ARA Guerrico (P-32)

300px ARA Guerrico in 2005 at Mar del Plata naval base
History
South Africa
Class and type:	D'Estienne d'Orves class Aviso
Ordered:	February 1976
Builder:	Lorient, France
Laid down:	1 October 1976
Launched:	13 September 1977
Christened:	SAS Transvaal
Out of service:	17 November 1977
Fate:	Delivery blocked by UNSCR 418 during sea trials in France
Argentina
Namesake:	Rear Admiral Martin Guerrico
Operator:	Argentine Navy
Ordered:	1978
Commissioned:	1978
In service:	9 November 1978
Renamed:	ARA Guerrico
Homeport:	Mar del Plata
Status:	in active service, as of 2024
General characteristics
Class & type:	Type A69 Drummond class corvette
Displacement:	1,170 tons (1,320 tons full load)
Length:	80 m (260 ft)
Beam:	10.3 m (34 ft)
Draught:	3.55 m (11.6 ft)
Installed power:	12,000 shp (8.9 MW)
Propulsion:	2 × SEMT Pielstick 12 PC 2.2 V400 diesels, 2 × CP propellers
Speed:	23.3 knots (43 km/h)
Range:	4,500 nautical miles (8,330 km) at 16 knots (30 km/h)
Endurance:	15 days
Complement:	5 officers, 79 enlisted, 95 berths
Sensors and processing systems:	Thales DRBV 51A air/surface search Thales DRBC-32E fire control Consilium Selesmar NavBat Thales Diodon hull MF sonar
Electronic warfare & decoys:	Thales DR 2000 S3 Thales Alligator 51 jammer 2 × 18 Corvus decoys (P31/2) 2 × Matra Dagaie decoys (P33)
Armament:	4 × MM38 Exocet anti-ship missiles 1 × 100 mm/55 Mod.1968 dual purpose gun 1 × twin Bofors 40 mm L/70 AA guns 2 × 20 mm Oerlikon AA guns 2 × .50cal Colt M2 machine guns 2 × triple 324 mm ILAS-3 tubes (WASS A-244S torpedoes)
Aircraft carried:	none
Aviation facilities:	small pad for VERTREP

ARA Guerrico (P-32) is a Drummond class corvette of the Argentine Navy. She is the first vessel to be named after Rear Admiral Martin Guerrico who fought in the 19th century Paraguayan War.

She is currently based at Mar del Plata and conducts fishery patrol duties in the Argentine Exclusive Economic Zone where she has captured several trawlers in recent years. According to reports in November 2012 the Drummond class "hardly sail because of lack of resources for operational expenses".

Service history

Guerrico was built in 1977 in France for the South African Navy to be named SAS Transvaal but was embargoed at the last minute by United Nations Security Council Resolution 418. She was sold to Argentina instead and delivered on 9 November 1978. She was rushed into service and deployed a month later for the Operation Soberanía against Chile.

In 1982 she served in the Falklands War (Spanish: Guerra de Malvinas) most notably in the Invasion of South Georgia where she was damaged by Royal Marines weapon fire which led to her spending three days in dry dock for repairs before rejoining the fleet as part of Task Group 79.4, alongside her sister ships operating to the north of the islands. She carried the P-2 pennant number until the introduction of the Espora class corvettes in 1985 when she became P-32.

In 1994, Guerrico and her sisters participated in Operation Uphold Democracy, the United Nations blockade of Haiti. During this time, she was based at Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in Puerto Rico.

She has also served as support ship of the Buenos Aires-Rio de Janeiro tall ships races.

References

Portions based on a translation from Spanish Wikipedia.

Further reading

• Guia de los buques de la Armada Argentina 2005–2006. Ignacio Amendolara Bourdette, ISBN 987-43-9400-5, Editor n/a. (Spanish/English text)

External links

• Argentine Navy official site, specifications and brief history (in Spanish)