The ''Azopardo''-class frigates were a

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

of two post-

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 opposin ...

warships, designed and built in Argentina in 1940-1959, originally as part of a class of four large minelayers (see ''Murature''-class ships). They were in service with the

Argentine Navy The Argentine Navy (ARA; es, Armada de la República Argentina). This forms the basis for the navy's ship prefix "ARA". is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the ...

from the mid-1950s to 1972. The class was named after Juan Bautista Azopardo, an Argentine naval officer in the

Independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

and Cisplatine wars.

Design

The class was as part of a program to build four mine warfare ships 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 opposin ...

, of which two (''Murature'' and ''King'') were completed as patrol ships in the 1940s and the others (''Piedrabuena'' and ''Azopardo'') as antisubmarine frigates in the 1950s. The ''Azopardo'' class frigates had a metal

hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

with a single mast and funnel. They were powered by two

Parsons Parsons may refer to: Places In the United States: * Parsons, Kansas, a city * Parsons, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Parsons, Tennessee, a city * Parsons, West Virginia, a town * Camp Parsons, a Boy Scout camp in the state of Washingto ...

steam turbine A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...

s fed by two

water-tube boiler A high pressure watertube boiler (also spelled water-tube and water tube) is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated externally by the fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which boils water in the steam-gene ...

s, driving two propellers. The

main battery A main battery is the primary weapon or group of weapons around which a warship is designed. As such, a main battery was historically a gun or group of guns, as in the broadsides of cannon on a ship of the line. Later, this came to be turreted ...

was composed of four Bofors DP guns, with a secondary battery of four Bofors Anti-Aircraft guns in single mountings. It also carried four

anti-submarine mortar Anti-submarine mortars are artillery pieces deployed on ships for the purpose of sinking submarines by a direct hit with a small explosive charge. They are often larger versions of the mortar used by infantry and fire a projectile in relatively ...

Service history

The ''Azopardo'' class was designed in the early 1940s; however due to shortages during

the ships were laid down in the early 1950s and completed in 1956-58. They were commissioned by the

in 1956-59 and remained in service until the early 1970s. ''Azopardo'' and ''Piedra Buena'' were incorporated in the High Seas Fleet ( ''Flota de Mar''), and frequently used to patrol the

Argentine Sea The Argentine Sea ( es, Mar Argentino) is a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean adjacent to the southern tip of South America. It ranges from the mouth of the estuary of the Río de la Plata in the north (35th parallel south) to the Isla de los Est ...

and in training exercises, including the multinational “

UNITAS Unitas may refer to: * 306 Unitas, a main belt asteroid * UNITAS, a multi-lateral naval exercise in South and Central America * Unitas Capital, a private equity firm, formerly known as CCMP Capital Asia * '' Humani generis unitas'', a planned en ...

”. Both ships were sold for scrap after being decommissioned in 1972, and were broken up in the 1970s..

Ships in class

Footnotes

References

Notes

Bibliography

* *

External links

Frigate ARA “Azopardo” - Histarmar website (Historia y Arqueología Marítima – Fragata "Azopardo" P-35)
(''accessed 2016-12-25'')

(''accessed 2016-12-25'') {{DEFAULTSORT:Azopardo Frigates of Argentina Ships built in Argentina Frigate classes