors who died. “We’ve seen the images. They described the depth where it was found. It makes no sense to keep talking about him as if he were still alive.”

The discovery of the submarine, almost a year to the day after it disappeared in stormy weather, revealed that it imploded close to the ocean floor, officials said on Saturday, but that its main hull appeared to be whole. Now the government of President Mauricio Macri will have to answer questions from frustrated families about what more can be gleaned from the wreckage.