Brown-class destroyer

See also: Almirante Brown-class destroyer

The Brown-class destroyer is a class of destroyers of the Argentine Navy. Five ships of the Fletcher class were lent by the United States Navy and were in commission from 1961 until 1982.

ARA Almirante Brown
Class overview
Name	Brown class
Builders	Bath Iron Works Bethlehem Steel Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company
Operators	Argentine Navy
Preceded by	Buenos Aires class
Succeeded by	Seguí class
Subclasses	Almirante Domecq Garcia class
Built	1942-1943
In commission	1961-1982
Planned	5
Completed	5
Retired	5
General characteristics
Type	Destroyer
Displacement	2,050 long tons (2,083 t)
Length	376 ft 6 in (114.76 m)
Beam	39 ft 8 in (12.09 m)
Draft	13 ft 9 in (4.19 m)
Propulsion	60,000 shp (45,000 kW) 2 × propellers
Speed	35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph)
Range	6,500 nmi (12,000 km; 7,500 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement	300
Sensors and processing systems	AN/SPS-6 air-search radar AN/SPS-10 surface-search radar Mark 37 fire-control system
Armament	4 × single 5 in (127 mm)/38 guns 3 × twin 40 mm bofors 1 × quin Mark 15 torpedo tubes 2 Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar 1 × Depth charge tracks

Development

ARA Brown was commissioned as USS Heermann on 6 July 1943, ARA Espora was commissioned as USS Dortch on 7 August 1943, ARA Rosales was commissioned as USS Stembel on 16 July 1943, ARA Almirante Domecq Garcia was commissioned as USS Braine on 11 May 1943 and ARA Almirante Storni was commissioned as USS Cowell on 23 August 1943.^[1][2]

After World War II, they were in a mothball state, but In August 1961, they were handed over to Argentina based on the Argentina-US Ship Loan Agreement. All ships were decommissioned by the time of the Falklands War, to save resources for the war. ARA Almirante Storni fired warning shots and then live shots in the bow of the British oceanic research vessel Shackleton on 2 April 1976.^[3]

Ships in the class

Almirante Brown class
Hull no.	Name	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Acquired	Decommissioned	Fate
D-20	Brown	Bethlehem Steel	8 May 1942	5 December 1942	14 August 1961	1979	Scrapped, 1982
D-21	Espora	Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company	2 March 1943	20 June 1943	16 August 1961	1979	Scrapped, 1979
D-22	Rosales	Bethlehem Steel	21 December 1942	8 May 1943	7 August 1961	1981	Scrapped, 1981
Almirante Domecq Garcia class
D-23	Almirante Domecq Garcia	Bath Iron Works	12 October 1942	7 March 1943	17 August 1971	1982	Sunk as target, 1983
D-24	Almirante Storni	Bethlehem Steel	7 September 1942	18 March 1943	17 August 1971	1981	Scrapped, 1982