ARA Veinticinco de Mayo (C-2)

For other ships with the same name, see ARA Veinticinco de Mayo.

ARA Veinticinco de Mayo was a cruiser which served in the Argentine Navy. The English translation of the name is May 25, which is the date of Argentina's May Revolution in 1810.

History
Argentina
Name	Veinticinco de Mayo
Namesake	May Revolution
Builder	Cantiere navale fratelli Orlando, Livorno
Laid down	29 November 1927
Launched	11 August 1929
Commissioned	11 July 1931
Fate	Scrapped 1960
General characteristics
Class and type	Veinticinco de Mayo-class cruiser
Displacement	6,800t normal; 9,000t full load
Length	560.3 ft (170.8 m)
Beam	58.5 ft (17.8 m)
Draught	15.3 ft (4.7 m)
Installed power	85,000 hp (63,000 kW)
Propulsion	Parsons turbine, 2 screws
Speed	32 knots (59 km/h)
Range	8,000 nautical miles (15,000 km) at 14 knots (26 km/h)
Complement	600
Armament	6 × 190 mm (7.5 inch)/52 caliber guns (3 × 2) 12 × 102 mm (4 inch)/45 caliber DP guns (6 × 2) 6 × Vickers-Terni 40/39 mm AA guns 6 × 533 mm (21-inch) torpedo tubes
Armour	Deck: 1 in (25 mm) Sides: 2.8 in (71 mm) Conning tower: 2.3 in (58 mm) Turrets: 2 in (51 mm)
Aircraft carried	2 × Grumman J2F Duck
Aviation facilities	Catapult launcher

History and design

Veinticinco de Mayo was built in Italy and was the first ship of the Veinticinco de Mayo class of cruisers. Three vessels were to be produced, but in the end, only 25 de Mayo and her sister ship Almirante Brown were acquired, both in 1931.

These ships were unusual in several ways. First, they carried 7.5-inch guns, only the third class of warship to do so (the British Hawkins-class cruisers of World War I being another; a more typical main armament for heavy cruisers is 8-inch guns). Also, like the Italian Zara class and other Italian-built warships of the era they carried their floatplanes under the foredeck and launched them from a fixed catapult over the bows.

See also

• List of cruisers
• List of ships of the Argentine Navy

References

• David Miller, Illustrated Directory of Warships - from 1860 to the present day. (Salamander Books, London, 2001)
• M. J. Whitley, Cruisers of World War II, An International Encyclopedia (1995) Arms and Armour Press

Further reading

• Burzaco, Ricardo. Acorazados y Cruceros de la Armada Argentina. Eugenio B, Buenos Aires, 1997. ISBN 987-96764-0-8 (in Spanish)
• Arguindeguy, Pablo. Apuntes sobre los buques de la Armada Argentina (1810-1970). Comando en Jefe de la Armada, Buenos aires, 1972. ISBN n/d (in Spanish)

See also

• List of ships of the Argentine Navy

External links

• History of argentinian cruisers, at HISTARMAR (in Spanish)