Lewin of Greenwich Naval History & Forum

Argentine Dreadnought Battleship ARA Rivadavia pictured in Whitney Basin prior to her move into Dry Dock No 4 at New York Navy Yard on August 6th 1913.

A nice aft view of 25 de MAYO nearing the end of her overhaul in Rotterdam, 1979......... DFO

Nice photo of her Dennis. I think at that time she was being fitted with boilers which were removed from HMS Leviathan, which was never commissioned after building, and she was part of the reserve fleet at Portsmouth for many years.

Jim

Despite all the work on her, apparently she was not able to steam fast enough to consistently launch her planes with combat loads. Hence she spent the war dockside with her aircraft deployed from land bases. DFO

Protected Cruiser ARA Buenos Aires pictured at Montevideo in 1916..In February 1893, Armstrong Mitchell & Co Shipyard laid down a Protected Cruiser as Yard No. 612 at it's Elswick, Newcastle-upon-Tyne Shipyard as a stock ship i.e. without an order from a customer. The ship soon found a buyer, with Argentina, involved in a dispute with Chile over the border between the two nations in Patagonia, purchasing the ship on November 27th 1893, and named her Buenos Aires...Buenos Aires was launched on May 10th 1895, and underwent steaming trials on November 2nd 1895, reaching an average speed of 23.202 knots over a period of six hours with natural draught, with gunnery trials following on November 29th that year. She was completed in February 1896, and reaching Argentina on April 29th 1896... After arriving in Argentina, Buenos Aires joined the 1st Division of the fleet. She settled into a routine of naval exercises, interspersed with use as a Survey Ship. In 1906, she returned to the United Kingdom for refurbishment of her armament, while in 1911, again returned to Britain to participate in the Fleet review at Spithead to celebrate the coronation of King George V...Buenos Aires was stricken on May 17th 1932, and sold for scrapping in 1935.

Lead Ship, Dreadnought Battleship ARA Rivadavia pictured fitting out in her thirty sixth month of construction at Fore River Shipbuilding Company Shipyards, Quincy Massachusetts on December 12th 1912...In 1907, the Brazilian government placed an order for two of the powerful new 'Dreadnought' warships as part of a larger naval construction program. Argentina quickly responded, as the Brazilian ships outclassed anything in the Argentine fleet. After an extended bidding process, contracts to design and build Rivadavia and Moreno were given to the American Fore River Shipbuilding Co. During their construction, there were rumors that the ships might be sold to a country engaged in the First World War, but both were commissioned into the Argentine Navy. Rivadavia underwent extensive refits in the United States in 1924 and 1925. She saw no active service during the Second World War, and her last cruise was made in 1946. Stricken from the naval register in 1957, Rivadavia was sold later that year and broken up for scrap starting in 1959.

The MORENO being painted...... Another of two more South American "pre$$tige" ships that never fired a shot in anger for their Navy. DFO

Lead Ship, Dreadnought Battleship ARA Rivadavia pictured in Dry Dock No 4 at New York Navy Yard on August 7th 1913.

Lead Ship, Argentine Dreadnought Battleship Rivadavia pictured as she enters Dry Dock No 4 at Brooklyn Navy Yard on August 6th 1913.

Argentine Torpedo Cruiser ARA Patria pictured c 1895...Patria was ordered from the British shipbuilder Laird Brothers and built at their Birkenhead Shipyard, at a price of £87,000 to replace the Torpedo Boat ARA Rosales , which had sunk at Cabo Polonio in 1892. The funds were raised by public subscription, headed by the newspapers "La Nación" and "La Prensa".
Patria was of similar design to the contemporary Dryad Class Torpedo Gunboats being built for the RN but heavier tonnage and had a flush deck to improve seakeeping. The ship was launched in 1893 and completed in 1894. In November of that year she departs from England, arriving in Argentina the following month. It participated in the naval exercises held in 1895.
In January and February 1902 it participated in the naval exercises as part of the 2nd Sea Division, led by Counter admiral Manuel José García-Mansilla.
Toward the end of her career she served as a Survey Vessel, finally being decommissioned in 1927.