Sad End to Proud Ship
In signs that old ships never die, they just sink when left unattended at forgotten piers, the laid up Argentine destroyer ARA “Santísima Trinidad is apparently sunk at her moorings.
(ARA “Santísima Trinidad,” (Photo DyN)
The ship was one of the most important vessels in the Argentine navy in 1982 when the Falklands War started. Commissioned just the year before, she carried 92 Buzso Tactico marine commandos and their 21 zodiac rubber raiding boats into Mullet Creek in an attempt to capture the British marines there. By 1989, at just 8 years old, the ship was laid up due to the British embargo on support for her equipment.
Yes, she was British built.
Argentina spent more than $35 million for the Trinidad new, built in Argentina from a British licensed design.
Overall the British built 16 Type 42 Destroyers from 1968-85 including two that went to Argentina as foreign military sales. Two of her sister-ships, the RN flagged HMS Sheffield and HMS Coventry, were lost to Argentine air attacks during the 1982 war. Besides Hercules which is still officially active but in poor condition, her only other active sister is HMS Edinburgh which in 2012 fired the last ever operational Sea Dart missiles after a thirty year career.
It seems that she had suffered flooding that was beyond the capacity of the pumps and the crew were evacuated. The ship took on a 50 degree list and sank at the moorings. Decisions are yet to be made on re-floating the vessel.Santísima Trinidad was in poor condition before she sank; the ship had been cannibalized to keep her sister Hercules operational, as the British refused to sell the Argentines spare parts after the Falklands War.