ARA ''Cabo de Hornos'' (B-5) was a

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...

in service with 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 ...

since 1979, capable of transporting bulk cargo, live cattle, and containers. She was the second ship in the Argentine Navy to bear the name of the Cape Horn (Chile) located to the south of Tierra del Fuego.

Design

''Cabo de Hornos'' (B-5) was one of three The other ships in the class are the ARA ''Canal Beagle'' and ARA ''Bahia San Blas''. 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. ''Cabo de Hornos'' 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 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, one each.One 5 ton crane serves hold 1, and two 20 ton cranes serve holds 2 and 3; these can be used simultaneously to provide a 40 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. ''Cabo de Hornos'' is powered by two 6-cylinder Sulzer 6 ZL 40/48 marine diesel engines of each, driving two

variable-pitch propeller Variable-pitch propeller can refer to: *Variable-pitch propeller (marine) *Variable-pitch propeller (aeronautics) In aeronautics, a variable-pitch propeller is a type of propeller (airscrew) with blades that can be rotated around their long a ...

s; with a maximum speed of .

History

With the ships then operating with “Naval Transport Service” ( ''Servicio de Transportes Navales'') approaching obsolescence, the Argentine Navy was authorized (via decree 3/10/1975) to order the local construction of three cargo ships for the southern coastal service. The ships, with hull optimised for Patagonic coastal service, were designed and built by the Argentine Príncipe, Menghi y Penco shipyard, at Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the late 1970s and are denominated the ''Costa Sur'' class. ''Cabo de Hornos'', the third ship in her class, was launched on 4 November 1978 as ''Bahía Camarones'', being renamed later. She was commissioned on 28 June 1979 and assigned to the Argentine Navy's Naval Transport Service with the

pennant number In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number (an internationalisation of ''pendant number'', which it was called before 1948). Historically, naval ships flew a flag that iden ...

B-5. In addition to coastal and riverine activities in Argentina, ''Cabo de Hornos'' also operated overseas. In 1981–82 she transported from France to Argentina the then new

Super Étendard Super may refer to: Computing * SUPER (computer program), or Simplified Universal Player Encoder & Renderer, a video converter / player * Super (computer science), a keyword in object-oriented programming languages * Super key (keyboard butto ...

aircraft incorporated by the Argentine Naval Aviation. In 1989, ''Cabo de Hornos'' helped remove oil from the shipwreck of the polar transport , in an effort to reduce pollution in the Antarctic waters. In 1992 she transported to the Gulf of Fonseca,

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

, 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 ...

. Also in 1992, she transported troops, vehicles, and supplies of the Argentine Army to Yugoslavia, as part of the UNPROFOR peace mission. In mid-2012 her hull underwent maintenance. As of late 2016, ''Cabo de Hornos'' remained in service with the Argentine Navy. In 2022, it was announced that, if there were to be any buyers, the decommissioned ''Cabo de Hornos'' would be auctioned off.

Footnotes

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

Argentine Navy official site – Transportes Clase “COSTA SUR”

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cabo de Hornos Costa Sur class cargo ships Transports of the Argentine Navy Ships built in Argentina 1978 ships