- ARA Patagonia (B-1)
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ARA Patagonia (ex-Durance (A629) during UNITAS manoeuvresCareer (France) 
Name: Durance (A629) Namesake: Durance Builder: Brest Arsenal, Brest Laid down: 12 December 1973 Launched: 6 September 1975 Commissioned: 1 December 1976 Fate: Sold to Argentina Career (Argentina) 
Name: ARA Patagonia (B1) Namesake: Patagonia Acquired: 12 July 1999 Commissioned: 9 July 2000 Status: In active service General characteristics Class and type: Durance-class tanker Displacement: 7,600 tonnes (empty)
17,800 tonnes (full load)Length: 157.2 m (516 ft) Beam: 21.2 m (70 ft) Draught: 8.65 m (28.4 ft) (average)
10.8 m (35 ft) (full load)Propulsion: 2 × Two Pielstick 16 PC2-5 V 400 diesel engines, two shafts Speed: 19 knots (35 km/h) Range: 9,000 nautical miles (17,000 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h) Boats and landing
craft carried:1 LCVP
1 9-metre boat
2 rigid-hulled inflatable boatsComplement: 8 officers
62 non-commissioned officers
89 sailorsSensors and
processing systems:2 DRBN 34 radars Armament: 2 x Bofors 40 mm guns
4 x 12.7mm M2 Browning machine guns
2 x RBS 70 missile plataformAviation facilities: UH-3H Sea King helicopter picture The ARA Patagonia (B-1) is a multi-product replenishment oiler of the Durance class in service in the Argentine Navy. She was the lead ship of her class serving in the French Navy as Durance (A629) from 1977 to 1999.
She is capable of supplying other ships with both RAS (Replenishment at Sea) and VERTREP (VERTical REPlenishment) methods.
Contents
French Service
Durance was launched on 6 September 1975 at Brest, France as a Pétrolier Revitailleur d´Escadre (PRE) entering service on 12 April 1977. After 559.393 nautical miles (1,035.996 km) with the French Navy she was decommissioned on 5 December 1997 and sold to the Argentine Navy on 12 July 1999.
Argentine Service
Renamed ARA Patagonia she arrived at Puerto Belgrano on 29 August 1999 where she spent one year in drydock receiving an overhaul of her engines and hull. She was officially commissioned as the B-1 (LPGA) into the Amphibious and Logistic Naval Command (COAL) of the fleet on 9 July 2000 and made her first voyage on the following month [1].
Since then she has participated in numerous exercises and operations within the fleet and foreign navies including Pre-Unitas, UNITAS picture, Gringo-Gaucho, Atlasur, PASSEX, Gosth, and Fraterno with the United States, Chile, Brazil and Spain among others.
On May 2005 about 30 congressmen from Argentina and Chile celebrated the 20 anniversary of the Peace and Friendship Treaty aboard Patagonia.[2]
On 2010 she served as support/control unit for the tall ships regatta that took part of the Argentina Bicentennial celebrations.[3]
She is annually deployed south during the Antarctic summer campaigns to supply the ARA Almirante Irizar and ARA Puerto Deseado operating from Ushuaia.[4]
References
Portions taken from Spanish Wikipedia
Further reading
- Guia de los buques de la Armada Argentina 2005-2006. Ignacio Amendolara Bourdette, ISBN 987-43-9400-5, Editor n/a. (Spanish/English text)
External links
Current and future ships of the Argentine Navy (ARA)Major surface combatants Almirante Brown class destroyer (4) · Espora class corvette (6) · Drummond class corvette (3)
Avisos
multi-purpose auxiliary shipsTte Olivieri · Gurruchaga · Castillo · Sobral · POM class (+4)
Ciudad de Zarate · Ciudad de Rosario · Murature class (2) · Baradero class (4) · Intrepida class (2)Support ships Patagonia · Oceanographics/Survey ships
Irizar · Pto. Deseado · Cdo. Rivadavia · Amphibious Force
Submarine Force Type 209 class (1) · TR-1700 class (2)
List of ships of the Argentine Navy · List of auxiliary ships of the Argentine Navy Categories:- Durance class tankers
- Ships built in France
- 1976 ships
- Auxiliary ships of the Argentine Navy
- Active auxiliary ships of Argentina
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