The Catamarca-class ships were ordered in 1910 as part of a program of a dozen destroyers, two pairs from German shipyards, and four each from Britain and France. The ships had to be ordered from foreign shipyards because Argentina lacked the facilities to build warships of that size itself. The German-built ships were the only ones delivered as the British-built destroyers were sold to the Royal Hellenic Navy in 1912; the French ships were still under construction when World War I began in August 1914 and were purchased by the French Navy. The Catamarcas were 289feet long overall with a beam of 27feet and a draught of 17feet. The ships displaced 995LT at normal load and 1357LT at full load. They were powered by two Curtis-AEG steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam provided by two mixed-firing Thornycroft-Schulz boilers that used both coal and fuel oil. The turbines, rated at 25765shp, were intended to give a maximum speed of 27kn. The destroyers carried 250LT of coal and 110LT of fuel oil to give them a range of 3000nmi at .[1]
The main armament of the Catamarca class consisted of four 50-caliber 4inches guns in single mounts. One gun was located on the forecastle, another between the rear and center funnels and the final pair before and after of the rear superstructure. The ships were also armed with four 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes on rotating single mounts, two on each broadside amidships. The ships' complement consisted of 150 officers and men.[1]
| Builder | Laid down[2] | Launched | Commissioned | Fate[3] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1911 | 1911 | 13 April 1912 | Scrapped, 1959 | ||
| 4 March 1912 | 15 April 1912 | Sold for scrap, 1960 | |||