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![]() Espora-class corvette ARA Spiro (P-43) moored in Puerto Belgrano naval base | |
History | |
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Name | Spiro |
Namesake | Samuel Spiro |
Owner | Argentine Navy |
Builder | Río Santiago Shipyard |
Laid down | 1 April 1982 [1] |
Launched | 24 June 1983 [1] |
Acquired | 24 November 1987 [1] |
Commissioned | 9 May 1988 |
Homeport | Puerto Belgrano [1] |
Status | Active |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | MEKO 140A16 Espora-class corvette |
Displacement | 1,560 tons (1,790 tons full load) [1] |
Length | 91.2 m (299 ft) [1] |
Beam | 11.0 m (36.1 ft) [1] |
Draught | 3.33 m (10.9 ft) [1] (hull) |
Installed power | 22,600 bhp (16.9 MW) [1] |
Propulsion | 2 × SEMT Pielstick 16 PC 2-5 V400 diesels, 2 × 5-blade props [1] |
Speed | 27 knots (50 km/h) [1] |
Range | 4,000 nautical miles (7,410 km) at 18 knots (33 km/h) [1] |
Crew | 11 officers, 46 petty officers, 36 enlisted [1] |
Sensors and processing systems |
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Electronic warfare & decoys |
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Armament |
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Aviation facilities | Helideck for Eurocopter Fennec |
ARA Spiro (P-43) is the third ship of the MEKO 140A16 Esporaclass of six corvettes built for the Argentine Navy. The ship is the second ship to bear the name of the Greek-born Captain Samuel Spiro, who fought during the Argentine War of Independence and blew himself up with his ship rather than surrender to the Spanish forces following the battle of Arroyo de la China, in 1814.
She is homeported at Puerto Belgrano Naval Base and is part of the Navy's 2nd Corvette Division with her five sister ships.
Spiro 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.
Spiro was constructed at the Río Santiago Shipyard of the Astilleros y Fábricas Navales del Estado (State Shipyards and Naval Factories) state corporation. Her keel was laid down on 2 October 1982, and was launched on 24 June 1983. The ship was officially delivered to the Navy on 26 November 1987, and formally commissioned on 9 May 1988.
On 25 September 1990, Spiro and the destroyer Almirante Brown participated as part of a multinational task force in the United Nations-mandated blockade of Iraq following its invasion of Kuwait. She participated in patrol and escort missions as part of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, returning to Argentina on 30 May 1991.
Spiro also participated in several naval exercises and conducted fishery patrol duties in the Argentine exclusive economic zone, capturing three illegal fishing ships between 1991 and 1994.
In August 2012 she ran aground on a sandbank as she left Mar del Plata and lost her sonar. [2] This meant that her sister ARA Espora had to make an unscheduled deployment to replace Spiro on the Atlasur IX exercise off West Africa. Having left port with unresolved problems in her generators, Espora ended up spending 73 days in South Africa after three generators failed completely and Argentina struggled to find the money to repair them. [2]
In 2021, Spiro was reported active and, in September, participated in a sea exercise also involving her sister ships Espora, Robinson and Gómez Roca, along with the destroyer Sarandí. [3]
The Argentine Navy is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the Army and the Air Force.
ARA Almirante Brown is the lead ship of the MEKO 360H2 series of four destroyers built for the Argentine Navy. The ship is the ninth ship in the history of the Argentine Navy to be named for Admiral William Brown, the founder and commander of the Argentine Navy during Argentina's war of independence against Spain.
ARA La Argentina is the second ship of the MEKO 360H2 series of four destroyers built for the Argentine Navy. The ship is the eighth ship in the history of the Argentine Navy to bear the name of the corsair frigate La Argentina which conducted a privateer raid around the world against Spanish trade in 1817.
ARA Heroína is the third ship of the MEKO 360H2 series of four destroyers built for the Argentine Navy. The ship is the third ship in the history of the Argentine Navy to bear the name of the corsair frigate Heroína, which claimed the Falkland Islands for the United Provinces of the River Plate on 6 November 1820.
ARA Sarandí is the fourth and last ship of the MEKO 360H2 series of destroyers built for the Argentine Navy. The ship is also the fourth ship in the Argentine Navy to bear that name. Sarandí is the name of a victory of the Argentine army during the Cisplatine War.
ARA Espora (P-41) is the lead ship of the MEKO 140A16 Espora class of six corvettes built for the Argentine Navy. Commissioned in 1985, she is used for fishery patrol. She is homeported at Puerto Belgrano Naval Base and is part of the Navy's 2nd Corvette Division with her five sister ships.
ARA Rosales (P-42) is the second ship of the MEKO 140A16 Espora class of six corvettes built for the Argentine Navy. The ship is the fourth ship to bear the name of Colonel (Navy) Leonardo Rosales, who fought in the Argentine Navy during Argentina's war of independence and the Cisplatine War.
ARA Parker (P-44) is the fourth ship of the MEKO 140A16 Espora class of six corvettes built for the Argentine Navy. The ship is the second ship to bear the name of Captain Enrique Guillermo Parker, who fought in the Argentine Navy as its second-in-command during the Cisplatine War.
ARA Robinson (P-45) is the fifth ship of the MEKO 140A16 Espora class of six corvettes built for the Argentine Navy. The ship is the second ship to bear the name of British Captain Carlos Robinson, who fought in the Argentine Navy during the Cisplatine War and died commanding a squadron of gunboats during the Battle of La Colonia.
ARA Gómez Roca (P-46) is the sixth and last ship of the MEKO 140A16 Espora class of six corvettes built in Germany 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 Alferez Sobral during the Falklands War and died in action 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 Argentine War of Independence.
The MEKO 140 is a frigate/corvette design by the German Blohm + Voss shipyard as part of the MEKO family of vessels. The MEKO 140 is a development of the Portuguese Navy's João Coutinho-class corvettes designed by the Portuguese naval engineer Rogério de Oliveira in the late 1960s – three ships of which were built Blohm + Voss in 1970, as an outsourcing.
The Espora-class corvettes are six warships of the Argentine Navy built in Argentina to the German MEKO 140A16 design, this in turn being based on the Portuguese João Coutinho-class project. The first entered service in 1985 but accidents and lack of funds meant the last was not completed until 2004. The ships currently form the 2nd Corvette Division of the Argentine Navy and their home port is the Puerto Belgrano Naval Base. Although considered by its designers to be frigates, the Espora-class vessels have been classed in Argentina as corvettes.
The Drummond class are three corvettes designed and built in France based on the A69 D'Estienne d'Orves-class avisos. The ships were commissioned in the Argentine Navy between 1978 and 1982.
The Rio Santiago Shipyard is a shipyard located in the city of Ensenada, Buenos Aires Province at the shores of the Santiago River. Currently owned by the Government of Buenos Aires Province, it has been one of the major active and important shipyards in Latin America. Founded in 1953, it has realized diverse functions in the naval, industrial and railroad sectors. In its golden age the shipyard reached 8,000 workers on double shift. In 2008 relies on 2,700 workers.
The Intrépida class is a class of fast attack craft that was built by Lürssen for the Argentine Navy in the early 1970s. The ships are based on Lürssen's TNC 45 design.
ARA Drummond (P-31) is the lead ship of the Drummond class of three corvettes of the Argentine Navy. She is the second vessel to be named after Scottish-born Navy Sergeant Major Francisco Drummond.
ARA Guerrico (P-32) is a Drummond-class corvette of the Argentine Navy. She is the first vessel to be named after Rear Admiral Martín Guerrico who fought in the 19th century Paraguayan War.
ARA Granville (P-33) is a Drummond-class corvette of the Argentine Navy named after Guillermo Enrique Granville, who fought in the Battle of Juncal against Brazil.
The Sea Fleet Command is one of the commands in the Argentine Navy, headquartered at Puerto Belgrano Naval Base (BNPB).