ARA ''Patagonia'' was an

armoured cruiser The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was designed like other types of cruisers to operate as a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship and fast en ...

that served in 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 th ...

between 1886 and 1927.

Design

''Patagonia'' was a steam-sail armoured cruiser with steel hull and wooden planking, and armoured

conning tower A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armored, from which an officer in charge can conn the vessel, controlling movements of the ship by giving orders to those responsible for the ship's engine, rudder, lines, and gro ...

. It was propelled by two compound horizontal engines, and two masts with brick sails. It was equipped with two searchlights, two small steam boats, and five smaller boats with oars. As designed, its main battery was one 250mm

Armstrong gun An Armstrong gun was a uniquely designed type of rifled breech-loading field and heavy gun designed by Sir William Armstrong and manufactured in England beginning in 1855 by the Elswick Ordnance Company and the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich. Such ...

at the bow, and one 150mm Armstrong gun at the stern and on each side; with

Vavasseur mounting Vavasseur mountings were several mounting devices for artillery and machine guns. They were invented and patented by Josiah Vavasseur. The mountings were used in Barton's Point Battery in Sheerness, on the Isle of Sheppey The Isle of Sheppey i ...

s protected with armoured shields. The secondary battery had four 87.5 mm and two 65.2mm Armstrong guns. It also mounted eight Nordenfelt machine guns and six Gardner machine guns. In 1899 the 250mm gun and two 150mm guns were removed, and the remainder artillery was redistributed.

History

''Patagonia'' was ordered in 1885 to the shipyard Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into pr ...

at a cost of £ 100,000; this transaction was widely criticized in Argentina as the Austro-Hungarian navy was purchasing ships in England rather than locally. The ship was launched in

1886 Events January–March * January 1 – Upper Burma is formally annexed to British Burma, following its conquest in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of November 1885. * January 5– 9 – Robert Louis Stevenson's novella ''Strange ...

; its construction was completed that year. After finalizing trials, it departed Trieste on January 20, 1887, arriving in

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 February 28 same year. In January and February 1902 it participated in the naval exercises as part of the 3rd Division; it simulated a blockade of the River Plate in which it was successful. By 1918 all weapons are removed and it is modified function as a transport ship under the same name, completing two trips between

and

Ushuaia Ushuaia ( , ) is the capital of Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur Province, Argentina. With a population of nearly 75,000 and a location below the 54th parallel south latitude, Ushuaia claims the title of world's southern ...

until being decommissioned in 1925.

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

Cruiser “Patagonia” - Histarmar website (Historia y Arqueología Marítima - Crucero Patagonia)
(''accessed 2015-11-22'') {{DEFAULTSORT:Patagonia Cruisers of the Argentine Navy Transports of the Argentine Navy 1886 ships Ships built in Trieste