El Plata-class monitor

Watercolor of El Plata
Class overview
Name:	El Plata class
Builders:	Thames Iron Works, Blackwall, London
Operators:	Argentine Navy
Preceded by:	None
Succeeded by:	None
Built:	1874–1876
In service:	1875–1927
Completed:	2
Scrapped:	2
General characteristics (as built)
Type:	Monitor
Displacement:	1,535 long tons (1,560 t)
Length:	180 ft (54.9 m) (p/p)
Beam:	44 ft (13.4 m)
Draft:	9 ft 1 in (2.8 m)
Installed power:	750 ihp (560 kW)
Propulsion:	2 shafts, Compound steam engines
Speed:	9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph)
Range:	1,400 nmi (2,600 km; 1,600 mi)
Complement:	120
Armament:	2 × Armstrong 9-inch (229 mm) muzzle-loading rifles 2 × small guns
Armor:	Belt: 4.5–6 in (114–152 mm) Deck: 1 in (25 mm) Gun turret: 8–10 in (203–254 mm)

The El Plata-class monitors were a pair of monitors built in Britain in the 1870s for the Argentine Navy. They served as coastal defence monitors.^[1]

Description

The El Plata-class monitors were 186 feet (56.7 m) long overall, with a beam of 44 feet (13.4 m) and a draft of 9.5–10.5 feet (2.9–3.2 m). They displaced 1,535–1,677 long tons (1,560–1,704 t), and their crew numbered 120 officers and enlisted men.^[2]

The ships had two compound steam engines, each driving one propeller shaft, rated at a total power of 750 indicated horsepower (560 kW). This gave them a maximum speed of 9–9.5 knots (16.7–17.6 km/h; 10.4–10.9 mph). They carried 120 long tons (122 t) of coal which gave them a range of approximately 1,400 nautical miles (2,600 km; 1,600 mi).^[2]

Ships in class

• ARA El Plata
• ARA Los Andes

References

Notes

1. Particulars of the War Ships of the World: (Extracted from Lloyd's Register Book, 1892-93). 10th rev. issue. Lloyd's Register of Shipping. 1892. p. 87.
2. Chesneau & Kolesnik, p. 401; Ironclads Vasco da Gama and Andes, p. 108; Silverstone, p. 11

Bibliography

• Gardiner, Robert, ed. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-133-5.
• Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal, eds. (1984). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1906–1922. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-907-3.
• "Ironclads Vasco da Gama and Andes". Warship International. Toledo, Ohio: Naval Records Club. X (1): 106–08. 1973.

See also

• List of ships of the Argentine Navy

External links

• "MONITOR A.R.A. "EL PLATA"". Histarmar - Historia y Arqueologia Marítima (in Spanish). FUNDACION HISTARMAR. Retrieved 2014-07-03.
• "MONITOR A.R.A. "LOS ANDES"". Histarmar - Historia y Arqueologia Marítima (in Spanish). FUNDACION HISTARMAR. Retrieved 2014-07-03.