ARA ''Rosales'' (P-42) is the second ship of the

MEKO 140A16 The MEKO 140 is a frigate/ corvette design by the German Blohm + Voss shipyard as part of the MEKO family of vessels. The MEKO 140 is a development of the Portuguese Navy's s designed by the Portuguese naval engineer Rogério de Oliveira in the ...

of six

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...

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 fourth ship to bear the name of Colonel (Navy) Leonardo Rosales, who fought in the Argentine Navy during Argentina's war of independence and the Cisplatine War. The Argentine Navy struggles to meet maintenance and training requirements because of financial problems and import restrictions. The availability of spare parts was a problem as of 2012 and by 2019 she was reported in reserve and to be scrapped. However, in 2021 she was undergoing repair work at the Tandanor shipyard with an envisaged return to service in 2022. Her new role will be that of offshore patrol.

Origin

''Rosales'' 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 part of the 1974 Naval Constructions National Plan, an initiative by the Argentine Navy to replace old

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

-vintage ships with more advanced warships. The original plan called for six MEKO 360H2

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, four of them to be built in Argentina, but the plan was later modified to include four MEKO destroyers and six corvettes for anti-surface warfare and patrol operations.

Construction

''Rosales'' was constructed at the

Río Santiago Shipyard The Rio Santiago Shipyard is a shipyard located in the city of Ensenada, Buenos Aires Province at the shores of the Santiago River. Currently owned by the Government of Buenos Aires Province, it has been one of the major active and important shi ...

of the Astilleros y Fábricas Navales del Estado (State Shipyards and Naval Factories) state corporation. Her

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

was laid on 1 April 1981 and was launched on 4 March 1983. The ship was officially delivered to the Navy on 14 November 1986 and formally commissioned on 24 March 1987. First captain was Capitan de Navio Manuel Augusto Iricibar.

Service history

In February 1991, as part of Task Group 88.1 ''Rosales'' along with participated as part of the Coalition of the Gulf War in 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 ...

-mandated blockade of Iraq following its invasion of Kuwait. She participated in patrol and escort missions as part of Operations

Desert Shield The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

and

Desert Storm The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

, returning to Argentina on July 1991 ''Rosales'' participated in several

naval exercise A military exercise or war game is the employment of military resources in training for military operations, either exploring the effects of warfare or testing strategies without actual combat. This also serves the purpose of ensuring the comb ...

s and conducted fishery patrol duties in the Argentine exclusive economic zone, capturing two illegal fishing ships in 1992. She is homeported 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 and is part of the Navy's 2nd Corvette Division with her five sister ships. In 2019, it was announced by the Argentine Navy that the vessel would 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 ...

. However, one year later training activities were still being conducted on her. In 2021 it was reported that she was being repaired for a return to service. In 2022, she participated in an exercise off the coast of

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 ...

with the destroyer , her sister ships and and the transport ship . ''Rosales'' is being converted to the offshore patrol role at the Tandanor shipyard. For that role, on both ''Rosales'' and her sister ship ''Parker'', a hydraulic crane is being installed to permit the deployment of 5.5-meter semi-rigid fast boats while space, previously used for the storage of MM-38 Exocet missiles, is being converted into extra personnel accommodation space.https://www-zona--militar-com.translate.goog/2021/12/14/en-que-consiste-la-reparacion-y-modernizacion-de-la-corbeta-ara-parker/?_x_tr_sl=es&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc

References

Bibliography

* ''Guia de los buques de la Armada Argentina 2005-2006''. Ignacio Amendolara Bourdette, , Editor n/a. (Spanish/English text) {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosales (P-42) Espora-class corvettes Ships built in Argentina 1983 ships Corvettes of Argentina Gulf War ships of Argentina