ARA ''San Martín'' was one of four armored cruisers purchased by 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 ...

from Italy.

Design and description

''San Martín'' had an

overall length The overall length (OAL) of an ammunition cartridge is a measurement from the base of the brass shell casing to the tip of the bullet, seated into the brass casing. Cartridge overall length, or "COL", is important to safe functioning of reloads in ...

of , a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of , and a mean draft (ship) of . She displaced at normal load. The ship was powered by two vertical

triple-expansion steam engine A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure ''(HP)'' cylinder, then having given up he ...

s, each driving one shaft, using steam from eight Scotch marine boilers.Chesneau & Kolsnik, p. 403 The engines were designed for a maximum output of and a speed of . She had a cruising range of at .Silverstone, p. 11 Her complement consisted of 28 officers and 460 enlisted men.Arguindeguy, Tomo IV, p. 1778 Her main armament consisted of four 45-

caliber In guns, particularly firearms, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel Gauge (firearms) , bore – regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether the f ...

Armstrong Whitworth guns, in twin-

gun turret A gun turret (or simply turret) is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and ability to turn and aim. A modern gun turret is generally a rotatable weapon mount that houses the crew or mechani ...

s fore and aft of 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 ...

. The ten 40-caliber quick-firing (QF) guns that comprised her secondary armament were arranged in

casemate A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which artillery, guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary When referring to Ancient history, antiquity, th ...

amidships This glossary of nautical terms is an alphabetical listing of terms and expressions connected with ships, shipping, seamanship and navigation on water (mostly though not necessarily on the sea). Some remain current, while many date from the 17th t ...

on the main deck. ''San Martín'' also had six QF and six QF 6-pounder Hotchkiss guns to defend herself against torpedo boats. She was also equipped with four above-water

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s, two on each side. The ship's

waterline The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. Specifically, it is also the name of a special marking, also known as an international load line, Plimsoll line and water line (positioned amidships), that indi ...

armor belt Belt armor is a layer of heavy metal armor plated onto or within the outer hulls of warships, typically on battleships, battlecruisers and cruisers, and aircraft carriers. The belt armor is designed to prevent projectiles from penetrating to t ...

had a maximum thickness of

and tapered to towards the ends of the ship. Between the main gun

barbette Barbettes are several types of gun emplacement in terrestrial fortifications or on naval ships. In recent naval usage, a barbette is a protective circular armour support for a heavy gun turret. This evolved from earlier forms of gun protection ...

s it covered the entire side of the ship up to the level of the upper deck. The barbettes, the

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 ...

, and gun turrets were also protected by 5.9-inch armor. Her deck armor ranged from thick.

Construction and career

The ship was launched on 25 May 1896 and was stricken from the

Navy List A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval author ...

on 18 December 1935.

Notes

Footnotes

References

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:San Martin Garibaldi-class cruisers of the Argentine Navy Ships built in Livorno 1896 ships