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.
| This article needs additional citations for verification. (August 2010) |
Quick Facts History, Argentina ...
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 |
- COGAG (4 turbines)
- 36,000 shp (27,000 kW)
|
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 |
Close
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]
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]