The Buenos Aires-class destroyers were a group of destroyers built for the Argentine Navy in Britain in the 1930s.
 ARA Buenos Aires
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Buenos Aires class |
| Builders | Vickers Armstrong, John Brown, Cammell Laird, UK |
| Operators |  Argentine Navy |
| Preceded by | Mendoza class |
| Succeeded by | Brown class |
| Built | 1936–1938 |
| In commission | 1938–73 |
| Completed | 7 |
| Lost | 1 |
| Retired | 6 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Destroyer |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 98.45 m (323 ft 0 in) |
| Beam | 10.38 m (34 ft 1 in) |
| Draught | 3.2 m (10 ft 6 in) |
| Propulsion | 2 shaft geared Parsons steam turbines, three Admiralty boilers, 25,000 kW (34,000 hp) |
| Speed | 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph) |
| Range | 4,100 nmi (7,600 km) at 14 kn (26 km/h; 16 mph) |
| Complement | 130 |
| Armament |
|
Design
edit
The ships were based on the contemporary G-class destroyers building for the British Royal Navy, with some modifications to suit Argentine requirements.
After World War II these ships were modified by installing two single hand-worked 40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors guns between the funnels replacing the original anti-aircraft machine guns, and two twin air-cooled Bofors unique to the Argentine and Swedish navies (instead of the more common water-cooled mounts) replacing the after bank of torpedo tubes. Radar and sonar were also fitted at this time and Santa Cruz landed the "B" gun in favor of a pair of Hedgehog anti-submarine weapons. Anti-submarine weaponry was further improved with 4 throwers and 2 stern tracks.
Ships
edit| Ship | Builder | Launched | Commissioned | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARA Buenos Aires (T6 / D6) | Vickers-Armstrong, Barrow | 21 September 1937 | 4 April 1938 | Scrapped 1971 |
| ARA Corrientes (T8) | 21 September 1937 | 1 July 1938 | Sunk in collision with cruiser ARA Almirante Brown, 3 October 1941 | |
| ARA Entre Rios (T7 / D7) | 21 September 1937 | 15 May 1938 | Scrapped 1973 | |
| ARA Misiones (T11 / D11) | Cammell Laird, Birkenhead | 23 September 1937 | 5 September 1938 | Scrapped 1971 |
| ARA San Juan (T9 / D9) | John Brown & Company, Clydebank | 24 June 1937 | 23 March 1938 | Scrapped 1973 |
| ARA San Luis (T10 / D10) | 23 August 1937 | 23 March 1938 | Scrapped 1971 | |
| ARA Santa Cruz (T12 / D12) | Cammell Laird | 3 November 1937 | 26 September 1938 | Scrapped 1973 |
Operational history
editARA Corrientes collided with cruiser ARA Almirante Brown in the fog during naval exercises and sank on 3 October 1941, 54 nm northeast of Mar del Plata.[1]
On 19 September 1955, San Luis, San Juan and Entre Rios supported the cruiser ARA Nueve de Julio when the latter shelled and destroyed fuel depots at the port of Mar del Plata, in the course of the Revolucion Libertadora. The destroyers' fire kept at bay a group of armed civilians and soldiers attempting to storm the local naval base. Some civilian property was damaged. The destroyer force also shelled the headquarters of the Army Antiaircraft School, north of the city, some hours later.[2]
See also
editReferences
editNotes
edit- ^ "El Choque y Hundimiento del Torpedero "Corrientes"". www.histarmar.com.ar (in Spanish). Retrieved 2017-12-10.
- ^ "Hace 61 años bombardeaban el puerto de Mar del Plata". Diario La Capital de Mar del Plata (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2017-12-10.
Bibliography
edit- Whitley, M.J. (1988). Destroyers of World War 2. Cassell Publishing. ISBN 1-85409-521-8.
- Montehengo, Guillermo J. "An Argentinian Naval Buildup in the Disarmament Era". Warship 2002-2003. Conway's Maritime Press.
External links
edit- (in Spanish) Destroyers ("Destructores (Tambien llamados Torpederos)") – Histarmar website (accessed 2017-02-04)
