ARA San Martín


ARA San Martín was one of four armored cruisers purchased by the Argentine Navy from Italy.

Design and description

San Martín had an overall length of, a beam of, and a mean draft of. She displaced at normal load. The ship was powered by two vertical triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one shaft, using steam from eight Scotch marine boilers. The engines were designed for a maximum output of and a speed of. She had a cruising range of at. Her complement consisted of 28 officers and 460 enlisted men.
Her main armament consisted of four 45-caliber Armstrong Whitworth guns, in twin-gun turrets fore and aft of the superstructure. The ten 40-caliber quick-firing guns that comprised her secondary armament were arranged in casemates amidships on the main deck. San Martín also had six QF QF 4.7-inch Gun Mk I–IV| and six QF 6-pounder Hotchkiss guns to defend herself against torpedo boats. She was also equipped with four above-water torpedo tubes, two on each side.
The ship's waterline armor belt had a maximum thickness of amidships and tapered to towards the ends of the ship. Between the main gun barbettes it covered the entire side of the ship up to the level of the upper deck. The barbettes, the conning tower, and gun turrets were also protected by 5.9-inch armor. Her deck armor ranged from thick.

Construction and career

The ship was launched on 25 May 1896 and was stricken from the Navy List on 18 December 1935.

Footnotes