ARA ''Bahía San Blas'' is an

amphibious cargo ship Amphibious cargo ships were U.S. Navy ships designed specifically to carry troops, heavy equipment and supplies in support of amphibious assaults, and to provide naval gunfire support during those assaults. A total of 108 of these ships were built ...

of the

Argentine Navy The Argentine Navy (ARA; es, Armada de la República Argentina). This forms the basis for the navy's ship prefix "ARA". is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the ...

, capable of unloading

landing craft Landing craft are small and medium seagoing watercraft, such as boats and barges, used to convey a landing force (infantry and vehicles) from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. The term excludes landing ships, which are larger. Pr ...

, troops, vehicles and cargo. She is the first Argentine Navy ship to bear the name of

San Blas Bay San Blas Bay (Maltese: ''Il-Bajja ta' San Blas'') is a small beach located in Gozo, Malta. The beach mostly consists of a fine, reddish sand. It is located west of the larger Ramla Bay as well as north of Nadur Nadur ( mt, In-Nadur) is an ...

of in the south of

Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of th ...

Design

''Bahía San Blas'' (B-4) is one of three The other ships in the class are the ARA ''Canal Beagle'' and ARA ''Cabo de Hornos''. cargo ships ordered by the

in 1975, designed and built by the Argentine Príncipe, Menghi y Penco shipyard, at Buenos Aires, Argentina. The design is optimised for Patagonic coastal service. ''Bahía San Blas'' has a steel

hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

and the

superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...

at the stern, with a single

mast Mast, MAST or MASt may refer to: Engineering * Mast (sailing), a vertical spar on a sailing ship * Flagmast, a pole for flying a flag * Guyed mast, a structure supported by guy-wires * Mooring mast, a structure for docking an airship * Radio mast ...

and a single funnel atop, behind the bridge; the cargo area is located in the middle of the ship and three Liebherr

cranes Crane or cranes may refer to: Common meanings * Crane (bird), a large, long-necked bird * Crane (machine), industrial machinery for lifting ** Crane (rail), a crane suited for use on railroads People and fictional characters * Crane (surname), ...

serve the three

holds A hold (abbreviated HLD, H or HD) is awarded to a relief pitcher who meets the following three conditions: :1. Enters the game in a save (baseball), save situation; that is, when all of the following three conditions apply: :: (a) He appears i ...

, one each.One 5-ton crane servers hold 1, and two 12.5-ton cranes serve holds 2 and 3; these can be used simultaneously to provide a 25-ton lifting capacity into either hold 2 or 3. She has a bulk cargo capacity of or 6,300 tons (e.g.: coal, cereals, live cattle), and can carry up to 140 containers. ''Bahía San Blas'' is powered by two 6-cylinder Sulzer 6 ZL 40/48 marine diesel engines of each, driving two variable-pitch propellers; with a maximum speed of .

History

The ship is a vessel built at Astilleros Príncipe, Menghi y Penco at Buenos Aires in 1978 entering service on November of that year in the Transport Maritime service of the

. The other ships of the class are and . In 1991 she was deployed to the Persian Gulf during operations

Desert Shield The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

and Desert Storm carrying humanitarian aid and providing logistic support to the Argentine warships in the area. In 1992 ''Bahía San Blas'' transported back from the Gulf of Fonseca the four ''Baradero''-class patrol boats used under United Nations mandate

ONUCA ONUCA and ONUSAL were two United Nations peacekeeping missions deployed in Central America during the late 1980s and early 1990s. ONUCA The United Nations Security Council formally created ONUCA ("United Nations Observer Group in Central Ameri ...

. After the retirement of , ''Bahía San Blas'' became the main vessel for use by the

Argentine Marines The Naval Infantry Command ( es, Comando de la Infantería de Marina, COIM), also known as the Naval Infantry of the Navy of the Argentine Republic ( es, Infantería de Marina de la Armada de la República Argentina, IMARA) and generally referred ...

receiving several modifications. Since 2004, an Argentine contingent was deployed to

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

under MINUSTAH mandate and ''Bahía San Blas'' has been used for logistic support making several voyages to the Caribbean island.Operación Haití: misión de paz en el Caribe
(accessed 2017-01-14) As of late 2016, ''Bahía San Blas'' remains in service with the Argentine Navy.

Footnotes

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

Argentine Navy official site, Costa Sur class page

at Histarmar {{DEFAULTSORT:Bahia San Blas Costa Sur class cargo ships Amphibious warfare vessels of the Argentine Navy Transports of the Argentine Navy Ships built in Argentina Gulf War ships of Argentina 1978 ships