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FIGHTING SHIPS OF THE WORLD
ARGENTINA
CRUISERS
DIEZ Y SIETE DE OCTUBRE (1936-1938/1951)


Photo



General Belgrano 1978 Many thanks to Wolfgang Stöhr for additional information on this page.

Ships


Name No Yard No Builder Laid down Launched Comm Fate
Diecisiete de Octubre (17 de Octubre) (ex-Phoenix), 9.1955- General Belgrano C4 416 New York SB, Camden, USA 15.4.1935 12.3.1938 18.3.1939 // 5.12.1951 sunk 2.5.1982
Nueve de Julio (9 de Julio) (ex-Boise) C5 361 Newport News SB, USA 1.4.1935 3.12.1936 1.2.1939 // 19.12.1951 stricken 10.1977


Technical data


Displacement standard, t

C4: 10800

C5: 10500

Displacement full, t

13645

Length, m

182.9 wl 185.4 oa

Breadth, m

21.0

Draught, m

7.30 max

No of shafts

4

Machinery

4 sets Westinghouse geared steam turbines, 8 Babcock & Wilcox boilers

Power, h. p.

100000

Max speed, kts

30

Fuel, t

oil 2200

Endurance, nm(kts)

7600(15)

Armour, mm

belt: 127 - 83, magazines belts: 51 (fore) - 120 (aft), bulkheads: 127 - 51, deck: 51, barbettes: 152, turrets: 165 - 32, CT: 127 sides, 57 roof

Armament

C4: 5 x 3 - 152/47 Mk 16, 8 x 1 - 127/25 Mk 27, 4 x 4 - 40/60 Mk 2, 6 x 2 - 40/60 Mk 1, 19 x 1 - 20/70 Mk 10, 2 helicopters

C5: 5 x 3 - 152/47 Mk 16, 8 x 1 - 127/25 Mk 27, 4 x 4 - 40/60 Mk 2, 6 x 2 - 40/60 Mk 1, 2 helicopters

Electronic equipment

C4: SK, SG, Mk 3, 2x Mk 4 radars

C5: SK, SG, Mk 13, 2x Mk 28 radars

Complement

868



Standard scale images


<i>General Belgrano </i>1982
General Belgrano 1982
<i>9 de Julio </i>1965
9 de Julio 1965


Graphics


<i>General Belgrano </i> 1978 <i>Many thanks to Wolfgang Stöhr for additional information on this page.</i>
General Belgrano 1978 Many thanks to Wolfgang Stöhr for additional information on this page.


Project history

General Belgrano was purchased by Argentina 12 April 1951, and refitted at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. The superstructure was reduced, bulges were added, the beam was increased and mainmast derricks and catapults were removed. The hangar in General Belgrano's hull could accommodate two helicopters with spare parts; the nearly flat counter and high freeboard aft provided an excellent helicopter platform.

iVitfiv de Juho was launched 3 December 1936, and was commissioned 19 December 1951. In the early 1960s, she, too, was fitted with a Dutch surface search radar. Decommissioned and stripped in 1978, she served as parts reservoir for her sister-ship and was scrapped in 1983.

Ship protection

Main belt abreast machinery was 4.2m high. It was 127mm thick (83mm at lower edge) on 16mm STS plating. There were narrow belts abreast magazines. Fore belt was 51mm thick but aft inner belt had 120mm thickness. Magazines were protected by 93mm bulkheads fore and aft, machinery and magazines were separated by 127-51mm bulkheads. Armoured deck over main belt was 51mm. Barbettes were 152mm thick. Turrets had 165-mm faces, 32-mm sides, 32-mm rears and 51-mm crowns.

Modernizations

early 1960s, both: new sensors consisted of LW-01, DA-01, Mk 33, Mk 34, 2x Mk 57, 2x Mk 63, NA9-D1 radars

1967, General Belgrano: + 2 x 4 Seacat GWS22 SAM (70? Seacat)

Naval service

During the Falklands conflict General Belgrano and two escorting destroyers were stationed to the southwest of the Falklands (Malvinas). She patrolled on a 200-mile line between Burwood Bank, S of the Falklands, and Isla de los Estados, E of Tierra del Fuego. On 2 May at 16.00 hrs local time she was torpedoed at a range of about 1.3km yards by British SSN Conqueror. At the time she was torpedoed, General Belgrano was approximately 220 miles from the Falklands sailing at 10kts toward the mainland. Two Mk8** torpedoes hit, the first under the aft 127mm gun director and the second just forward of A turret. The first hit tore the emergency generators from their foundations. The ship was without power. General Belgrano sank at 16.45 hrs; 321 lives were lost (95% killed by the torpedo hits) with the cruiser and 880 rescued after 24 hours in life rafts.

Many thanks to Wolfgang Stöhr for additional information on this page.