ARA Rosales (P-42)

Espora-class corvette ARA Rosales (P-42)
History
Argentina
NameRosales
NamesakeLeonardo Rosales
BuilderRío Santiago Shipyard
Laid down1 April 1981
Launched4 March 1983
Acquired14 November 1986
Commissioned24 March 1987
HomeportPuerto Belgrano
StatusActive
General characteristics
Class & typeMEKO 140A16 Espora-class corvette
Displacement1,560 tons (1,790 tons full load)
Length91.2 m (299 ft 3 in)
Beam11.0 m (36 ft 1 in)
Draught3.33 m (10 ft 11 in) (hull)
Installed power22,600 bhp (16.9 MW)
Propulsion2 × SEMT Pielstick 16 PC 2-5 V400 diesels, 2 × 5-blade props
Speed27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph)
Range4,000 nmi (7,400 km; 4,600 mi) at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Complement11 officers, 46 petty officers, 36 enlisted
Sensors &
processing systems
  • Thales DA-05/2 air/surface search
  • Thales WM-28, LIROD fire control
  • Decca TM 1226 navigation
  • Atlas AQS-1 hull MF sonar
Electronic warfare
& decoys
  • Decca RDC-2ABC
  • Decca RCM-2 jammer
  • 2 × Matra Dagaie decoys
Armament
Aviation facilitiesHelideck for Eurocopter Fennec

ARA Rosales (P-42) is the second ship of the MEKO 140A16 Espora class of six corvettes built for the Argentine Navy. The ship is the fourth ship to bear the name of Colonel (Navy) Leonardo Rosales, who fought in the Argentine Navy during Argentina's war of independence and the Cisplatine War.

The Argentine Navy struggles to meet maintenance and training requirements because of financial problems and import restrictions. The availability of spare parts was a problem as of 2012 and by 2019 she was reported in reserve and to be scrapped. However, in 2021 she underwent repair work at the Tandanor shipyard and returned to service in 2022.