Mothballed ARA Trinidad Sinks in Harbour

Originally Posted by Pointblank

Symbol of Argentina's navy in decline sinks at moorings - Philly.com



Apparently, a pipe burst on board and flooded the ship. The Navy thinks that lack of maintenance is the cause, but the Defence Minister thinks negligence or even sabotage.

Judging from the fact she's rolled over and the superstructure is also underwater, and the fact that she spent over 2 decades tied up and has been cannibalized for spare parts, she's heading to the scrappers.

No way? That's sad to see. But than again she is quite old.

Originally Posted by Equation

No way? That's sad to see. But than again she is quite old.

What's more shocking is the state of the Argentine Navy being reported; of a total of 70 navy ships, only 16 are in sailing condition and, even then, only barely. The Argentine Navy is in no shape or form for a war, and I can only imagine the condition the ships are in today and the amount of work necessary to bring them back to operational standards.

Originally Posted by Pointblank

The Argentine Navy is in no shape or form for a war

Hasn't been for a long time. That's why all the talk about the Falklands is pure rhetoric designed to distract people from the rubbish economy.

Originally Posted by Equation

No way? That's sad to see. But than again she is quite old.

Not that old. The vessel was commissioned in 1981, which makes her 32 years old.

The Indians operate a carrier that is almost 55 years old.

Numerous countries still operate old 1950s vintage vessels that they have upgraded amd maintained.

As long as you have the money to do the maintenance and upgrades, you can keep such platforms in some form of good condition and even make them a credible threat.

But it is clear that the Argentine Navy is falling into a serious state of disrepair where an internal pipe bursting sank this ship.

That is a very sad end to what at one time was a top rated fighting vessel. And a testament to where the Argentines are right now in terms of their Navy.

This is the same type of destroyer that their own A-4s sank two of in 1982. In fact, at that time, the Santísima Trinidad, was only a year old having been built for the Argentines in 1981.

To this day, one of the class, the last in service, is still operated by Royal Navy as a front line war vessel, D97, HMS Edinburgh. Of course that vessel was built after the War, in 1985, and benefitted from numerous upgrades at the time, and since, to ensure that she was better able to defend against low flying aircraft. In fact, starting in January of this year, the Edinburgh was on duty anchored off Stanley in the Falkland Islands, providing protection to the small community as the result of the Argentine warlike rhetoric once again being bandied about.

All of this just shows that the same vessels, operated by different navies, fair far differently depending on the budgets that allow them to be maintained and upgraded, and the quality of the training for that maintenance and upgrade.

I agree with you! The budget of the armed forces has been slashed to a point where over 70% of the budget goes to personnel (payroll, food, house, retirement, etc..) and the remaining portion of the budget is for maintenance. This is insufficient to even maintain the equipment operation let alone properly maintain all the equipment in inventory. There is also little or no money for training.
The government is made up of resentful anti-military junta types form the 1970’s and their loathing and hated for the armed services is evident in the horrible state of the all the military. This is exemplified in their progresive philosophy of peace by disarmament. They are only interested in advancing their own political future and agenda.

Any nation that will not provide for the defense of its citizenry is criminal.

Additionally the Air Force is still operating the Mirage III and the Mirage V. They have the Cyrano II radar which is about as useful as taping a flashlight to the nosecone. They can launch the obsolete Magic I and that's it. No targeting pods, and only dumb bombs. They are (fucking) flying museum pieces. The only reason they're still in service is because without them, the squadron that flies them would be out of a job and they'd have no reason to keep the few pilots they have and all the support personnel around. They are basically target drones for the Chilean F-16’s

The Fightinghawks (A-4AR)are some of the best fighter-bombers in South America, with a good electronics suite, however they have no smart weapons and a lot of them are mothballed and stored (15 approximately). There's not enough money to operate all the types.

Here's the photograph

Speaking of no money for maintenance. Here is an example of what happens when you don’t have money for parts. The loss of an OA-4AR the pilots ejected safely.

Originally Posted by Miragedriver

Here's the photograph

Whoa...that's really, really sad to see.

...and all because of a busted water main inside the ship? Atrocious.


Sad to see a once fine fighting vessel so ignominously come to an end. But perhaps they will refloat and repair her if they have the funds.

Originally Posted by Jeff Head

Whoa...that's really, really sad to see.

...and all because of a busted water main inside the ship? Atrocious.


Sad to see a once fine fighting vessel so ignominously come to an end. But perhaps they will refloat and repair her if they have the funds.

She's been cannibalized of parts to keep her sister ship operational for over 2 decades. That's generally not a good state to have a warship in, and generally after such a long time, it will cost a lot of money to bring her back to sailing condition. Add the damage from the accident, and she may be assessed and sent to the scrappers or sunk in a SINKEX, like how HMCS Huron was.

She's been cannibalized of parts to keep her sister ship operational for over 2 decades.

The USN has done the same with it's retired carriers and Ticonderoga class cruisers.

Sad to see a ship sunk at its berth...

Originally Posted by Jeff Head

Whoa...that's really, really sad to see.

...and all because of a busted water main inside the ship? Atrocious.


Sad to see a once fine fighting vessel so ignominously come to an end. But perhaps they will refloat and repair her if they have the funds.

That is true, very sad. As mentioned above she has been used for spare parts and was non-operational. She was going to be converted into a Malvinas war museum. Rather ironic that it would sink.

Didn't know Argentina that short of money to maintain a working navy...

What little equipment the military has is meticulously kept (the fly Mirage museum pieces are a perfect example). However there are insufficient funds maintain the equipment which is not needed for everyday patrol and use. Let along any funds to purchase new equipment.
Below is a video produced in 2012 showing the Navy in operation:



Thank God the Navy purchased to Meko Destroyers and Figates!