The ''Mendoza'' class were a series of three destroyers built in the United Kingdom for the Argentine Navy in the 1920s. They were the first part of the Argentine re-armament programme of the 1920s. Construction began in 1927 and all three were commissioned in 1929. All three destroyers were converted to anti-aircraft escorts in 1958 and remained in service until 1962 when they were discarded.

Design

The ships were based on the British

Admiralty type flotilla leader The Admiralty type leader, sometimes known as the ''Scott'' class, were a class of eight destroyer leaders designed and built for the Royal Navy towards the end of World War I. They were named after Scottish historical leaders. The function of ...

design built at the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, with minor modifications. The ''Mendoza''-class destroyers had 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 were at full load. The vessels were

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 long at the

waterline The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. Specifically, it is also the name of a special marking, also known as an international load line, Plimsoll line and water line (positioned amidships), that indi ...

. They had a beam of and a mean draught of . The ''Mendoza'' class were equipped with

Parsons Parsons may refer to: Places In the United States: * Parsons, Kansas, a city * Parsons, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Parsons, Tennessee, a city * Parsons, West Virginia, a town * Camp Parsons, a Boy Scout camp in the state of Washingt ...

single-reduction

geared turbine A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...

s powered by steam provided by four

three-drum boiler Three-drum boilers are a class of water-tube boiler used to generate steam, typically to power ships. They are compact and of high evaporative power, factors that encourage this use. Other boiler designs may be more efficient, although bulkier, an ...

s. The turbines turned two

shafts ''Shafts'' was an English feminist magazine produced by Margaret Sibthorp from 1892 until 1899. Initially published weekly and priced at one penny, its themes included votes for women, women's education, and radical attitudes towards vivisection, ...

rated at giving the destroyers a maximum designed speed of . The ships carried of fuel oil and had a range of at . The destroyers had a complement of 160 officers and ratings. Ships of the ''Mendoza'' class were equipped with five QF Mark IX guns located in single turrets along the centreline of the ship. The ''Mendoza''-class destroyers were also given one gun for anti-aircraft (AA) defence and two 2-pounder pom poms. They were also armed with six

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s in two triple mounts. The 3-inch, both 2-pounder and "Q" gun were later swapped out for six

40 mm Bofors gun Bofors 40 mm gun is a name or designation given to two models of 40 mm calibre anti-aircraft guns designed and developed by the Swedish company Bofors: *Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun - developed in the 1930s, widely used in World War II and into the 1990s ...

s in 3 twin mountings for AA defense, arranged either side and abaft the second funnel.

Ships in class

Service history

Contracts were placed with J. Samuel White in 1927 as part of the Argentine Navy's modernisation programme. The three vessels took on the names of destroyers under construction during

that had been appropriated by France and Germany. All three ships exceeded their design speed during

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, with ''La Rioja'' reaching the fastest speed at without exceeding the limits of its engines. After all three ships had been accepted by the Argentine Navy, the three destroyers sailed for Argentina together from the United Kingdom, stopping only at Lisbon, Portugal en route. Argentina remained neutral during

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 opposing ...

. In 1952, the ''Mendoza'' class' designation was changed from ''Exploradores'' (destroyer) to ''Torpederos'' (

destroyer escort Destroyer escort (DE) was the United States Navy mid-20th-century classification for a warship designed with the endurance necessary to escort mid-ocean convoys of merchant marine ships. Development of the destroyer escort was promoted by th ...

) in 1952 and their pennant numbers changed from "E" to "T" to reflect that. ''La Rioja'' and ''Tucuman'' were laid up that year and disarmed. The class were converted to anti-submarine escorts in 1958. ''Mendoza'' remained in service until 1961, when the last of the class was decommissioned. The class was discarded on 30 April 1962 and replaced with former

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

ships that were acquired cheaply.

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

*
Destroyers ("Destructores (Tambien llamados Torpederos)") – Histarmar website
{{Mendoza-class destroyer Destroyer classes World War II destroyers of Argentina Argentina–United Kingdom military relations