(Argentina)

Notes: These two destroyers were ordered in 1970; they are essentially the same as the Royal Navy’s Type 42 Batch 1 (Sheffield) class; which would later prove ironic as the two navies’ Type 42s faced each other in 1982, with HMS Sheffield and HMS Coventry being sunk. ARA Hercules was built in the UK, her sister ARA Santisima Trinidad was partially fabricated in Britain but assembled in Argentina. She was originally supposed to be the leadship, but was seriously sabotaged by a terrorist bomb during construction.

The ships have synchronous clutches which self-engage the Olympus GT’s as they are brought online. Several small Paxman Ventura diesels are carried to generate electricity if the gas turbine engines are lost. The funnel has distinctive “dog ears”, contrary to some reports they do not reduce the IR signature (in fact they increase it); instead they serve to flow the Tynes’ waste heat away from the aerials.

After the Falklands War, the ships encountered severe difficulties due to a spares embargo by Britain. The ordered Lynx ASW helos were obviously cancelled by the UK, leaving the ships with just the inadequate Alouettes. In 1984 both ships were put up for sale, although no offer was ever forthcoming. The Sea Dart SAMs are certainly non-operational; the last successful firing was in 1987 and any remaining Sea Darts in Argentina are a quarter-century old by now.

Due to maintenance hardships, both ships stopped participating in regular exercises in 1989. Hercules was put into reserve around 1994, supplying spare parts for Santisima Trinidad which continued on in a reduced operational status as the Argentine flagship. In 2004 the converted (see below) Hercules re-entered service and Santisima Trinidad was placed into reserve. It was hoped to give her a similar conversion but funding has not been available and it is now likely she will be stricken and converted into a museum ship.

Hercules conversion: In 2000, Hercules was reactivated and transferred to the ASMAR Shipyard in Talcahuano, Chile for conversion to a “fast-attack transport“. This entailed replacing the superstructure aft of the mainmast with a large hangar for two Sea King helicopters, extending the flight deck, adding facilities for launching and recovering RHIBs, and deleting some items including the aft Type 909 radar, Exocet missiles, and ASW systems. The Sea Dart launcher was not removed but is inoperable. The ship is now back in operation out of Puerto Belgrano naval base.

ARA Santisima Trinidad was the spearhead of the initial Argentine invasion; landing a shore party of 84 commandos (via 21 RHIBs) at Lake Point; south of the Falklands’ capital, Port Stanley. The landing took place at about 9:30PM on 1 April 1982. At one point during the landing, the destroyer was as close as 500 yards to the shore. The ship then proceeded northwest to the mouth of Mullet Creek, which was obscured by hills from a direct radar line to Port Stanley.

Later in the war, both ships served as the escort for the aircraft carrier ARA Venticinco de Mayo. The closest they came to combat was on 1 May 1982, when Santisima Trinidad locked on to a Royal Navy Sea Harrier, however the Sea Dart launcher failed and the plane escaped unscathed.

Displacement: 3150t standard, 4100t full Dimensions: 412’x47’x19’ Machinery: COGOG: 2 Olympus TM-3B GT’s, 2 Tyne RM-1A GT’s, 2 shafts w/5-bladed CP props Max speed: 30 kts on TM-3B’s/18kts on RM-1A’s Range: 4000NM @ 18kts on RM-1A’s alone Complement: 238

Hercules: x2 SH-2 Sea King

Santisima Trinidad: x1 SA-319B Alouette III

x1 twin GWS.30 Sea Dart SAM launcher (22 missiles total) (inoperable)

x4 MM.38 Exocet (deleted)

x1 Vickers MkVIII 4.5”           10NM AA/surface

x2 Oerlikon MkVII 20mm        1.5NM AA

x6 (2 triple) ILAS 324mm torpedo tubes (deleted from Hercules, inoperable on Santisima Trinidad)

Type 965P/AKE2 (A)             110NM 3D air search (range, altitude, bearing)

Type 909 (X) (FC for Sea Dart, likely inoperable)

Type 992Q (E/F)                     53NM air search / 17NM surface search (range, bearing)

Decca 1229 (I)                         30NM navigation (range, bearing)

Kelvin Hughes 1006 (I) CCA for helicopters (Hercules only)

RDL-257 ESM

Racal RCM-2 jammer (Hercules only)

GI-738 towed torpedo decoy

Corvus chaff launcher (x2)

Type 1010/1011 IFF

ADAWS-4, LINK-10