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.
This article describes the composition and actions of the Argentine naval forces in the Falklands War. For a list of naval forces from the United Kingdom, see British naval forces in the Falklands War.
The two Veinticinco de Mayo-class heavy cruisers served in the Argentine Navy through World War II. They were the only post-Washington Naval Treaty heavy cruisers built for a South American navy. Both ships of the class were built in Italy by the OTO company, and commissioned into the Argentine Navy in 1931.
The first European navigator to visit the beaches and cliffs of what one day would become Mar del Plata was Sir Francis Drake in his 1577 circumnavigation voyage. He introduced the name Cape Lobos in the cartography of his time, due to the large colony of sea lions around the cape today known as Cabo Corrientes. Just four years later, the Spanish Governor of the River Plate, Don Juan de Garay explored the area by land, and paid tribute to the beautiful landscape by describing it as a muy galana costa. This is today one of the city's favourite mottos.
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.
ARA Buenos Aires was the lead ship of her class of destroyer built for the Argentine Navy, in service from 1938 to 1971.
ARA Alférez Sobral (A-9) is an 800-ton ocean-going tug that was in service with the Argentine Navy from 1972 until 2019, where she was classified as an aviso. She had previously served in the US Navy as the fleet tug USS Salish (ATA-187). In Argentine service an aviso is a small naval vessel used for a number of auxiliary tasks, including tugging, laying buoys, and replenishing other ships, lighthouses and naval bases.
ARA San Juan (S-42) was a TR-1700-class diesel-electric submarine in service with the Submarine Force of the Argentine Navy from 1985 to 2017. It was built in West Germany, entering service on 19 November 1985, and underwent a mid-life update from 2008 to 2013.
ARA Independencia was a battleship that served in the Argentine Navy between 1893 and 1948, and with the Argentine Coast Guard as a pilot station ship from 1949 to 1968. It was one of nine Argentine naval ships bearing this name.
ARA Azopardo was a steam transport of the Argentine Navy, built in the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino and sold to Argentina in 1884. It was based, among others, in the port of Buenos Aires and later Ushuaia, and was decommissioned in 1922 after being sunk in an accident; it was refloated and sunk in 1924 as a target. The vessel was named after the Juan Bautista Azopardo, a Maltese privateer and officer of the Argentine Navy during the Independence and Cisplatine wars, and was the first Argentine naval ship with this name.
PNA Thompson (GC-26) is a Mantilla-class patrol boat of the Argentine Naval Prefecture, built at the Empresa Nacional Bazán shipyards and commissioned in 1983. The vessel is named after Martín Jacobo Thompson, an Argentine naval officer during the Independence War, and first Harbourmaster of Buenos Aires; she is the first PNA ship with this name.
The Murature-class patrol ships are a class of World War II era Argentine Navy warships, originally classified as minelayers and later reclassified as patrol ships. The class is named after José Luis Murature, Foreign Minister of Argentina from 1916 to 1918.
The Azopardo-class frigates were a class of two post-World War II warships, designed and built in Argentina in 1940-1959, originally as part of a class of four large minelayers. They were in service with the Argentine Navy from the mid-1950s to 1972. The class was named after Juan Bautista Azopardo, an Argentine naval officer in the Independence and Cisplatine wars.
The Santa Fe-class submarines, also known as the Tarantinos after the city in which they were built, were a class of three pre-World War II submarines, designed and built in Italy in 1928-1933, as part of an Argentine expansion plan for its navy. They were in service with the Argentine Navy from the early 1930s to the late 1950s. The class was named after Argentine provinces starting with “S”, as traditional in the Argentine Navy.
ARA Canal Beagle (B-3) is a cargo ship in service with the Argentine Navy since 1978, capable of transporting bulk cargo, live cattle, and containers. She is the second ship in the Argentine Navy to bear the name of the Beagle Channel in the south of Tierra del Fuego.
ARA Luisito (Q-51) is a training ship of the Argentine Navy, in service since 1985 and based in Mar del Plata; where she is used to train students from Argentina’s National Fishing School. The vessel is the first Argentine naval ship with this name.
Argentine Navy 
