ARA Gómez Roca (P-46)

ARA "Gómez Roca" (P-46) is the sixth and last ship of the MEKO 140A16 Espora series of six corvettes built for the Argentine Navy. The ship is the first ship to bear the name of Lieutenant Commander Sergio Gómez Roca, who commanded the Argentine patrol ship ARA "Alférez Sobral" during the Falklands War and died in combat when the ship was attacked by Royal Navy helicopters. Originally the ship was to have been named "Seaver" after Captain Benjamin Seaver, a US-born naval hero of the independence war.

She was constructed at the Río Santiago Shipyards of the Astilleros y Fábricas Navales del Estado (State Shipyards and Naval Factories) state corporation.

Origin

"Gómez Roca" and her sister ships were part of the 1974 Naval Constructions National Plan, an initiative by the Argentine Navy to replace old World War II-vintage ships with more advanced warships. The original plan called for six MEKO 360H2 destroyers, four of them to be built in Argentina, but the plan was later modified to include four MEKO destroyers and six corvettes for anti-surface warfare and patrol operations.

Construction

"Gómez Roca"'s keel was laid down on June 7th, 1983 and was launched on November 14th, 1984.

Budgetary concerns effectively suspended the construction of the ship for almost a decade, until it was decided to finish her and her sister ship "Robinson". Following the resumption of construction, the ship was delivered to the Navy in 2004 and commissioned in 2005.

Both "Robinson" and "Gómez Roca" benefitted from their construction delay by incorporating more advanced electronics than their four sister ships. As with "Parker" and "Robinson", "Gómez Roca" is fitted with a telescopic hangar.

Service History

Following her commissioning "Gómez Roca" participated in several naval exercises and conducted fishery patrol duties in the Argentine Exclusive Economic Zone.

She is homeported at Puerto Belgrano Naval Base and is part of the Navy's 2nd Corvette Division with her five sister ships.