Contents

ARA Guerrico

ARA Guerrico in 2005 at Mar del Plata naval base
History
South Africa
Ordered	February 1976[1]
Builder	Lorient, France
Laid down	1 October 1976
Launched	13 September 1977
Christened	SAS Transvaal
Out of service	17 November 1977
Fate	Delivery blocked by UNSCR 418 during sea trials in France
Argentina
Renamed	ARA Guerrico
Namesake	Rear Admiral Martín Guerrico
Ordered	1978
Commissioned	1978
In service	9 November 1978
Homeport	Mar del Plata
Status	In reserve[2]
General characteristics
Class and type	Type A69 Drummond-class corvette
Displacement	1,170 tons (1,320 tons full load)[3]
Length	80 m (260 ft)[3]
Beam	10.3 m (34 ft)[3]
Draught	3.55 m (11.6 ft)[3]
Installed power	12,000 shp (8.9 MW)[3]
Propulsion	2 × SEMT Pielstick 12 PC 2.2 V400 diesels, 2 × CP propellers[3]
Speed	23.3 knots (43 km/h)[3]
Range	4,500 nautical miles (8,330 km) at 16 knots (30 km/h)[3]
Endurance	15 days[3]
Complement	5 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
Armament	4 × MM38 Exocet anti-ship missiles 1 × 100 mm/55 Mod.1968 dual purpose gun 1 × twin Bofors 40 mm L/70 AA guns 2 × 20 mmOerlikon AA guns 2 × .50cal Colt M2 machine guns 2 × triple 324 mm ILAS-3 tubes (WASS A-244S torpedoes)[3]
Aviation facilities	small pad for VERTREP

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.

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][5] According to reports in November 2012 the Drummond class "hardly sail because of lack of resources for operational expenses".^[6] As of 2020, she was reported in reserve.^[2]

Guerrico was built in 1977 in France for the South African Navy to be named SAS Transvaal but was embargoed at the last minute by United Nations Security Council Resolution 418. She was sold to Argentina instead and delivered on 9 November 1978. She was rushed into service and deployed a month later for the Operation Soberanía against Chile.

In 1982 she served in the Falklands War most notably in the Invasion of South Georgia where she was damaged by Royal Marines weapon fire which led to her spending three days in dry dock for repairs^[7] before rejoining the fleet as part of Task Group 79.4, alongside her sister ships operating to the north of the islands.^[8] She carried the P-2 pennant number until the introduction of the Espora-class corvettes in 1985 when she became P-32.

In 1994, Guerrico and her sisters participated in Operation Uphold Democracy, the United Nations blockade of Haiti. During this time, she was based at Roosevelt Roads Naval StationinPuerto Rico.^[9]

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

As of 2023, discussions were underway to donate the corvette to the city of Santa Fe as a museum ship.^[10]

Portions based on a translation from Spanish Wikipedia.

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

• Argentine Navy official site, specifications and brief history Archived 6 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine (in Spanish)