At one point in relatively recent history, the Argentine Navy fielded no fewer than two aircraft carriers. Its first became ARA Independencia (V-1), a former British vessel (HMS Warrior) which then served under the same name for the Canadian Navy. In 1958, this ship was procured by the Argentine government to which ARA Veinticinco de Mayo (V-2) followed as its second carrier. ARA Veinticinco de Mayo began life as the HMS Venerable (R63) in 1944 for the British and then was sold to the Dutch as the HNLMS Karel Doorman (R81) in 1948. In 1968, the vessel was obtained by the Argentine Navy who commissioned the vessel on March 12th, 1969. ARA Veinticinco de Mayo (V-2) carried the name of the Argentine "May Revolution" of 1810.
With the arrival of ARA Veinticinco de Mayo, ARA Independencia was replaced and decommissioned in 1970, leaving Argentina with a single operating carrier. She was assigned the homeport of Puerto Belgrano Naval Base located south of the capital city of Buenos Aires. As commissioned, the vessel displaced at 20,000 tons, featured a length of 630 feet, a beam measuring 80 feet and a draught of 24.5 feet. Her propulsion system included four boilers feeding steam turbines which drove a pair of shafts. Maximum speed was 24 knots. Her full crew complement numbered 1,300 men and defense was provided by twelve 40mm anti-aircraft guns. Her typical air arm numbered approximately twenty to twenty-four aircraft.
Veinticinco de Mayo's first call to action was to have been the Argentine invasion of Chilean territory during Operation Soberania (1978). While the operation was enacted, it was stopped a mere few hours after it had begun. It was not until the Falklands War of 1982 that the importance of Veinticinco de Mayo to the Argentine Navy was brought into play against opposing British forces. As it stood, ARA Veinticinco de Mayo stood with the light cruiser ARA General Belgrano were used in support of the initial landings. Their value was such that both vessels were specifically targeted by the British and this eventually led to the sinking of the Belgrano by the British (HMS Conqueror). The loss of the grand ship forced the Argentines to reel in their prized aircraft carrier for fear of another irreplaceable loss. This then resulted in her air wing operating from land bases for the duration of the conflict - which ended with a British victory.
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✓Flag Ship / Capital Ship
Serving in the fleet Flag Ship role or Capital Ship in older warship designs / terminology.
Length
630.0 ft 192.02 m
Beam
80.0 ft 24.38 m
Draught
24.4 ft 7.44 m
Displacement
19,900 tons
Installed Power:
4 x Boilers with 2 x Steam turbines developing 40,000 horsepower and driving 2 x shafts.
Surface Speed
24.0 kts (27.6 mph)
Range
11,731 nm (13,500 mi | 21,726 km)
kts = knots | mph = miles-per-hour | nm = nautical miles | mi = miles | km = kilometers
1 kts = 1.15 mph | 1 nm = 1.15 mi | 1 nm = 1.85 km
12 x 40mm anti-aircraft cannons
Supported Types
(Not all weapon types may be represented in the showcase above)
Up to 24 aircraft of various types - F9F Panther/Cougar fighters (then Douglas A-4 Skyhawks); Grumman S-2 Tracker ASW aircraft; Sikorsky Sea King naval helicopters.
Ribbon graphics not necessarily indicative of actual historical campaign ribbons. Ribbons are clickable to their respective naval campaigns / operations / periods.
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Argentina
