Buenos Aires-class destroyer explained

The Buenos Aires-class destroyers were a group of destroyers built for the Argentine Navy in Britain in the 1930s.

Design

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 40mm 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

ShipBuilderLaunchedCommissionedFate
(T6 / D6)Vickers-Armstrong, Barrow21 September 19374 April 1938Scrapped 1971
(T8)21 September 19371 July 1938Sunk in collision with cruiser, 3 October 1941
(T7 / D7)21 September 193715 May 1938Scrapped 1973
(T11 / D11)Cammell Laird, Birkenhead23 September 19375 September 1938Scrapped 1971
(T9 / D9)John Brown & Company, Clydebank24 June 193723 March 1938Scrapped 1973
(T10 / D10)23 August 193723 March 1938Scrapped 1971
(T12 / D12)Cammell Laird3 November 193726 September 1938Scrapped 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 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

References

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: El Choque y Hundimiento del Torpedero "Corrientes". www.histarmar.com.ar. Spanish. 2017-12-10.
  2. News: Hace 61 años bombardeaban el puerto de Mar del Plata. Diario La Capital de Mar del Plata. 2017-12-10. es-ES.