ARA ''Patagonia'' (B-1) is a multi-product replenishment oiler of the in service in the Argentine Navy. She was the

lead ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very complex and may ...

of her class serving in the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

as ''Durance'' (A 629) from 1977 to 1999. In French service, the ship served with the ''Force d'action navale'' (FAR, "

Naval Action Force The ''Force d'action navale'' (FAN, Naval Action Force) is the 9,600-man and about 100-ship force of surface warships of the French Navy. As of 2018, it is commanded by Vice-Amiral d’Escadre Jean-Philippe Rolland. The ships are divided into se ...

"). In Argentine service the vessel is used in multi-national

naval exercises A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

and supplies the Antarctic missions operating from

Ushuaia Ushuaia ( , ) is the capital of Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur Province, Argentina. With a population of nearly 75,000 and a location below the 54th parallel south latitude, Ushuaia claims the title of world's souther ...

. In 2017, ''Patagonia'' was used to search for the missing submarine .

Description

In French service, the first two ships of the were dubbed ''Pétrolier Ravitailleur d'Escadre'' (PRE, "fleet replenishment oiler"). ''Durance'' as constructed, carried two cranes abaft the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

. ''Durance'' has a

standard displacement The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...

of and at full load. ''Durance'' is

long overall __NOTOC__ Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, an ...

and

between perpendiculars Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the ster ...

with a beam of and a draught of empty and at full load. The ship is powered by two

SEMT Pielstick SEMT Pielstick was a French company that designed and built large diesel engines. Its full name was (Company of Thermal Machines Studies). Founded in 1948, SEMT was bought by MAN Diesel in 2006 During its existence as an independent compan ...

16 PC2.5 V 400

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-ca ...

s turning two LIPS

controllable pitch propeller In marine propulsion, a variable-pitch propeller is a type of propeller with blades that can be rotated around their long axis to change the blade pitch. Reversible propellers—those where the pitch can be set to negative values—can al ...

s rated at . The vessel has a maximum speed of and a range of at . ''Durance'' was equipped with two landing craft for vehicles and personnel. The ship has two dual solid/liquid underway transfer stations per side and can replenish two ships per side and one astern. As built, ''Durance'' had capacity for of fuel oil, of

diesel oil Diesel fuel , also called diesel oil, is any liquid fuel specifically designed for use in a diesel engine, a type of internal combustion engine in which fuel ignition takes place without a spark as a result of compression of the inlet air and t ...

, of JP-5 aviation fuel, of distilled water, of provisions, of munitions and of spare parts. The ''Durance''-class tankers all mount a

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 ...

over the stern and a

hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

. The ship utilised

Aérospatiale Alouette III The Aérospatiale Alouette III (, ''Lark''; company designations SA 316 and SA 319) is a single-engine, light utility helicopter developed by French aircraft company Sud Aviation. During its production life, it proved to be a relatively popular r ...

and

Westland Lynx The Westland Lynx is a British multi-purpose twin-engined military helicopter designed and built by Westland Helicopters at its factory in Yeovil. Originally intended as a utility craft for both civil and naval usage, military interest led t ...

helicopters in French service, but are capable of operating larger ones from their flight deck. For defence, ''Durance'' was armed with twin-mounted Bofors /L60 anti-aircraft (AA) guns and four machine guns. The ship is equipped with two Racal Decca 1226

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, we ...

s. In Argentine service, ''Patagonia'' has a complement of 164 including 10 officers with accommodation for 29 more.

Construction and career

French service

''Durance'' was the first ship ordered in its class, and was constructed by the

Arsenal de Brest The Brest Arsenal (French - ''arsenal de Brest'') is a collection of naval and military buildings located on the banks of the river Penfeld, in Brest, France. It is located at . Timeline *1631-1635 Beginning of the foundations of the port infr ...

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress * Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria * Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France ** Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Br ...

, France, with its

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 ...

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

on 10 December 1973. The ship was launched on 6 September 1975. The vessel entered service on 1 December 1976. In French service, the ship was assigned to the ''Force d'action navale'' (FAR, "

"). ''Durance'' was decommissioned on 5 December 1997 and placed in

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

. The ship was sold to the Argentine Navy on 12 July 1999.

Argentine service

Renamed ARA ''Patagonia'', the replenishment ship arrived 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 Be ...

on 29 August 1999 where she spent one year in

drydock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

receiving an overhaul of her engines and hull. She was commissioned with the pennant number B-1 (LGPA) into the Amphibious and Logistic Naval Command (COAL) of the fleet on 9 July 2000 and made her first voyage in the following month. Since then ''Patagonia'' has participated in numerous

exercises Exercise is a body activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness. It is performed for various reasons, to aid growth and improve strength, develop muscles and the cardiovascular system, hone athletic s ...

and operations within the fleet and foreign navies including Pre-Unitas,

UNITAS Unitas may refer to: * 306 Unitas Unitas ( minor planet designation: 306 Unitas) is a typical main belt asteroid that was discovered by Elia Millosevich on 1 March 1891 in Rome. The asteroid was named by the director of the Modena Observatory i ...

, Gringo-Gaucho, Atlasur,

PASSEX A passing exercise (a PASSEX in U.S. Navy terminology) is an exercise done between two navies to ensure that the navies are able to communicate and cooperate in times of war or humanitarian relief. Common drills include flashing light drills, sema ...

, Ghost, and Fraterno with the United States, Chile, Brazil and Spain among others. The ship is annually deployed south during the Antarctic summer campaigns to supply and operating from

. In May 2005 about 30 congressmen from Argentina and Chile celebrated the 20 anniversary of the Peace and Friendship Treaty aboard ''Patagonia''. In 2010 she served as support/control unit for the tall ships regatta that took part of the Argentina Bicentennial celebrations. In November 2017, ''Patagonia'' was used in the search for the missing Argentine submarine . The ship was reported non-operational in 2020. However, as of 2022 it was designated to participate in UNITAS 2022 exercises in Brazil. In October 2022, it was reported that the Argentine defence ministry had allocated funding for a refit of the ship to be carried out at the Puerto Belgrano Naval Arsenal in collaboration with the Tandanor shipyard. The ship was reported to have entered dry dock in early 2023. Work on the ship, involving general maintenance and repair, was reported to have been completed in June 2023.

References

Notes

Citations

''Portions taken from Spanish Wikipedia''

Bibliography

* *

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Patagonia Durance-class tankers of the Argentine Navy Ships built in France 1975 ships Auxiliary ships of Argentina