ARA Almirante Brown (pennant number D-10) is the lead ship of the MEKO 360H2

Almirante Brown class destroyer

The Almirante Brown is a class of destroyers commissioned between 1983 and 1984 for the Argentine Navy. As of 2005, ARA Sarandí is the Argentinian fleet flagship.-Specifications:...

 series of four destroyers built for the Argentine Navy

Argentine Navy

The Navy of the Argentine Republic or Armada of the Argentine Republic is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the Army and the Air Force....

. The ship is the ninth ship in the history of the Argentine Navy to be named for Admiral William Brown

William Brown (admiral)

Admiral William Brown was an Irish-born Argentine Admiral. Brown's victories in the Independence War, the Argentina-Brazil War, and the Anglo-French blockade of the Río de la Plata earned the respect and appreciation of the Argentine people, and today he is regarded as one of Argentina's national...

, the founder and commander of the Argentine Navy during Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

's war of independence against Spain.

Origin

Almirante Brown and her sister ships were authorized under the Naval Construction National Plan of 1974, an initiative by the Argentine Navy to replace old World War II-vintage warships which were nearing the end of their operational lives. A contract was signed with the Blohm + Voss

Blohm + Voss

Blohm + Voss , is a German shipbuilding and engineering works. It is a subsidiary of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems; there were plans to sell 80% of Blohm + Voss to Abu Dhabi Mar Group, but talks collapsed in July 2011.-History:It was founded on April 5, 1877, by Hermann Blohm and Ernst Voss as a...

 Shipyards in Hamburg

Hamburg

-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

, West Germany

West Germany

West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....

 for the construction of four MEKO 360H2 destroyers.

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

ARA Spiro (P-43)

ARA Spiro is the third ship of the MEKO 140A16 Espora series of six corvettes built for the Argentine Navy. The ship is the second ship to bear the name of the Greek-born Captain Samuel Spiro, who fought during the Argentine War of Independence and blew himself up with his ship rather than...

, was ordered to proceed to the Persian Gulf

Persian Gulf

The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...

 on September 25, 1990, as part of the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

-mandated naval blockade on Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

 following its invasion of Kuwait

Kuwait

The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...

. 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

Exocet

The Exocet is a French-built anti-ship missile whose various versions can be launched from surface vessels, submarines, helicopters and fixed wing aircraft. Hundreds were fired in combat during the 1980s.-Etymology:...

 MM-40 missile.

She is currently homeported at Puerto Belgrano

Puerto Belgrano

Base Naval Puerto Belgrano is the largest naval base of the Argentine Navy, situated next to Punta Alta, near Bahía Blanca, about south of Buenos Aires...

as part of the Navy's 2nd Destroyer Division, along with her three sister ships.