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 ...

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 th ...

. 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 A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

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 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

-vintage warships which were nearing the end of their operational lives. A contract was signed with the

Blohm + Voss Blohm is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Hans Blohm C.M. (born 1927), photographer and author * Hermann Blohm (1848–1930), German businessman and co-founder of German company Blohm+Voss * Linn Blohm (born 1992), Swedish hand ...

Shipyards in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 ...

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 trial A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...

s, 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 Bel ...

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 The flight deck of an aircraft carrier is the surface from which its aircraft take off and land, essentially a miniature airfield at sea. On smaller naval ships which do not have aviation as a primary mission, the landing area for helicopte ...

to allow for the operation of

SH-3 Sea King The Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King (company designation S-61) is an American twin-engined anti-submarine warfare (ASW) helicopter designed and built by Sikorsky Aircraft. A landmark design, it was one of the first ASW rotorcraft to use turboshaft en ...

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 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