ARA Drummond (P-31)

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.

For other ships with the same name, see ARA Drummond.

ARA Drummond
History
South Africa
NameSAS Good Hope
NamesakeCape of Good Hope
OrderedFebruary 1976[1]
BuilderLorient, France
Laid down12 March 1976
Launched5 March 1977
Out of service17 November 1977
FateDelivery blocked by UNSCR 418 during sea trials in France
Argentina
RenamedARA Drummond
NamesakeFrancisco Drummond
Ordered1978
Commissioned9 November 1978
HomeportMar del Plata
StatusIn reserve[2]
General characteristics
Class and typeType A69 Drummond-class corvette
Displacement1,170 tons (1,320 tons full load)[3]
Length80 m (260 ft)[3]
Beam10.3 m (34 ft)[3]
Draught3.55 m (11.6 ft)[3]
Installed power12,000 shp (8.9 MW)[3]
Propulsion2 × SEMT Pielstick 12 PC 2.2 V400 diesels, 2 × CP propellers[3]
Speed23.3 knots (43 km/h)[3]
Range4,500 nautical miles (8,330 km) at 16 knots (30 km/h)[3]
Endurance15 days[3]
Complement5 officers, 79 enlisted, 95 berths[3]
Sensors and
processing systems
  • Thales DRBV 51A air/surface search
  • Thales DRBC-32E fire control
  • Consilium Selesmar NavBat
  • Thales Diodon hull MF sonar[3]
Electronic warfare
& decoys
  • Thales DR 2000 S3
  • Thales Alligator 51 jammer
  • 2 × 18 Corvus decoys[3]
Armament
Aviation facilitiessmall pad for VERTREP

She is currently based at Mar del Plata and conducts fishery patrol duties in the Argentine exclusive economic zone, where she has captured several trawlers in recent years.[4] According to reports in November 2012 the Drummond class "hardly sail because of lack of resources for operational expenses".[5]

Service history

Drummond was built in 1977 in France for the South African Navy to be named SAS Good Hope but was embargoed at the last minute by United Nations Security Council Resolution 418 over apartheid. The vessel was sold to Argentina instead and delivered on 9 November 1978.

She carried the pennant number P-1 until the introduction of the Espora-class corvettes in 1985 when she became P-31.

In 1982 she served with her sister ships in the Falklands War. On 7 October 1983, during a live fire exercise off Mar del Plata, she sunk the old destroyer Almirante Domecq Garcia with a MM38 Exocet missile.[6]

On 1994, from her temporary base at Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, she participated on the blockade of Haiti during Operation Uphold Democracy.[7]

She had also served as support ship of the Buenos Aires-Rio de Janeiro tall ships races.

In 2019, she was reported in reserve and "in the process" of being decommissioned.[8][2]

HMS York incident

On 25 February 2010 the British tabloid The Sun reported that Drummond had been intercepted and shepherded away by the Royal Navy destroyer HMS York in the vicinity of the Falkland Islands. The story was published in the middle of a diplomatic dispute between the United Kingdom and Argentina about oil drilling, escalating the crisis as the "first head-to-head of the Falklands row". The British Ministry of Defence quickly issued a denial. But a spokesman later said the incident had occurred a month earlier, before the oil dispute began; both ships were in the same zone in international waters during rough weather at night, and, after a heated dialogue by radio, and an exchange of naval gunfire, each had continued on its own way. The British maintain that York’s superior gunfire carried the day.[9][10][11][12]

References

Portions based on a translation from Spanish Wikipedia.

  1. "Victor Moukambi dissertation.doc" (PDF). University of Stellenbosch. 13 October 2008. Retrieved 27 February 2009.
  2. "Informe a diputados – Medios insuficientes para las Patrullas de Control de Mar". 3 August 2020.
  3. Wertheim, Eric (2007). The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World: Their Ships, Aircraft, and Systems (15 ed.). Naval Institute Press. p. 9. ISBN 9781591149552.
  4. "Incendian y hunden un pesquero para evitar su captura".
  5. "Argentine navy short on spares and resources for training and maintenance". MercoPress. 22 November 2012. Archived from the original on 28 December 2012.
  6. "Comprehensive Argentinean Navy List 1870 – Now". worldnavalships.com.
  7. "Estudios Interdisciplinarios de América Latina y el Caribe". eial.tau.ac.il.
  8. "Colorida ceremonia por el aniversario de la histórica corbeta Drummond".
  9. "Londres desmiente información sobre la interceptación de un barco argentino". Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
  10. UK MoD: Radio communication in the Falklands Archived 5 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  11. "Reino Unido nega ter interceptado navio argentino nas Malvinas".
  12. "Falklands: UK MOD denies naval incident with Argentine vessel". MercoPress.

Further reading
  • Guia de los buques de la Armada Argentina 2005-2006. Ignacio Amendolara Bourdette, ISBN 987-43-9400-5, Editor n/a. (Spanish/English text)
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