ARA Sarandí (D-13)
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (August 2010) |
 ARA Sarandí underway
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Argentina | |
| Name | Sarandí |
| Builder | Blohm + Voss |
| Laid down | 9 March 1982 |
| Launched | 31 August 1982 |
| Commissioned | 23 April 1984 |
| Identification | Pennant number D-13 |
| Status | in active service |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Almirante Brown-class destroyer |
| Displacement | 3,360 tons |
| Length | 126 m (413 ft 5 in) |
| Beam | 14 m (45 ft 11 in) |
| Draught | 5.8 m (19 ft 0 in) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 30.5 knots (56.5 km/h; 35.1 mph) |
| Range | 4,500 mi (7,200 km) |
| Complement | 224 |
| Armament |
|
| Aircraft carried | 1 × Aérospatiale AS 555 Fennec helicopter |
| Aviation facilities | Single hangar |
ARA Sarandí is the fourth and last ship of the MEKO 360H2 series of destroyers built for the Argentine Navy. 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 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. In 2012, the Almirante Brown class were short of spare parts and suffering engine problems, plus all their ordnance was past its expiry date.[1]
Origin
Sarandí and her sister ships were authorized under the Naval Construction National Plan of 1974, an initiative by the Argentine Navy to replace old World War II-vintage warships which were nearing the end of their operational lives. A contract was signed with the Blohm + Voss Shipyards in Hamburg, West Germany for the construction of four MEKO 360H2 destroyers.
Construction
Sarandí's keel was laid down 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 trials, following which she departed for Argentina, arriving at Puerto Belgrano Naval Base on 21 June 1984.
Service history
In 2003, Sarandi joined the USS Enterprise Carrier Strike Group and Destroyer Squadron 18 as a part of Exercise Solid Step during their tour in the Mediterranean. This marked the first time that a ship of the Argentine Navy inter-operated with a United States Navy battlegroup.
Sarandí was involved in an incident on 29 November 2004, during the annual FRATERNO naval exercise, with ships of the Brazilian Navy. While conducting gunnery practice shots against target drones, a technical failure of her automatic weapons system made her fire on the Brazilian frigate 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 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 Espora, Robinson, Gómez Roca and Spiro.[2] In 2022, she again participated in an exercise off the coast of Mar del Plata with Espora, Robinson, the corvette Rosales and the transport ship Canal Beagle.[3]
In 2023, the destroyer, accompanied by the patrol vessel ARA Bartolomé Cordero and supported by an S2T-Turbo Tracker aircraft, conducted joint exercises with the frigates Independência and União and the submarine Tikuna of the Brazilian Navy.[4]
Notes
- ^ "Argentine navy short on spares and resources for training and maintenance". MercoPress. 22 November 2012. Archived from the original on 28 December 2012. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
- ^ "La Argentina sale de maniobras-noticia defensa.com - Noticias Defensa defensa.com Argentina". Defensa.com. 2 September 2021.
- ^ "Taiana supervisó un ejercicio de la flota de mar frente a la costa" [Taiana oversaw a sea fleet exercise off the coast]. Télam (in Spanish). 15 September 2022. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
- ^ Gonzalo, Mary (9 September 2023). "Cooperación regional en acción: ejercicios combinados de la Armada Argentina". infodefensa.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 September 2023.
References
- Bourdette, Ignacio Amendolara. Guia de los buques de la Armada Argentina 2005-2006 (in Spanish). ISBN 987-43-9400-5.