ARA Buenos Aires (D-6)

For other ships with the same name, see ARA Buenos Aires.

ARA Buenos Aires
History
Argentina
Name	Buenos Aires
Namesake	Buenos Aires province
Builder	Vickers-Armstrong, Barrow
Launched	21 September 1937
Completed	4 April 1938
Stricken	1971
Fate	Scrapped, 1971
General characteristics
Class & type	Buenos Aires-class 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 steam turbines, three boilers, 34,000 hp (25 MW)
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	4 × 4.7 in (120 mm) QF Mark IX guns (4 × 1) 8 × 0.50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns 8 × 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes (2 × 4)

ARA Buenos Aires was the lead ship of her class of destroyer built for the Argentine Navy, in service from 1938 until 1971.

Design

The ship's design was based on the British Royal Navy's G class destroyer.

The Argentine Navy initially classified it as a "torpedo boat" ((in Spanish) torpedero), and in the 1950s as a "destroyer".

History

Buenos Aires was laid down at the Vickers-Armstrong shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness, England, as part of a British-built destroyer program for the Argentine Navy. She was launched on 21 September 1937 and completed on 4 April 1938, when she was formally transferred to Argentina. The vessel was the lead ship of the Buenos Aires-class destroyers, a class based on the Royal Navy’s contemporary G-class destroyers, adapted to Argentine naval requirements.

Upon entering service in 1938, Buenos Aires joined the 1st Torpedo Squadron of the Argentine Navy. Initially classified as a torpedo boat (torpedero), she was later redesignated as a destroyer during postwar naval reorganization. During her career, the ship participated in fleet exercises, training operations, and patrol duties in Argentine waters. In the 1950s, she underwent modernization work that included the installation of improved anti-aircraft weaponry, radar, and sonar equipment.

The ship was the fifteenth vessel in Argentine naval history to bear the name Buenos Aires, honoring the province and city of Buenos Aires. After more than three decades of service, she was stricken from the naval register in 1971 and subsequently scrapped.

References

Bibliography

• Whitley, M. J. (2000). Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. Cassell & Co. ISBN 1-85409-521-8.

Online sources

• "TORPEDERO "BUENOS AIRES" 1938". Histarmar - Historia y Arqueología Marítima (in Spanish). Argentina: Fundación Histarmar. Retrieved 28 December 2015.

See also

• List of ships of the Argentine Navy

Further reading

• Arguindeguy, Pablo (1972). Apuntes sobre los buques de la Armada Argentina (1810-1970) (in Spanish). Comando en Jefe de la Armada.
• Scheina, Robert L. & Smigielski, Adam (1995). "Argentina". In Chumbley, Stephen (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1947–1995 (revised ed.). Naval Institute Press. pp. 3–12. ISBN 1-55750-132-7.

External links

• "Miramar Ship Index". Miramar. Retrieved 19 April 2015. (subscription required)