ARA Moreno

ARA Moreno
History
Argentina
Name:	Moreno
Namesake:	Mariano Moreno
Builder:	New York Shipbuilding Camden, New Jersey
Laid down:	9 July 1910
Launched:	23 September 1911
Commissioned:	26 February 1915
Decommissioned:	1949
Fate:	Scrapped in Japan
General characteristics
Class and type:	Rivadavia-class battleship
Displacement:	27,500 long tons (27,900 t) standard, 30,100 long tons (30,600 t) full load
Length:	594 ft 9 in (181.28 m) oa, 585 ft (178 m) pp
Beam:	98 ft 4.5 in (29.985 m)
Draft:	27 ft 8.5 in (8.446 m)
Propulsion:	3-shaft, Curtis geared turbines, 18 Babcock & Wilcox boilers; 40,000 shp (29,828 kW)
Speed:	22.5 knots (25.9 mph; 41.7 km/h)
Range:	7,000 nautical miles (8,100 mi; 13,000 km) at 15 knots (17 mph; 28 km/h) 11,000 nautical miles (13,000 mi; 20,000 km) at 11 knots (13 mph; 20 km/h)
Armament:	12 × 12-inch (305 mm) guns 12 × 6-inch (152 mm) guns 16 × 4-inch (102 mm) guns 2 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes
Armor:	Belt: 12–10 inches (300–250 mm) Turrets: 12 inches (305 mm) Casemates: 91/3–61/5 inches (238–159 mm) Conning tower: 12 inches (300 mm)

ARA Moreno was a dreadnought battleship designed by the American Fore River Shipbuilding Company for the Argentine Navy (Armada de la República Argentina). Named after Mariano Moreno, a key member of the first independent government of Argentina, the First Assembly (Primera Junta), Moreno was the second dreadnought of the Rivadavia class, and the fourth built during the South American dreadnought race.

Argentina placed orders for Moreno and its only sister ship, Rivadavia, in reply to a Brazilian naval building program. During their construction, the two dreadnoughts were subject to numerous rumors involving Argentina selling the two battleships to a country engaged in the First World War, but these proved to be false. After Moreno was completed in March 1915, a series of engine problems occurred during the sea trials which delayed its delivery to Argentina to May 1915. The next decade saw the ship based in Puerto Belgrano as part of the Argentine Navy's First Division before sailing to the United States for an extensive refit in 1924 and 1925. During the 1930s the ship was occupied with diplomatic cruises to Brazil, Uruguay, and Europe until the Second World War broke out. During this time, Moreno was employed little as Argentina was neutral. Decommissioned in 1949, Moreno was scrapped in Japan beginning in 1957.

Moreno's genesis can be traced to the numerous naval arms races between Chile and Argentina, which in turn were spawned by territorial disputes over their mutual borders in Patagonia and Puna de Atacama along with control of the Beagle Channel. Naval races flared up in the 1890s and in 1902; the latter was eventually settled via British mediation. Provisions in the dispute-ending treaty imposed restrictions on both countries' navies. The United Kingdom's Royal Navy bought the two Constitución-class pre-dreadnought battleships that were being built for Chile, and Argentina sold its two Rivadavia-class armored cruisers under construction in Italy to Japan.

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Wikipedia