ARA ''Sarandí'' is the fourth and last ship of the MEKO 360H2 series of

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 is also the fourth ship in the Argentine Navy to bear that name. ''Sarandí'' is the name of a victory of the Argentine army during the

Cisplatine War The Cisplatine War was an armed conflict fought in the 1820s between the Empire of Brazil and the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata over control of Brazil's Cisplatina province. It was fought in the aftermath of the United Provinces' an ...

. The ship, along with the rest of the Argentine navy is poorly maintained and has inadequate staff training due to a lack of funding and import restrictions. In 2003, the ship fired on a friendly Brazilian warship during a joint training

exercise Exercise or workout is physical activity that enhances or maintains fitness and overall health. It is performed for various reasons, including weight loss or maintenance, to aid growth and improve strength, develop muscles and the cardio ...

. In 2012, the ''Almirante Brown'' class were short of spare parts and suffering engine problems, plus all their ordnance was past its expiry date.

Origin

''Sarandí'' 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 Argentine Navy to replace old

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

-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.

Construction

''Sarandí''s

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...

was

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 ...

on 9 March 1982 and she was launched on 31 August 1982. The ship was delivered to the Argentine Navy on 23 April 1984 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 she departed for Argentina, arriving at

Puerto Belgrano Port Belgrano Naval Base ( - 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 Belgrano'' (named after Manuel Belg ...

Naval Base on 21 June 1984.

Service history

In 2003, ''Sarandi'' joined the

carrier strike group A carrier strike group (CSG) is a type of carrier battle group of the United States Navy. It is an operational formation composed of roughly 7,500 personnel, usually an aircraft carrier, at least one cruiser, a destroyer Squadron (naval), squad ...

and Destroyer Squadron 18 as a part of the

military exercise A military exercise, training exercise, maneuver (manoeuvre), or war game is the employment of military resources in Military education and training, training for military operations. Military exercises are conducted to explore the effects of ...

Solid Step during their tour in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

. This marked the first time that a ship of the Argentine Navy inter-operated with a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

battlegroup. ''Sarandí'' was involved in an incident on 29 November 2004, during the annual FRATERNO naval exercise, with ships of the

Brazilian Navy The Brazilian Navy () is the navy, naval service branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces, responsible for conducting naval warfare, naval operations. The navy was involved in War of Independence of Brazil#Naval action, Brazil's war of independence ...

. While conducting gunnery practice shots against target drones, a technical failure of her automatic weapons system made her fire on the Brazilian

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

'' Rademaker'', injuring four Brazilian crewmen and an Argentine naval observer, as well as moderate damage to the Brazilian ship. As of 2021 she was based at Puerto Belgrano as the

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

of the Navy's 2nd Destroyer Division, along with her three sister ships. In September of that year, she participated in a naval exercise also involving the corvettes , , and . In 2022, she again participated in an exercise off the coast of

Mar del Plata Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Argentine Sea, Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón Partido, General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires ...

with ''Espora'', ''Robinson'', the corvette and the transport ship . In 2023, the destroyer, accompanied by the patrol vessel and supported by an S2T-Turbo Tracker aircraft, conducted joint exercises with the frigates and and the submarine of the

. In May 2024 ''Sarandí'', in conjunction with her sister ship and the corvettes and , as well as the offshore patrol vessels ''Bartolomé Cordero'', and , was tasked to participate in joint exercises with the US Navy's carrier task group. The exercises were the first to take place between the two navies in several years. In August 2024, she took part in joint exercise ''Fraterno XXXVII'' in the South Atlantic along with the offshore patrol vessel and corvette , as well as the

's frigate and submarine . The exercise's

anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in the older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations ar ...

element focused on reconnaissance, sonar tracking, search and attack by surface units, whereas the maritime element focused on joint air defense coordination, tactical formations and joint helicopter maneuvers. After ''Fraternos conclusion, ''Sarandí'' and ''Liberal'' headed towards

Valparaíso Valparaíso () is a major city, Communes of Chile, commune, Port, seaport, and naval base facility in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. Valparaíso was originally named after Valparaíso de Arriba, in Castilla–La Mancha, Castile-La Mancha, Spain ...

for

UNITAS Unitas may refer to: Places * 306 Unitas, a main belt asteroid * Housing complex Unitas, an apartment complex from 1931 in Bratislava, Slovakia * Johnny Unitas Stadium, Towson, Maryland, USA; a multipurpose stadium People * Johnny Unitas (1933-2 ...

LXV. The two ships met and performed exercises with the Chilean frigate on the way.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sarandi (D-13) Almirante Brown-class destroyers Ships built in Hamburg 1982 ships Destroyers of Argentina