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ARA Rivadavia

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For the survey ship, see ARA Comodoro Rivadavia (Q-11).
ARA Rivadavia
History
 Argentine Navy
NameARA Rivadavia
NamesakeBernardino Rivadavia
BuilderFore River Shipyard[1]
Laid down25 May 1910[1]
Launched26 August 1911[1]
Commissioned27 August 1914
Decommissioned1952
FateSold to Italy for scrapping in 1957, scrapped later
General characteristics
Class and typeRivadavia class battleship
Displacementlist error: <br /> list (help)
27,566 long tons (28,008 t) standard[1]
30,600 long tons (31,100 t) full load[1]
Lengthlist error: <br /> list (help)
184.1 m (604 ft) overall
170 m (560 ft) between perpendiculars
Beam29.1 m (95 ft)[1]
Draught8.53 metres (28.0 ft) max. load
PropulsionCurtis geared turbines; 3 screws,[1] 18 Babcock boilers, 45,000 shp
Speed22.5 knots (41.7 km/h)[1]
Rangelist error: <br /> list (help)
3,950 miles (6,360 km) at 23 knots (43 km/h),
8,500 miles (13,700 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h)
Complement1,215
Armament
  • 12 × 12 inch/50 cal. guns
  • 12 × 6 inch/50 cal. guns
  • 4 × 3 inch AA guns
  • 4 × 3 pdr. guns
  • 6 × machine guns (4 landing)
  • 2 × 21 inch torpedo tubes (submerged)
Armour
  • Belt (amidships): 8–11 inches
  • Belt (bow): 5 inches
  • Belt (stern): 4 inches
  • Side above belt: 8–9 inches
  • Deck (slopes): 3 inches
  • Turrets: 9–12 inches
  • Secondary battery: 6 inches
  • Conning Tower (forward): 12 inches

ARA Rivadavia,[A 1] named after Bernardino Rivadavia, the first Argentinian president,[2][3] was a dreadnought battleship built for the Armada de la República Argentina. She was the lead ship of her class; her sister ship was Moreno. The two ships were ordered by the Argentine Navy due to a growing naval arms race in South America between Chile, Brazil, and Argentina in the first two decades of the 20th century. Rivadavia and Moreno were the first and last battleships built by the Argentine Navy.

The contracts for Rivadavia and her sister were offered to a number of foreign shipyards, including firms in the United Kingdom, Germany, and the United States. The proposals from each company were studied by the Argentine Navy, and aspects from several of them were incorporated into the final design, which was ordered from the Fore River Shipbuilding Corporation in Quincy, Massachusetts. Rivadavia was commissioned on 27 August 1914; as Argentina remained neutral during World War I, the ship saw no combat. She underwent large refits in the United States in 1924–25. Argentina also remained neutral for almost the entirety of World War II; the country declared war on the Axis powers only in March 1945, and in the remaining months of the war, Rivadavia saw no active duty. Stricken in 1957, Rivadavia was sold later that year to be broken up for scrap, which occurred in 1959.

Background

In 1902, territorial disputes between Argentina and Chile over the boundary of Patagonia and control of the Beagle Channel were settled via British mediation. As part of the treaty that ended the dispute, restrictions on the navies of both countries were put in place. The British Royal Navy bought two pre-dreadnought battleships that were being built for Chile, and Argentina sold two of its cruisers to Japan that were under construction in Italy.[4]

After the HMS Dreadnought's commission, Brazil decided in early 1907 to halt the construction of its three now-outmoded pre-dreadnoughts in favor of two or three dreadnoughts.[5][6] These ships, which were designed to carry the heaviest armament in the world at the time,[7] and were described as "the last word in heavy battleship design" by Scientific American,[8] came as an abrupt shock to the Argentine Navy.[5]Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921 commented that they "outclassed the entire Argentinian fleet."[9] Although debates raged in Argentina over whether it would be prudent to counter Brazil's purchase by acquiring dreadnoughts, which would cost upwards of two million pounds sterling, more border disputes with Chile, Uruguay, and Brazil decided the matter.[10]

Service

Laid down on 25 May 1910 with the yard number 187,[1] Rivadavia was launched and christened by the wife of the Argentine Minister to the United States on 26 August 1911,[10] with thousands of people in attendance, including "many high officers in the United States Navy, representatives in the Argentine Navy and the Argentine Legation in Washington."[11] Though she was commissioned into the Armada de la República Argentina on 27 August 1914 at the Charlestown Navy Yard,[2][12][13] the ship was not fully completed until December of that year.[1][10]

On 23 December 1914, Rivadavia left the United States for Argentina. She arrived in its capital, Buenos Aires, on 19 February 1915. Over 47,000 individuals came out to see the new ship over the next three days, including the President of the Republic Victorino de la Plaza. In April 1915, Rivadavia was put into the training division of the Navy; she remained there until 1917, when she was moved into the First Division. In 1917, the ship sailed to Comodoro Rivadavia when communist oil workers went on strike.[12]

Later in 1917, Rivadavia's activities were sharply curtailed due to a fuel shortage. In 1918, she voyaged to the United States with the Argentine Ambassador; he disembarked at Hampton Roads, Virginia. Rivadavia then took on a load of gold bullion and brought it back to Argentina, docking in Puerto Belgrano on 23 September 1918. In December 1920, Rivadavia participated in ceremonies that marked the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the Strait of Magellan. On the 2nd, the ship called on Valparaíso in Chile; 25 days later, she took part in an international naval review. Two years later, Rivadavia, berthed in Puerto Belgrano, was placed into reserve.[12]

In 1923, the Navy decided to send Rivadavia to the United States for a full modernization. It took a year for the ship to leave; she departed on 6 August 1924 and reached Boston on the 30th. The refit took two years; both Rivadavia and her sister were converted to use oil instead of coal as their fuel source, were fitted with a new fire-control system,[14][12] and had "a general machinery overhaul."[2][14]

After returning to Argentina in April 1926, Rivadavia spent the remainder of the year undergoing sea trials and "work-up". The dreadnought joined the Training Division once again in 1927. After Rivadavia made four training cruises, the division was disbanded. As a result, the ship remained docked in Puerto Belgrano for the entire year; it was not until 1929 that she moved again. Although she was active in both 1929 and 1930, Rivadavia was placed in reserve again on 19 December 1930. Activated shortly thereafter in 1931, she was designated as the fleet's flagship for exercises held that year. However, the ship was put into reserve once more in 1932. Activated yet again in January 1933, Rivadavia remained in full commission for most of the rest of the decade as part of the Battleship Division, along with her sister Moreno.[12]

In January 1937, the ship called on Valparaíso and Callao in Peru. In company with Moreno, Rivadavia left Puerto Belgrano on 6 April and set course for Europe. She visited the French port of Brest and was joined by her sister there after Moreno had taken part in the Coronation Review in Spithead. The two ships then put in at the German port of Wilhelmshaven for a goodwill visit. When the two dreadnoughts departed, they split up once more; Rivadavia visited Hamburg and Moreno visited Bremen. They then departed and returned to Argentina, arriving on 29 June.[4][12]

Rivadavia made an official visit to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1939. Argentina remained neutral for the majority of World War II and as a result, Rivadavia "saw no active service".[12] Her next cruise was in 29 October to 22 December 1946, after the close of the war; she called upon three countries in the Caribbean and northern South America, including Trinidad, Venezuela, and Colombia. According to Battleships of World War II, this was "virtually the end of her active career":[12] she was moored in Puerto Belgrano from 1948 on, "gradually reduced into ineffectiveness" from 1951, and was left derelict and unarmed, a source for cannibalized equipment, from 1952. On 18 October 1956, the ship was listed for disposal, and she was stricken from the Navy on 1 February 1957. Three months later on 30 May, Rivadavia was sold to an Italian shipbreaking company for $2,280,000. Less than a year after that, the ship was towed by two tugboats to Savona, Italy; they left on 3 April 1959 and arrived on 23 May.[12] She was thereafter broken up in Genoa.[1]

References

Notes

  1. ^ "ARA" is an acronym for Armada de la República Argentina

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k |register={{{register}}} is not a valid registry name (help)
  2. ^ a b c Jane's Fighting Ships 1938, p. 112.
  3. ^ Whitley (1999), p. 19
  4. ^ a b Hore (2006), p. 91
  5. ^ a b Whitley (1999), p. 24
  6. ^ Paulo de Oliveira Ribeiro (1997). "Os Dreadnoughts Da Marinha Do Brasil: Minas Geraes e São Paulo" (in Portuguese). Poder Naval Online. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
  7. ^ "Germany may buy English warships" (PDF). The New York Times. 1 August 1908. p. C8.
  8. ^ "The Brazilian Battleship "Minas Geraes"". Scientific American. 102. New York: Munn & Co., Inc.: 240–241 19 March 1910. ISSN 0036-8733.
  9. ^ Gardiner and Gray (1984), p. 400
  10. ^ a b c Gardiner and Gray (1984), p. 401
  11. ^ "Launch Rivadavia, Biggest Battleship" (PDF). The New York Times. 27 August 1911. p. 7.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i Whitley (1999), p. 21
  13. ^ "Argentina's Battleship Ready" (PDF). The New York Times. 28 August 1914. p. 7.
  14. ^ a b Gardiner and Gray (1984), p. 402

Bibliography

Further reading

  • Arguindeguy, Pablo (1972). Apuntes sobre los buques de la Armada Argentina (1810–1970). Buenos Aires: Comando en Jefe de la Armada.
  • Burzaco, Ricardo (1997). Acorazados y Cruceros de la Armada Argentina. Buenos Aires. ISBN 987-96764-0-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Hore, Peter (2005). The World Encyclopedia of Battleships. London: Hermes House. ISBN 0-681-06851-5.
  • Hough, Richard (1963). Dreadnought: A History of the Modern Battleship. Cambridge. ISBN 978-0850592023.


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