ARA ''General Belgrano'' was a armoured cruiser of the Argentine Navy. The ship was built in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, along with three sister ships also for Argentina ( ''Garibaldi'', ''Pueyrredón'' and ''San Martín''). The vessel was the first to have been named after the Argentine

founding father The following list of national founding figures is a record, by country, of people who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e. ...

Manuel Belgrano Manuel José Joaquín del Corazón de Jesús Belgrano y González (3 June 1770 – 20 June 1820), usually referred to as Manuel Belgrano (), was an Argentine public servant, economist, lawyer, politician, journalist, and military leader. He ...

(1770–1820). The ship was laid down in 1896 and served on the Argentine Navy until she was stricken on 8 May 1947.

Service history

The cruiser was built at the Cantiere Navale Fratelli Orlando, in Livorno, where her hull was laid down in 1896 and launched on 25 July 1897. She was purchased in 1898 by the government of Argentina, engaged in a diplomatic conflict with

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. After testing of machinery and artillery, ''General Belgrano'' entered service on 8 October 1898, departing the same day entered the port of

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, under the command of Captain Emilio Barilari, arriving at their destination in Mar del Plata, on November 6 of that year. After the conflict with Chile, 20 January 1899, she carried the President of Argentina

Julio Argentino Roca Alejo Julio Argentino Roca Paz (July 17, 1843 – October 19, 1914) was an army general and statesman who served as President of Argentina from 1880 to 1886 and from 1898 to 1904. Roca is the most important representative of the Generation ...

and the President of Chile Federico Errazuriz Echaurren for signing the peace treaty. After visiting Santa Cruz,

Rio Gallegos Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

, Puerto Harberton and

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, arrived on February 15, 1899, in

Punta Arenas Punta Arenas (; historically Sandy Point in English) is the capital city of Chile's southernmost region, Magallanes and Antarctica Chilena. The city was officially renamed as Magallanes in 1927, but in 1938 it was changed back to "Punta Are ...

where the two presidents signed the peace treaty between the two countries. In 1902 she was put on hold and after being fitted with a telegraph set in 1907, she was drafted into the fleet again in 1908. In 1912 she was equipped with a radio transmitter. In 1927 he began work to modernize the naval base of Puerto Belgrano, but before the end of this modernization, left for Europe, visiting Genoa, from 7 to 16 October, where the crew attended the unveiling of a monument to General Belgrano. Later, she visited

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and again returned to Genoa to continue the modernization work, including the conversion of boilers to consume gasoline, installing a new mast and changes in the artillery. At the end of this modernization, 25 October 1929, arriving part to

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

on 24 November next. In 1933 she ranked as a

coast guard A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...

ship and in December the same year is sent to Mar de Plata to be used as a depot ship for submarines. On 8 May 1947, after nearly 50 years of service, ''General Belgrano'' was discharged. Towed to Buenos Aires, she was broken up in the

Matanza River The River The Matanza River is known by several names, including, in Spanish, Río de la Matanza ("the slaughter river" in English), Río Matanza ("slaughter river"), Río Mataderos ("slaughterhouses river"), Río de la Manzana ("the apple rive ...

shipyards.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:General Belgrano (1896) Garibaldi-class cruisers of the Argentine Navy Ships built in Livorno 1896 ships

Service history

References

Further reading

External links