ARA Sarandí (D-13)

ARA Sarandí (pennant number D-13) is the fourth and last ship of the MEKO 360H2 series of four destroyers built for the Argentine Navy. The ship is the fourth ship in the history of the Argentine Navy to bear the name of the schooner Sarandí, which was a famous ship of the Argentine Navy during the Cisplatine War between 1825 and 1828. The original Sarandí was itself named after a major victory of the Argentine Army during that same conflict.

The Argentine Navy struggles to meet maintenance and training requirements because of financial problems and import restrictions. The Almirante Brown class are reported to be short of spares and suffering engine problems, plus all their ordnance is past its expiry date.

Origin
Sarandí 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 Shipyards in Hamburg, West Germany for the construction of four MEKO 360H2 destroyers.

Construction
Sarandí's keel was laid down on March 9, 1982 and was launched on August 31 of that same year. The ship was delivered to the Argentine Navy on April 23, 1984 for her sea trials, following which the ship departed for Argentina, arriving at Puerto Belgrano Naval Base on June 21 of that same year.

Service history
On 2003 Sarandi joined the USS Enterprise (CVN-65) Carrier Strike Group and Destroyer Squadron 18 as a part of Exercise Solid Step during their tour in the Mediterranean. This marked the first time that a ship of the Argentine Navy inter-operated with an United States Navy battlegroup.

Sarandí was involved in an unfortunate incident on 29 November 2004, during the annual FRATERNO naval exercise with ships of the Brazilian Navy. While conducting gunnery practice shots against target drones, a technical failure of her automatic weapons system made she fire on the Brazilian frigate Rademaker, causing injuries to four Brazilian crewmen and an Argentine naval observer, as well as moderate damage to the Brazilian ship.

She is currently homeported at Puerto Belgrano as the flagship of the Navy's 2nd Destroyer Division, along with her three sister ships.