ARA Santísima Trinidad (D-2)

History
Argentina
NameSantísima Trinidad
NamesakeAfter a brigantine commanded by Admiral Guillermo Brown in 1815
Ordered18 May 1970
BuilderAFNE Rio Santiago
Laid down11 October 1971
Launched9 November 1974
Commissioned1 July 1981
Out of service1989
HomeportPuerto Belgrano naval base
FateSank in harbour in 2013 due to lack of maintenance, later refloated
General characteristics
Class & typeType 42 destroyer
Displacement4,100 tons
Length125 m (410 ft)
Beam14.6 m (48 ft)
Draught5.2 m (17 ft)
Propulsion
  • COGAG – 2 × RM-1A gas turbines 8,200 shp (6,100 kW); 2 × TM-3B gas turbines 54,400 shp (40,600 kW)
  • 2 shafts
Speed28 knots (52 km/h)
Complement270
Armament
  • 1 × 4.5-inch (114 mm) DP gun;
  • 1 × 2 Sea Dart
  • Capabilities for 4 × MM38 Exocet
  • 2 × 20mm anti-aircraft guns
  • 6 × 12.75-inch (324 mm) torpedo tubes
Aircraft carried1 x Westland Lynx

ARA Santísima Trinidad ("Most Holy Trinity") is a Type 42 destroyer of the Argentine Navy, the only one of her class built outside Britain. She participated in the 1982 Falklands War. In January 2013 the ship capsized and sank at her moorings in the Argentine naval base of Puerto Belgrano due to lack of maintenance, being refloated in December 2015. The navy's plan to turn her into a museum ship was not realised and, in 2020, the Argentine president stated that the ship should be scrapped, though this was later blocked by federal courts.