ARA Buenos Aires (1895)

ARA ''Buenos Aires'' was a protected cruiser of the Argentine Navy. It was built by the British shipyard of Armstrong Mitchell and Co, being launched in 1895 and completing in 1896. ''Buenos Aires'' continued in use until 1932.

Construction

In February 1893, Armstrong and Mitchell laid down a protected cruiser (Yard No. 612) at its Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne shipyard as a stock ship (i.e. without an order from a customer).Brooke 1999, p. 82. The ship soon found a buyer, with Argentina, involved in dispute with Chile over the border between the two nations in Patagonia, purchasing the ship on 27 November 1893, and named it ''Buenos Aires''.Chesneau and Kolesnik 1979, p. 401.

''Buenos Aires'' was launched on 10 May 1895, and underwent steaming trials on 2 November 1895, reaching an average speed of over a period of six hours with natural draught,''The Engineer'' 8 November 1895, p. 464. making it the fastest cruiser in the world. Gunnery trials followed on 29 November that year.''The Engineer'' 13 December 1895, p. 593. The ship was completed in February 1896,Chesneau and Kolesnik 1979, p.403. and reaching Argentina on 29 April 1896.Brooke 1999, p. 83.

Design

''Buenos Aires'' was of similar design to the Chilean cruiser ''Blanco Encalada'', the previous protected cruiser built by Armstrong and Mitchell, but with a modified armament. ''Buenos Airess hull had an overall length of , and a length between perpendiculars of . It had a beam of and a draught of . Like ''Blanco Encalada'', ''Buenos Aires'' had a flush deck layout, and its hull was wood and copper sheathed to reduce fouling. The ship displaced .Brooke 1999, pp. 81–82.Chesneau and Kolesnik 1979, pp. 403, 412.

The ship was powered by two 4-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines fed by eight horizontal return tube boilers and driving two propeller shafts. This machinery was designed to give with natural draught and under forced draught, but managed to generate under natural draught during trials.

The ship's main armament consisted of two 8 inch (203 mm) /45 calibre guns (compared to the 40 calibre guns fitted to ''Blanco Encalada''), mounted fore and aft behind shields on the ship's centreline. These guns could fire or shells at a velocity of and respectively at a rate of fire of up to four rounds per gun per minute.Brassey 1897, p. 384. Secondary armament consisted of a mixed battery of four 6 inch (152 mm) /45 calibre and six 4.7 inch (120 mm) /45 calibre quick-firing guns, (compared to the ten 6 inch /40 calibre guns mounted on ''Blanco Encalada'') which could fire and shells at a rate of 7 rounds per minute and 10 rounds per minute respectively. Tertiary armament consisted of sixteen three-pounder (47 mm) guns, while six QF 1-pounder pom-pom automatic guns were mounted on the ship's fighting tops. Five 18 inch torpedo tubes were fitted, one fixed in the box and four on the ship's broadside.''The Engineer'' 31 July 1896, p. 106.

As a protected cruiser, the ship's main protective armour was a sloping armoured deck of steel, with thickness of between and , with the ship's conning tower protected by armour and the gunshields thick.

Operational history

After arriving in Argentina, ''Buenos Aires'' joined the 1st Division of the fleet. The ship settled into a routine of naval exercises, interspersed with use as a survey ship. In 1906, the ship returned to the United Kingdom for refurbishment of its armament, while in 1911, it again returned to Britain to participate in the Fleet review at Spithead to celebrate the coronation of King George V.

In 1926, ''Buenos Aires'' transported a four-man Spanish Air Force crew which included Major Ramón Franco and copilot/navigator Captain Julio Ruiz de Alda Miqueleiz from Argentina to a hero's welcome in Spain. Between 22 January and 10 February 1926, the aviators had made a seven-stop, 6,300-mile (10,145-kilometer) flight of just under 51 hours from Spain to Buenos Aires in the Dornier Do J Wal ("Whale") flying boat '' Plus Ultra'' ("Farther Still").O'Connor, Derek, "The Other Franco," ''Aviation History'', January 2018, p. 58.

''Buenos Aires'' was stricken on 17 May 1932, and sold for scrapping in 1935.

Notes and references

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See also

* List of cruisers
* List of ships of the Argentine Navy

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Buenos Aires
Cruisers of the Argentine Navy
Ships built by Armstrong Whitworth
1895 ships