ARA Sarandí (D-13)

ARA "Sarandí" (pennant number D-13) is the third and last ship of the MEKO 360H2 series of four destroyers built for the Argentine Navy. The ship is the fourth ship in the history of the Argentine Navy to bear the name of the schooner "Sarandí", which was a famous ship of the Argentine Navy during the Argentina-Brazil War between 1825 and 1828. The original "Sarandí" was itself named after a major victory of the Argentine Army during that same conflict.

Origin

"Sarandí" and her sister ships were authorized under the Naval Construction National Plan of 1974, an initiative by the Argentine Navy to replace old World War II-vintage warships which were nearing the end of their operational lives. A contract was signed with the Blohm + Voss Shipyards in Hamburg, West Germany for the construction of four MEKO 360H2 destroyers.

Construction

"Sarandí"'s keel was laid down on March 9, 1982 and was launched on August 31 of that same year. The ship was delivered to the Argentine Navy on April 23, 1984 for her sea trials, following which the ship departed for Argentina, arriving at Puerto Belgrano Naval Base on June 21 of that same year.

Service History

On 2003 "Sarandi" joined the USS|Enterprise|CVN-65 Carrier Strike Group and Destroyer Squadron 18 as a part of Exercise Solid Step during their tour in the Mediterranean Sea. This marked the first time that a ship of the Argentine Navy interoperated with an United States Navy battlegroup.

"Sarandí" was involved in an unfortunate incident on November 29th, 2004, during the annual FRATERNO naval exercise with ships of the Brazilian Navy. While conducting gunnery practice shots against target drones, she fired by mistake on the Brazilian frigate "Rademaker", injuring four Brazilian crewmen and an Argentine naval observer and causing moderate damage to the Brazilian ship.

She is currently homeported at Puerto Belgrano as the flagship of the Navy's 2nd Destroyer Division, along with her three sister ships.