ARA ''Guerrico'' (P-32) is a 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 ...
. She is the first vessel to be named after Rear Admiral
Martín Guerrico who fought in the 19th century
Paraguayan War.
She is currently based at
Mar del Plata
Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires Province. The name "Mar del Plata" is a s ...
and conducts fishery patrol duties in the Argentine
exclusive economic zone where she has captured several trawlers in recent years. According to reports in November 2012 the ''Drummond'' class "hardly sail because of lack of resources for operational expenses". As of 2020, she was reported in reserve.
Service history
''Guerrico'' was built in 1977 in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
for the
South African Navy
The South African Navy (SA Navy) is the naval warfare branch of the South African National Defence Force.
The Navy is primarily engaged in maintaining a conventional military deterrent, participating in counter-piracy operations, fishery prot ...
to be named SAS ''Transvaal'' but was
embargoed at the last minute by
United Nations Security Council Resolution 418. She was sold to Argentina instead and delivered on 9 November 1978. She was rushed into service and deployed a month later for the
Operation Soberanía
Operación Soberanía (Operation Sovereignty) was a planned Argentine military invasion of Chile due to the Beagle conflict. The invasion was initiated on 22 December 1978 but was halted after a few hours and Argentine forces retreated from the con ...
against Chile.
In 1982 she served in the
Falklands War
The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...
most notably in the
Invasion of South Georgia where she was damaged by
Royal Marines
The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...
weapon fire which led to her spending three days in
dry dock
A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...
for repairs before rejoining the fleet as part of Task Group 79.4, alongside her
sister ship
A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...
s operating to the north of the islands. She carried the P-2
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 ...
until the introduction of the s in 1985 when she became P-32.
In 1994, ''Guerrico'' and her sisters participated in
Operation Uphold Democracy, the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
blockade of
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 ...
. During this time, she was based at
Roosevelt Roads Naval Station
Roosevelt Roads Naval Station is a former United States Navy base in the town of Ceiba, Puerto Rico. The site operates today as José Aponte de la Torre Airport, a public use airport.
History
In 1919, future US President Franklin D. Rooseve ...
in
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
.
She has also served as support ship of the Buenos Aires-Rio de Janeiro
tall ships
A tall ship is a large, traditionally- rigged sailing vessel. Popular modern tall ship rigs include topsail schooners, brigantines, brigs and barques. "Tall ship" can also be defined more specifically by an organization, such as for a race or fe ...
races.
References
''Portions based on a translation from Spanish Wikipedia.''
Further reading
* ''Guia de los buques de la Armada Argentina 2005–2006''. Ignacio Amendolara Bourdette, , Editor n/a. (Spanish/English text)
External links
Argentine Navy official site, specifications and brief history(in Spanish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guerrico
Drummond-class corvettes
Ships built in France
1978 ships
Corvettes of Argentina
Corvettes of the Cold War