ARA Independencia (V-1)

ARA Independent History (V-1)

The South American nation of Argentina has always sought to maintain a capable military. When the Royal Navy decided to retire its Colossus-class light aircraft carrier HMS Warrior (R31) (temporarily leased to the Canadian Navy from 1946 to 1948), Argentina offered to buy the outgoing ship. In the summer of 1958, the Argentine Navy officially awarded it to ARA Independencia (V-1) ("Independence"). In June 1959, the ship sailed under the Argentine flag.

When owned by Argentina, the initial defensive armament has been modified to include 12 x 40mm anti-aircraft gun emplacements (originally armed with 6 x QF 2-pounders and 32 x 20mm anti-aircraft guns). At the end of her life, Independence's defensive armament was further reduced to a mere 8 x 40mm cannon system.

The British-built Warrior had a displacement of 18,300 tons and could travel at 25 knots under ideal conditions. Propulsion is provided by four boilers connected to a pair of twin-screw steam turbines, driving both shafts with 40,000 shaft horsepower.

The range is approximately 12,000 nautical miles. Dimensions include a barrel length of 695 feet, a beam of 80 feet and a draft of 23 feet. Externally, the Warrior displays the most traditional form of a modern aircraft carrier. The flight deck is in-line, with the island superstructure offset to starboard.

The hangar elevator manages the aircraft to and from the flight deck and the hangar deck below. The aircraft carrier includes crew quarters, canteens, machinery, maintenance, security, ammunition storage and other facilities.

The ship has a crew of 1,075, although the carrier can manage a full stable of around 1,300 people.

The Valiant remained largely unchanged after being taken over by the Argentine Navy.

Throughout its career, Independence deployed a small number of fixed-wing aircraft, although it proved unable to launch early turbojet fighters purchased from the United States (Grumman F9F Panther and Cougar). As such, it is limited to launch and recovery types such as the Vought F4U Corsair carrier-based fighter, the Texas North American T-6 (SNJ-5C) trainer, and the Grumman S2F-1 Tracker anti-submarine aircraft.

However, the Independence served as a transport ship when the F9F Panther departed from the United States for Argentina, although these operated from land bases throughout their career.

Independencia had a relatively short lifespan in the Argentine Navy - serving on the front lines from 1959 to 1969, while the newer ARA Veinticinco de Mayo (V-2) ("May 25") entered service on March 3, 1969 month to start service. As a result, Independence went into reserve for a short time before being dismantled and sold for scrap in 1971 - so (unlike Veinticinco de Mayo) she did not take part in the 1982 Falklands War against Britain.

Veinticinco de Mayo is another former Royal Navy aircraft carrier (HMS Venerable R63) that served for some time in the Dutch Navy before arriving in Argentina.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Weight

Performance

Performance

Armor

Wing