ARA Santísima Trinidad (“Most Holy Trinity”) is a Type 42 destroyer of the Argentine Navy, the only one of her class built outside Britain. She was built by the Rio Santiago Shipyard , Ensenada, Buenos Aires In 1981 she made her maiden voyage to Britain, where the destroyer carried out her first sea trials, and her crew was trained in the operation and launching of Sea Dart missiles.

She participated in the 1982 Falklands War.

However by 1989 she was repeatedly cannibalized to keep sister destroyer Hercules operational, because of lack of spares, since UK refused to provide them to the Argentine navy. In 2004 it was finally decided she would no longer sail and deterioration became more evident, until she capsized.

The destroyer started to tilt on 23 January 2013, because a “six inches pipe cracked” according to the official report of the time. As a consequence of the massive leakage several compartments of the vessel were flooded and the crew had to abandon ship. The destroyer then completely capsized

From January 2013 to December 2015, the warship was lying on her side, sunk at her moorings in the Argentine naval base of Puerto Belgrano. The vessel has been refloated and it is reported that there are plans to turn the vessel into a museum.

Follow the link for photos of the vessel on her side and after being refloated.

en.mercopress.com/2015/12/23/falklands-war-ara-santisima-…

 

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