ARA Parker (P-44)

Espora-class corvette ARA Parker (P-44)
History
Argentina
Name:	Parker
Namesake:	Enrique Guillermo Parker
Owner:	Argentine Navy
Builder:	Río Santiago Shipyard
Launched:	30 March 1984
Acquired:	2 April 1990
Commissioned:	17 April 1990
Homeport:	Puerto Belgrano
Status:	Active
General characteristics
Class and type:	MEKO 140A16 Espora-class corvette
Displacement:	1,560 tons (1,790 tons full load)
Length:	91.2 m (299 ft)
Beam:	11.0 m (36.1 ft)
Draught:	3.33 m (10.9 ft) (hull)
Installed power:	22,600 bhp (16.9 MW)
Propulsion:	2 × SEMT Pielstick 16 PC 2-5 V400 diesels, 2 × 5-blade props
Speed:	27 knots (50 km/h)
Range:	4,000 nautical miles (7,410 km) at 18 knots (33 km/h)
Crew:	11 officers, 46 petty officers, 36 enlisted
Sensors and processing systems:	Thales DA-05/2 air/surface search Thales WM-28, LIROD fire control Decca TM 1226 navigation Atlas AQS-1 hull MF sonar
Electronic warfare & decoys:	Decca RDC-2ABC Decca RCM-2 jammer 2 × Matra Dagaie decoys
Armament:	4 × MM38 Exocet anti-ship missiles 1 × 76 mm/62 OTO Melara dual purpose gun 2 × DARDO twin 40 mm AA guns 2 × .50cal machine guns 2 × triple 324 mm ILAS-3 tubes (WASS A-244S torpedoes)
Aircraft carried:	1 × Eurocopter Fennec
Aviation facilities:	Helideck and telescoping hangar

ARA Parker (P-44) is the fourth ship of the MEKO 140A16 Espora class of six corvettes built for the Argentine Navy. The ship is the second ship to bear the name of Captain Enrique Guillermo Parker, who fought in the Argentine Navy as its second-in-command during the Cisplatine War.

The Argentine Navy struggles to meet maintenance and training requirements because of financial problems and import restrictions. The status of Parker is not clear, as of November 2012 she was waiting for spares.

Parker and her sister ships were part of the 1974 Naval Constructions National Plan, an initiative by the Argentine Navy to replace old World War II-vintage ships with more advanced warships. The original plan called for six MEKO 360H2 destroyers, four of them to be built in Argentina, but the plan was later modified to include four MEKO destroyers and six corvettes for anti-surface warfare and patrol operations.

Espora was constructed at the Río Santiago Shipyard of the Astilleros y Fábricas Navales del Estado (State Shipyards and Naval Factories) state corporation. She was launched on 30 March 1984, but flooding on 2 October 1986 delayed completion. In 1988 her pennant number was changed from P-13 to P-44 in line with the rest of the class. She was officially delivered to the Navy on 2 April 1990 and commissioned on 17 April of that year.

Parker is the first ship of the class' second batch, and incorporated a telescopic hangar, allowing the ship to carry a helicopter. The first three ships of the class were fitted with a landing pad but did not have a hangar.

Between 1990 and 2000, Parker was effectively the last ship of her class, as budgetary cuts delayed and almost cancelled the construction of the final two ships, Robinson and Gómez Roca. Following her commissioning Parker participated in several naval exercises and conducted fishery patrol duties in the Argentine exclusive economic zone.