List of ships of the Argentine Navy

This list includes all major warships and sailing vessels in service with the Argentine Navy since being formally established in the 1860s. It does not include vessels prior to that date, nor it includes auxiliary vessels, transports, colliers or scientific vessels, which are listed on List of auxiliary ships of the Argentine Navy.
Service entry dates indicate the ship's commissioning into the Argentine Navy and not the ship's entry in service with another navy unless specifically said.

Contents

Aircraft Carriers

Colossus class (British-built)

Ship Name Pennant Number Other names Service entry Decommissioning
ARA Independencia V-1 ex-HMS Warrior 1959 1969
ARA Veinticinco de Mayo V-2 ex-HMS Venerable, ex Hr. Ms. Karel Doorman 1969 1999

Dreadnoughts

Rivadavia class (US-built)

Ship Name Pennant Number Other names Service entry Decommissioning
ARA Rivadavia none none 1915 1957
ARA Moreno none none 1915 1957

Battleships

Almirante Brown class battleship (British-built)

Ship Name Pennant Number Other names Service entry Decommissioning
ARA Almirante Brown none none 1881 1932

Libertad class river battleships (British-built)

Ship Name Pennant Number Other names Service entry Decommissioning
ARA Libertad none none 1892 1946
ARA Independencia none none 1893 1946

Armored Cruisers

Garibaldi class (Italian-built)

Ship Name Pennant Number Other names Service entry Decommissioning
ARA Garibaldi none none 1896 1931
ARA San Martín none none 1898 1935
ARA Belgrano none none 1898 1947
ARA Pueyrredón none none 1898 1953

Bernardino Rivadavia class (Italian-built)*

Ship Name Pennant Number Other names Service entry Decommissioning
ARA Bernardino Rivadavia no service ordered as Mitre by Argentina, later renamed, sold before completion to Japan 1903 (Japan) as Kasuga scrapped in 1948
ARA Mariano Moreno no service ordered as Roca by Argentina, later renamed, sold before completion to Japan 1903 (Japan) as Nishin scuttled 1936, raised and sunk as target 1942

Monitors

Los Andes class (British-built)

Ship Name Pennant Number Other names Service entry Decommissioning
ARA Los Andes none none 1875 1930
ARA El Plata none none 1875 1930

Cruisers

Patagonia class (Austria-Hungary-built)

Ship Name Pennant Number Other names Service entry Decommissioning
ARA Patagonia none none 1887 1917

Late-19th Century cruisers (British-built)

Ship Name Pennant Number Other names Service entry Decommissioning
ARA Veinticinco de Mayo none none 1891 1916
ARA Nueve de Julio none none 1894 1925
ARA Patria none none 1894 1927
ARA Buenos Aires none none 1896 1932

Almirante Brown class heavy cruisers (Italian-built)

Ship Name Pennant Number Other names Service entry Decommissioning
ARA Almirante Brown C-1 none 1931 1960
ARA Veinticinco de Mayo C-2 none 1931 1960

La Argentina class (British-built)

Ship Name Pennant Number Other names Service entry Decommissioning
ARA La Argentina C-3 none 1939 1974

General Belgrano class (US Brooklyn class cruisers)

Ship Name Pennant Number Other names Service entry Decommissioning
ARA General Belgrano C-4 ex-USS Phoenix - ex ARA 17 de Octubre 1951 1982 (1)
ARA Nueve de Julio C-5 ex-USS Boise 1951 1977

(1) sunk in combat action during the Falklands War.

Destroyers

Catamarca class (German-built)

Ship Name Pennant Number Other names Service entry Decommissioning
ARA Catamarca none none 1912 1957
ARA Jujuy none none 1912 1957
ARA Córdoba none none 1912 1957
ARA La Plata none none 1912 1957

Cervantes class (Spanish-built) - ordered by the Spanish Navy and sold to Argentina prior to completion.

Ship Name Pennant Number Other names Service entry Decommissioning
ARA Cervantes D-1 ex-Alcalá Galiano 1928 1961
ARA Garay D-2 ex-Churruca 1928 1960

Mendoza class (British-built)

Ship Name Pennant Number Other names Service entry Decommissioning
ARA Mendoza D-3 none 1929 1961
ARA La Rioja D-4 none 1929 1962
ARA Tucumán D-5 none 1929 1962

Buenos Aires class (British-built)

Ship Name Pennant Number Other names Service entry Decommissioning
ARA Buenos Aires D-6 none 1938 1971
ARA Entre Ríos D-7 none 1938 1971
ARA Corrientes D-8 none 1938 1941 (1)
ARA San Juan D-9 none 1938 1971
ARA San Luis D-10 none 1938 1970
ARA Misiones D-11 none 1938 1970
ARA Santa Cruz D-12 none 1939 1972

(1) sunk after collision with the heavy cruiser ARA Almirante Brown during fleet exercises off Mar del Plata

Brown/Almirante Domecq García class (leased US Fletcher class)

Ship Name Pennant Number Other names Service entry Decommissioning
ARA Brown D-20 ex-USS Heermann 1962 1979
ARA Espora D-21 ex-USS Dortch 1962 1975
ARA Rosales D-22 ex-USS Stembel 1962 1975
ARA Almirante Domecq García D-23 ex-USS Braine 1971 1982 (1)
ARA Almirante Storni D-24 ex-USS Cowell 1971 1979

(1) expended in live fire missile test in 1983

Seguí class (modified US Allen M. Sumner class)

Ship Name Pennant Number Other names Service entry Decommissioning
ARA Seguí D-25 ex-USS Hank 1971 1983
ARA Bouchard D-26 ex-USS Borie 1971 1983
ARA Piedra Buena D-29 ex-USS Collett 1977 1984

Py class (modified US Gearing class)

Ship Name Pennant Number Other names Service entry Decommissioning
ARA Py D-27 ex-USS Perkins 1973 1984

Hércules class (British Type 42 destroyers)

Ship Name Pennant Number Other names Service entry Decommissioning
ARA Hércules (1) D-28, D-1 none 1978 active
ARA Santisima Trinidad D-2 none 1981 reserve

(1) Transformed into a Fast Assault Transport and given the pennant B-52 in 2002

Almirante Brown class (German MEKO 360H2 type)

Ship Name Pennant Number Other names Service entry Decommissioning
ARA Almirante Brown D-10 none 1983 active
ARA La Argentina D-11 none 1983 active
ARA Heroína D-12 none 1983 active
ARA Sarandí D-13 none 1984 active

Frigates and Corvettes

Murature class (Locally-designed and built)

Ship Name Pennant Number Other names Service entry Decommissioning
ARA Murature P-20 none 1946 not known
ARA King P-21 none 1946 not known

Hércules class (River/Tacoma class World War II frigates)

Ship Name Pennant Number Other names Service entry Decommissioning
ARA Hércules P-31 ex-Asheville, ex-Nadir, ex-HMCS Adur 18 February 1948 1961 (1), sold 1969
ARA Heroína P-32 ex-USS Reading 8 February 1947 sold 5 August 1964
ARA Sarandí P-33 ex-USS Uniontown, ex-Chattanooga 18 February 1948 sold 29 June 1967
ARA Santísima Trinidad P-34 ex-HMS Caicos, ex-USS Hannam 1948 1963 (2), sold 1970 or 1971

(1) transferred to Prefectura Naval Argentina (Argentine Coast Guard) and renamed PNA Juan Bautista Azopardo (2) transformed into a survey vessel and renamed ARA Comodoro Lasserre

República class (Canadian Flower class)

Ship Name Pennant Number Other names Service entry Decommissioning
ARA República P-10 ex-HMCS Smilax 1948 1961

Azopardo class (Locally designed and built)

Ship Name Pennant Number Other names Service entry Decommissioning
ARA Azopardo P-35 none 1957 1972
ARA Piedra Buena P-36 none 1957 1973

Drummond class (French D'Estienne d'Orves class))

Ship Name Pennant Number Other names Service entry Decommissioning
ARA Drummond (1) P-31 ex-SAS Good Hope 1978 active
ARA Guerrico (1) P-32 ex-SAS Transvaal 1978 active
ARA Granville P-33 none 1981 active

(1) these were ships being built for the South African Navy before UN sanctions were applied to South Africa; they were acquired prior to completion, ARA Granville was ordered later.

Espora class (German MEKO 140A16 type, locally built)

Ship Name Pennant Number Other names Service entry Decommissioning
ARA Espora P-41 none 1985 active
ARA Rosales P-42 none 1986 active
ARA Spiro P-43 none 1988 active
ARA Parker P-44 none 1990 active
ARA Robinson (1) P-45 none 2000 active
ARA Gómez Roca (1) P-46 none 2004 active

(1) construction of the last two ships was halted due to budgetary issues, then resumed in 1997.

Submarines

By tradition, Argentine submarines bear the names of provinces whose names begin with the letter "S", thus, the pool of names is limited to only six ("Santa Fe", "Salta", "Santiago del Estero", "San Luis", "San Juan" and "Santa Cruz") resulting in repeated class names.

Santa Fe (1) class (Italian-built Tarantinos)

Ship Name Pennant Number Other names Service entry Decommissioning
ARA Santa Fe S-1 none 1933 1956
ARA Salta S-2 none 1933 1960
ARA Santiago del Estero S-3 none 1933 1959

Santa Fe (2) class (US-built Balao class

Ship Name Pennant Number Other names Service entry Decommissioning
ARA Santa Fe S-11 ex-USS Macabi 1960 1972
ARA Santiago del Estero S-12 ex-USS Lamprey 1960 1971

Santa Fe (3) class (US-built Guppy class)

Ship Name Pennant Number Other names Service entry Decommissioning
ARA Santa Fe S-21 ex-USS Catfish 1972 1982 (1)
ARA Santiago del Estero S-22 ex-USS Chivo) 1971 1981

(1) sunk during the Falklands War

Salta Class (German-built Type 209)

Ship Name Pennant Number Other names Service entry Decommissioning
ARA Salta S-31 none 1974 active
ARA San Luis S-32 none 1974 1997 (1)

(1) Stricken from the fleet list after incomplete overhaul, possible return to service being considered by the Navy.

Santa Cruz class (German-built TR-1700 type)

Six of these ships were planned by the Navy. Only the first two, built in Germany, were actually completed. The other four -to be built in Argentina- were never completed due to budgetary concerns.

Ship Name Pennant Number Other names Service entry Decommissioning
ARA Santa Cruz S-41 none 1984 active
ARA San Juan S-42 none 1985 active
ARA Santa Fe S-43 none never completed never completed
ARA Santiago del Estero S-44 none never completed never completed
-no name- S-45 none never completed never completed
-no name- S-46 none never completed never completed

Gunboats

Paraná class (British-built) - also classified as "corvettes"

Ship Name Pennant Number Other names Service entry Decommissioning
ARA Paraná none none 1875 1921 (1)
ARA Uruguay none none 1875 active (2)

(1) Converted to a transport and renamed ARA Piedra Buena. Sunk during a storm.

(2) Currently a museum ship docked at Buenos Aires; nominally in commission in the Argentine Navy and declared a National Historical Monument.

Constitución class (British-built) - classified as "bombarderas"

Ship Name Pennant Number Other names Service entry Decommissioning
ARA Constitución none none 1875 1955
ARA República none none 1875 1955

Bermejo class (British-built) locally classified as "bombarderas"

Ship Name Pennant Number Other names Service entry Decommissioning
ARA Bermejo none none 1875 1932
ARA Pilcomayo none none 1875 1935

Rosario class (British-built)

Ship Name Pennant Number Other names Service entry Decommissioning
ARA Rosario none none 1909 1959
ARA Paraná none none 1909 1959

Sailing Frigates

La Argentina class (Austria-Hungary-built) formally classified as a sailing corvette

Ship Name Pennant Number Other names Service entry Decommissioning
ARA La Argentina none none 1884 1900

Presidente Sarmiento class (British-built)

Ship Name Pennant Number Other names Service entry Decommissioning
ARA Presidente Sarmiento none none 1898 active (1)

(1) retired from training duties in 1961, currently moored at Buenos Aires as a museum ship and a National Historical Monument

Libertad class (Locally-built)

Ship Name Pennant Number Other names Service entry Decommissioning
ARA Libertad Q-2 none 1963 active (1)

(1) Active as the Argentine Navy's training vessel.

References

See also