The Brown's Robust Boy Is a Man Today

Gone were the days when riverine units, with heterogeneous crews, set out to sea to assert sovereignty in Santa Cruz.

As can be seen from the tables accompanying this work, the ARA not only ceased to be a riverine force in the 1880s, but also, following the motto "let us be strong and we will be respected," the national authorities, supported by public opinion, at a level of consensus rarely equaled in our history, had drawn up plans to obtain not only parity, but naval supremacy in South America.

It should be noted that with the acquisition of the transports, the ARA Guardia Nacional (6,700 tons), the ARA Chaco and the ARA Pampa (8,700 tons), the ARA has an effective transport squadron, since these ships, together, can carry a load of 15,000 tons and supplies. The incorporation of the four "Garibaldi" type armored cruisers was an unbalancing factor that totally altered the balance of power in favor of Argentina. These ships, well protected, armed and fast, were the most modern, most powerful and most homogeneous group of warships in the Southern Cone. The Jane's Fighting Ships yearbook for 1936 observes in this regard: these ships constitute the best class of armored cruisers ever designed. The four "Garibaldis": together with the cruiser ARA Buenos Aires, destroyers, auxiliary ships, make up the Bahía Blanca Division, while the cruisers ARA 9 de Julio, ARA 25 de Mayo and ARA Patria and auxiliaries make up the Río de la Plata Division. On January 8, the Bahía Blanca Division sets sail on a series of exercises through the southern ports that will take it to the Beagle Channel. These exercises will last for 80 days. On January 18, in turn, The Río de la Plata Division sets sail on a journey that will take it to Cape Horn, which will last 62 days. The crews carry out exhaustive artillery, torpedo and landing practices without the slightest incident or accident. As an article in the Bulletin of the Naval Center proclaims in those days, it was evident that "the robust child of Brown is a man today" (3 )

Despite the meeting between the presidents of Argentina and Chile known as "The Embrace of the Strait", tensions, far from decreasing, increased.

As we have seen, with the acquisition of a cruiser (the Chacabuco) and six destroyers by Chile, Argentina responded with the purchase of the ARA Moreno and ARA Rivadavia. Chile, in turn, used funds reserved for the sewerage of Santiago and ordered two battleships of 11,800 tons. Day after day, the Argentine authorities received coded telegrams from the military and naval commissions in Europe detailing the urgent purchases of ammunition and all kinds of items by the Chilean authorities. The Argentine commissions, of course, also had no rest, ensuring the provision of grenades of all calibers in large quantities, replacement fuel stocks and the thousand and one indispensable items. The response to the two new Chilean battleships would not take long to arrive: two 14,800-caliber battleships that would be built by the Ansaldo Company, in a construction period similar to that of the new Chilean ships. These ships, which would be called ARA Chacabuco and ARA Maipú.

In addition, the ARA signed a contract with the Pattison Company, of Naples, for six destroyers of the "Nembo" class that were under construction for the Royal Italian Navy, and whose first units had already been launched in October 1899.

With the consent of his country's government, a well-known Chilean financier contacted the British minister in Santiago, as the arms race threatened to ruin both countries. An Argentine industrialist and financier, in turn, initiated contacts with the British minister in Buenos Aires. The British minister in Santiago in turn contacted London and the British minister in Buenos Aires, and an agreement was reached by this means. Chile agreed to part with its two ships under construction if Argentina in turn agreed to do the same with the four ships ordered.

The "Constitución" and "Libertad" were acquired by England to prevent these ships from falling into the hands of the Tsarist Russian navy, as this country was on the verge of war with Japan, a country with which England had established an undeclared alliance, and a country whose fleet had been built almost entirely in English shipyards, and was governed by British patterns. The ARA Moreno and ARA Rivadavia were sold to Japan while they were still under construction. In that country they were designated Nishin and Kasuga. When the anticipated war between Japan and Russia broke out, these ships distinguished themselves during the bombardment and siege of Porth Arthur and the naval battle of Tsu-Shima.

The ARA Chacabuco and ARA San Martín were never built. The peace agreements made them unnecessary. According to oral sources, the abundant materials collected for these units were used for the construction of some of the four battleships of the "Roma" class, for the Italian Navy, since they were ships with practically the same characteristics and armament.

The ARA also cancelled the contract for the six "Nembo" class destroyers, whose construction, since the danger of war had disappeared, was carried out at a slower pace by the Pattison shipyard and they were incorporated into the Italian Navy, where they were designated Aquilone, Borea, Espero Nembo, Turbine, and Zeffiro.

Nembo class destroyers
Displacement: 450 tons
Length: 70 m
Beam: 7 m
Draft: 1.90 m
Armament: 5 x 102 mm
4 torpedo tubes
Engine: 5200-5350 HP
Maximum speed: 30-30 1/2 knots
Crew: 65 men

Photos:

1) Armored cruiser ARA "Moreno" during trials under the national flag. 1903-?

2) ARA Entre Ríos class destroyers- (photos Ingo Würster collection)

ARA Moreno, ARA Rivadavia
Builder: Ansaldo, Genova (Italy)
Launched: May, 1902
Completed: January, 1904
Displacement: 7,750 tons. (9,800 complete)
Dimensions:
Length: 105.15 m
Beam: 18.7 m
Draft: 7.90 m

Armament: (Armstrong)
-4 x 203 mm L.45 (Rivadavia" 2 x 254 L.45)
-14 x 152 mmL.45
-10 x 76mm L.40
- 6 x 47 mm
- 8 Maxim machine guns cal 7.65mm
Torpedo tubes: 4x406mm
Armor:
-Belt: 152 mm
-Deck: 38 mm
-Turns: 140 mm
-Battery: 152 mm
Engine: 2 pairs of 3 cylinders, triple expansion: 13,500 HP
Speed: 20 knots (21 during tests)
Fuel: (coal) normal 650 tons, Maximum: 1100 tons
Crew: 525 -575 men.

Referencia
Jane, Frederick, Fighting Ships (Sampson, Low , Marston and Co, London, 1914) pag. 231