ARA ''Heroína'' (pennant number D-12) was the third ship of the MEKO 360H2 series of four

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

s built for the

Argentine Navy The Argentine Navy (ARA; ). 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 Argentine Army, Army and the Argentine ...

. The ship was the third ship in the history of the Argentine Navy to bear the name of the corsair frigate , which claimed the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...

for the United Provinces of the River Plate on 6 November 1820. The Argentine Navy has struggled to meet maintenance and training requirements because of financial problems and import restrictions. In the early 2010s it was reported that the ''Almirante Brown'' class were short of spares, suffering engine problems and ordnance, at that time, was past its expiry date. ''Heronia'' herself had a prolonged period of inactivity and she was formally taken out of service in early 2024.

Construction and career

''Heroína'' and her

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same Ship class, 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 o ...

s were authorized under the Naval Construction National Plan of 1974, an initiative by the

to replace old World War II-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 * Irma Blohm (1909–1997), German pol ...

Shipyards in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

for the construction of four MEKO 360H2 destroyers. ''Heroína'' was launched on 17 February 1982. The ship was delivered to the Argentine Navy on 7 November 1983, for her

sea trial A sea trial or trial trip 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 op ...

s, following which the ship departed for Argentina, arriving at Puerto Belgrano Naval Base on 21 December. ''Heroína'' was scheduled a major engine and structural overhaul in 2008, after being severely damaged due to a collision with a whale. She was homeported at Puerto Belgrano as part of the Navy's 2nd Destroyer Division, along with her three sister ships. As of 2021, she was reported to have sat idle for more than a decade and was still awaiting a key component that, shortsightedly, had been sent to the United Kingdom for repair. British authorities then seized the components leaving the vessel inoperable. She was formally retired in 2024 after prolonged inactivity, with the Argentine Navy having indicated as early as 2019 that the vessel was intended to be

scrapped Scrap consists of recyclable Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. This concept often includes the recovery of energy from waste materials. The recyclability of a material depends on i ...

References

Bibliography

* ''Guia de los buques de la Armada Argentina 2005-2006''. Ignacio Amendolara Bourdette, , Editor n/a. (Spanish/English text) {{DEFAULTSORT:Heroina (D-12) Almirante Brown-class destroyers Ships built in Hamburg 1982 ships Destroyers of Argentina