Seguí-class destroyer

The Seguí-class destroyer is a class of destroyers of the Argentine Navy. Five ships of the Allen M. Sumner class were lent by the United States Navy and were in commission from 1972 until 1984.

ARA Piedra Buena
Class overview
Name	Seguí class
Builders	Bath Iron Works Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company
Operators	Argentine Navy
Preceded by	Brown class
Succeeded by	Py class
Built	1942-1943
In commission	1961-1982
Planned	3
Completed	3
Retired	4
General characteristics
Type	Destroyer
Length	376 ft 6 in (114.76 m)
Beam	40 ft (12 m)
Draft	15 ft 8 in (4.78 m)
Propulsion	60,000 shp (45,000 kW) 2 shafts
Speed	34 kn (63 km/h; 39 mph)
Range	6,500 nmi (12,000 km; 7,500 mi) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement	331 (Seguí) 291 (Bouchard and Piedra Buena)
Sensors and processing systems	1 × AN/SPS-6 air-search radar 1 × AN/SPS-10 surface-search radar 1 × AN/SQS-30 sonar 1 × Mark 25 Director
Armament	Seguí: 3 × twin 5"/38 cal guns 2 × twin 3"/50 cal guns 2 × triple Mark 46 torpedo tubes (later removed) 2 × Mark 10 Hedgehog mortars 1 × depth charge track 6 × MM38 Exocet SSM missiles (1977) Bouchard and Piedra Buena: 2 × twin 5"/38 cal guns 2 × triple Mark 46 torpedo tubes (later removed) 3 × twin 3"/50 cal guns 2 × Mark 10 Hedgehog mortars 6 × MM38 Exocet SSM missiles (1978)
Aircraft carried	1 × Aérospatiale Alouette III
Aviation facilities	Single hangar and helipad (Bouchard and Piedra Buena)

Development

ARA Seguí was commissioned as USS Hank on 28 August 1944, ARA Hipólito Bouchard was commissioned as USS Borie on 21 September 1944 and ARA Piedra Buena was commissioned as USS Collett on 16 May 1944.^[1][2]

Seguí was the only one still in her Korean War configuration meanwhile, Bouchard and Piedra had FRAM configurations.

After World War II, they were in a mothball state, but on 1 July 1972 and 5 May 1977, they were handed over to Argentina based on the Argentina-US Ship Loan Agreement. All ships took on minor roles during the Falklands War. Bouchard and Piedra escorted the Belgrano in 1982 and were caught off guard by the submarine attack. They were dispatched to hunt for HMS Conqueror and made ASW grenade passes, but no contacts were made. Bouchard took a torpedo hit, the third Mk 8 torpedo launched on the Belgrano, but it failed to detonate.^[3]

USS Mansfield was also bought by the Argentina, but was never commissioned and used as spare parts for their current ships during that time.

Ships in the class

Seguí class
Hull no.	Name	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Acquired	Decommissioned	Fate
D-25	Seguí	Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company	17 January 1944	21 May 1944	1 July 1972	1983	Scrapped, 1983
D-26	Hipólito Bouchard		29 February 1944	4 July 1944	1 July 1972	1984	Scrapped, 1984
D-29	Piedra Buena	Bath Iron Works	11 October 1943	5 March 1944	17 May 1977	18 February 1985	Sunk as target, 1988

References

1. Gardiner, Chumbley & Budzbon 1995, p. 7.
2. DANFS. sfn error: no target: CITEREFDANFS (help)
3. encyclopedia, david bocquelet-Naval. "The Argentinian Navy in the cold war (Armada de Argentina)". naval-encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2022-01-28.

Bibliography

• Gardiner, Robert; Chumbley, Stephen; Budzbon, Przemysław (1995). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947-1995. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-132-7. OCLC 34267261.