Buenos Aires-class destroyer

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
Built: 1936–1938
In commission: 1938–73
Completed: 7
Lost: 1
Retired: 6
General characteristics
Type: Destroyer
Displacement:
  • 1,375 t (1,353 long tons) standard
  • 2,042 t (2,010 long tons) full load
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 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
ARA Corrientes sinking after collision with cruiser Almirante Brown on 3 October 1941

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 76 mm (3 in) anti-aircraft gun 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 was also fitted at this time and Santa Cruz landed "B" gun in favor of a pair of Hedgehog anti-submarine weapons.

Ships
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

ARA 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 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]

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See also

References

Notes
  1. "El Choque y Hundimiento del Torpedero "Corrientes"". www.histarmar.com.ar (in Spanish). Retrieved 2017-12-10.
  2. "Hace 61 años bombardeaban el puerto de Mar del Plata". Diario La Capital de Mar del Plata (in Spanish). Retrieved 2017-12-10.

Bibliography
  • 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.
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