ARA ''King'' is a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

-era Argentine Navy warship, originally classified as

minelayer A minelayer is any warship, submarine or military aircraft deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for installing control ...

and later as patrol ship. The vessel is named after Juan King, an Argentine naval officer that served in the

Cisplatine War The Cisplatine War (), also known as the Argentine-Brazilian War () or, in Argentine and Uruguayan historiography, as the Brazil War (''Guerra del Brasil''), the War against the Empire of Brazil (''Guerra contra el Imperio del Brasil'') or t ...

. It is the third Argentine naval ship with this name.

Design

''King'' was as part of a program to build four minelayers during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. Two (''Murature'' and ''King'') were completed as patrol boats and the others (''Piedrabuena'' and ''Azopardo'') as antisubmarine frigates.

History

''King'' was launched in 1943 and commissioned in 1946. In 1955, the ship took part of rising against

Juan Domingo Perón ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, ...

's government known as Revolución Libertadora, when she acted as a floating battery defending the rebel naval base at Río Santiago. After the decommissioning of her sister in 2014, ''King'' is the oldest still in service in the Argentine navy. She was overhauled from 2015 to 2018 and was still in service as of 2022. In July 2023, the ship was involved in a collision with a floating bar on the Paraná River and a Naval Prefecture vessel. The damage was reported as minor.

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

Patrol ship ARA “King” - Histarmar website (Historia y Arqueología Marítima – Patrullero ARA King)
(''accessed 2015-12-24'')
Argentine Navy website - Patrulleros Clase "MURATURE"
''(in Spanish - accessed 2013-10-31)'' {{DEFAULTSORT:King Murature-class patrol boats Ships built in Argentina 1943 ships Patrol vessels of Argentina Riverine warfare