ARA ''Heroína'' (pennant number D-12) is the third ship of the MEKO 360H2 series of four

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

s built for 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 ...

. The ship is the third ship in the history of the Argentine Navy to bear the name of the corsair frigate , which claimed the Falkland Islands for the United Provinces of the River Plate on 6 November 1820. The Argentine Navy struggles to meet maintenance and training requirements because of financial problems and import restrictions. The ''Almirante Brown'' class are reported to be short of spares and suffering engine problems, plus all their ordnance is past its expiry date.

Construction and career

''Heroína'' and 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 were authorized under the Naval Construction National Plan of 1974, an initiative by the

to replace old World War II-vintage warships which were nearing the end of their operational lives. A contract was signed with the

Blohm + Voss Blohm+Voss (B+V), also written historically as Blohm & Voss, Blohm und Voß etc., is a German shipbuilding and engineering company. Founded in Hamburg in 1877 to specialise in steel-hulled ships, its most famous product was the World War II battle ...

Shipyards in Hamburg, West Germany for the construction of four MEKO 360H2 destroyers. ''Heroína'' was launched on 17 February 1982. The ship was delivered to the Argentine Navy on 7 November 1983, for her sea trials, following which the ship departed for Argentina, arriving at

Puerto Belgrano Port Belgrano Naval Base ( es, Base Naval Puerto Belgrano - BNPB) is the largest naval base of the Argentine Navy, situated next to Punta Alta, near Bahía Blanca, about south of Buenos Aires. It is named after the brigantine ''General Belgr ...

Naval Base on 21 December. ''Heroína'' was scheduled a major engine and structural overhaul in 2006, following her sister ship . She is currently homeported at Puerto Belgrano as part of the Navy's 2nd Destroyer Division, along with her three sister ships. In July 2019, the Argentine Navy announced that the vessel was to be

scrapped Scrap consists of recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap has monetary value, especially recovered me ...

. As of 2021, she was reported to have sat idle for more than a decade and was still awaiting spare parts for repairs that were being held in the United Kingdom due to an apparent dispute with a British company.

References

Bibliography

* ''Guia de los buques de la Armada Argentina 2005-2006''. Ignacio Amendolara Bourdette, , Editor n/a. (Spanish/English text) {{DEFAULTSORT:Heroina (D-12) Almirante Brown-class destroyers Ships built in Hamburg 1982 ships Destroyers of Argentina