ARA ''La Argentina'' (pennant number D-11) is the second 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 eighth ship in the history of the Argentine Navy to bear the name of the corsair frigate ''La Argentina'' which conducted a privateer raid around the world against Spanish trade in 1817.

Origin

''La Argentina'' 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 Argentine Navy 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.

Construction

''La Argentina '' was launched on 25 September 1981. The ship was delivered to the

on 11 May 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 18 July and being formally commissioned into the Navy on 4 August of that same year.

Service history

The ship emerged in 2006 from an overhaul which included the extension of her flight deck to allow for the operation of SH-3 Sea King helicopters. She is home-ported at Puerto Belgrano as part of the Navy's Destroyer Division, along with her three sister ships. The Argentine Navy struggled to meet maintenance and training requirements because of financial problems and import restrictions. The ''Almirante Brown'' class were reported to be short of spares and suffering engine problems, plus all their ordnance was past its expiry date. As a result, ''La Argentina'' suffered a major breakdown in 2012. On 30 June 2017, ''La Argentina'' accidentally collided with a jetty while departing

Punta Alta Punta Alta is a city in Argentina, about 20 kilometers southeast of Bahía Blanca. It has a population of 57,293. It is the capital ("cabecera") of the Coronel Rosales Partido. It was founded on 2 July 1898. The city is located near the Atlanti ...

Naval Base for an international naval exercise in the Pacific. The collision resulted in a gash in ''La Argentina''s bow. She was quickly repaired, but while undergoing repairs, a fire broke out after an incident with welding equipment. Repairs were completed however, and ''La Argentina'' departed for Peru on 5 July 2017.

References

Bibliography

* ''Guia de los buques de la Armada Argentina 2005-2006''. Ignacio Amendolara Bourdette, , Editor n/a. (Spanish/English text) {{DEFAULTSORT:La Argentina (D-11) Almirante Brown-class destroyers Ships built in Hamburg 1981 ships Destroyers of Argentina