ARA Patagonia (B-1)

For other ships of the same name, see ARA Patagonia.
ARA Patagonia (ex-Durance (A629)) during UNITAS manoeuvres
History
France
Name: Durance
Namesake: Durance
Builder: Brest Arsenal, Brest
Laid down: 12 December 1973
Launched: 6 September 1975
Commissioned: 1 December 1976
Fate: Sold to Argentina
History
Argentina
Name: Patagonia
Namesake: Patagonia
Acquired: 12 July 1999
Commissioned: 9 July 2000
Status: In active service
General characteristics
Class and type: Durance-class tanker
Displacement:
  • 7,600 tonnes (empty)
  • 17,800 tonnes (full load)
Length: 157.2 m (516 ft)
Beam: 21.2 m (70 ft)
Draught:
  • 8.65 m (28.4 ft) (average)
  • 10.8 m (35 ft) (full load)
Propulsion: 2 × Pielstick 16 PC2-5 V 400 diesel engines, two shafts (14,710 kW)[1]
Speed: 19 knots (35 km/h)
Range: 9,000 nautical miles (17,000 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h)
Boats & landing
craft carried:
Complement:
  • 8 officers
  • 62 non-commissioned officers
  • 89 sailors
Sensors and
processing systems:		 2 DRBN 34 radars
Armament:
Aviation facilities: UH-3H Sea King helicopter picture

The ARA Patagonia (B-1) is a multi-product replenishment oiler of the Durance class in service in the Argentine Navy. She was the lead ship of her class serving in the French Navy as Durance (A629) from 1977 to 1999.

She is capable of supplying other ships with both RAS (Replenishment at Sea) and VERTREP (VERTical REPlenishment) methods.

French Service

Durance was launched on 6 September 1975 at Brest, France as a Pétrolier Revitailleur d´Escadre (PRE) entering service on 12 April 1977. She was decommissioned on 5 December 1997 and sold to the Argentine Navy on 12 July 1999.

Argentine Service

Renamed ARA Patagonia she arrived at Puerto Belgrano on 29 August 1999 where she spent one year in drydock receiving an overhaul of her engines and hull. She was officially commissioned as the B-1 (LPGA) into the Amphibious and Logistic Naval Command (COAL) of the fleet on 9 July 2000 and made her first voyage on the following month.[2]

Since then she has participated in numerous exercises and operations within the fleet and foreign navies including Pre-Unitas, UNITAS picture, Gringo-Gaucho, Atlasur, PASSEX, Gosth, and Fraterno with the United States, Chile, Brazil and Spain among others.

In May 2005 about 30 congressmen from Argentina and Chile celebrated the 20 anniversary of the Peace and Friendship Treaty aboard Patagonia.[3]

On 2010 she served as support/control unit for the tall ships regatta that took part of the Argentina Bicentennial celebrations.[4]

She is annually deployed south during the Antarctic summer campaigns to supply the ARA Almirante Irizar and ARA Puerto Deseado operating from Ushuaia.[5]

References

Portions taken from Spanish Wikipedia

  1. ↑ "Pétrolier ravitailleur Durance : Caractéristiques principales (French)". netmarine.net. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  2. ↑ El nuevo buque de la Armada hizo su primer viaje oficial
  3. ↑ Argentina y Chile recordaron el acuerdo de paz
  4. ↑ Relatos y vivencias de la Regata del Bicentenario
  5. ↑ Ushuaia: zarpó el rompehielos Irízar rumbo a la Antártida

Further reading

External links

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