ARA Almirante Brown leads in a formation during a leapfrog exercise
History
Argentina
Name	Almirante Brown
Namesake	Adm William Brown
Builder	Blohm + Voss
Laid down	September 8, 1980
Launched	March 28, 1981
Acquired	February 2, 1983
Commissioned	March 28, 1983
Status	in active service
Notes	Pennant number: D-10
General characteristics
Class and type	Almirante Brown-class destroyer
Displacement	3,360 tons
Length	126 m (413 ft)
Beam	14 m (46 ft)
Draught	5.8 m (19 ft)
Propulsion	COGAG (4 turbines) 36,000 shp (27,000 kW)
Speed	30.5 kn (56.5 km/h)
Range	4,500 mi (7,200 km)
Complement	224
Armament	8 × Aérospatiale MM40 Exocet anti-ship missiles 1 × Selenia/Elsag Albatross octuple launcher with 24 × Aspide surface-to-air missiles 1 × Oto Melara 127 mm dual purpose gun 8 × Breda/Bofors 40 mm/70 anti-aircraft guns (4 × twin) 6 × 324 mm torpedo tubes (2 × triple)
Aircraft carried	1 Aérospatiale AS 555 Fennec helicopter
Aviation facilities	Single hangar

ARA Almirante Brown (pennant number D-10) is the lead ship of the MEKO 360H2 series of four destroyers built for the Argentine Navy. The ship is the ninth ship in the history of the Argentine Navy to be named for Admiral William Brown, the founder and commander of the Argentine Navy during Argentina's war of independence against Spain.

Construction

The keel of Almirante Brown was laid down on September 8, 1980, and she was launched on March 28, 1981. The ship was delivered to the Argentine Navy on February 2, 1983, for her sea trials, following which the ship departed for Argentina, arriving at Puerto Belgrano Naval Base on March 21 and being formally commissioned into the Navy on March 28 of that same year.

Service history

Almirante Brown, together with the corvette ARA Spiro, was ordered to proceed to the Persian Gulf on September 25, 1990, as part of the United Nations-mandated naval blockade on Iraq following its invasion of Kuwait. The ship formed part of the multinational task force and participated on Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, returning to Argentina on April 25, 1991.

On April 16, 1996, Almirante Brown conducted the first trans-horizon launch of an Exocet MM-40 missile in the Argentine Navy.

Her home port is Puerto Belgrano, where the class of four ships form part of the Navy's 2nd Destroyer Division.

References