ARA Moreno was a dreadnought

Dreadnought

The dreadnought was the predominant type of 20th-century battleship. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's had such an impact when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her were referred to as "dreadnoughts", and earlier battleships became known as pre-dreadnoughts...

 battleship

Battleship

A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...

 designed by the American Fore River Shipbuilding Company 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....

 (Armada de la República Argentina). Named after Mariano Moreno

Mariano Moreno

Mariano Moreno was an Argentine lawyer, journalist, and politician. He played a decisive role in the Primera Junta, the first national government of Argentina, created after the May Revolution....

, a key member of the first independent government of Argentina, the First Assembly

Primera Junta

The Primera Junta or First Assembly is the most common name given to the first independent government of Argentina. It was created on 25 May 1810, as a result of the events of the May Revolution. The Junta initially had representatives from only Buenos Aires...

 (Primera Junta), Moreno was the second dreadnought of the , and the fourth built during the South American dreadnought race

South American dreadnought race

A South American dreadnought race between Argentina, Brazil, and Chile was kindled in 1907 when the Brazilian government announced their intention to purchase three dreadnoughts—powerful battleships whose capabilities far outstripped older vessels in the world's navies—from the British company...

.

Argentina placed orders for Moreno and her only sister ship

Sister ship

A sister ship is a ship of the same class as, or of virtually identical design to, another ship. Such vessels share a near-identical hull and superstructure layout, similar displacement, and roughly comparable features and equipment...

, , in reply to a Brazilian naval building program. During their construction, the two dreadnoughts were subject to numerous rumors involving Argentina selling the two battleships to a country engaged in the First World War

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, but these proved to be false. After Moreno was completed in March 1915, a series of engine problems occurred during her sea trials which delayed her delivery to Argentina to May 1915. The next decade saw the ship based in 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 Argentine Navy's First Division before sailing to the United States for an extensive refit in 1924 and 1925. During the 1930s the ship was occupied with diplomatic cruises to Brazil, Uruguay, and Europe until the Second World War

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 broke out. During this time, Moreno was employed little as Argentina was neutral. Decommissioned

Ship decommissioning

To decommission a ship is to terminate her career in service in the armed forces of her nation. A somber occasion, it has little of the elaborate ceremony of ship commissioning, but carries significant tradition....

 in 1949, Moreno was scrapped

Ship breaking

Ship breaking or ship demolition is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for scrap recycling. Most ships have a lifespan of a few decades before there is so much wear that refitting and repair becomes uneconomical. Ship breaking allows materials from the ship, especially...

 in Japan beginning in 1957.

Background

Morenos genesis can be traced to the numerous naval arms races between Chile and Argentina, which in turn were spawned by territorial disputes over their mutual borders in Patagonia

Patagonia

Patagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...

 and Puna de Atacama

Puna de Atacama

The Puna de Atacama or Atacama Plateau is an arid high plateau averaging about above sea level and spanning an area of , in the Andes of northern Chile and Argentina and southwest Bolivia. Before the War of the Pacific , the region belonged to Bolivia. In 1898 it was ceded to Argentina in...

 along with control of the Beagle Channel

Beagle Channel

thumb|right|300px|Aereal view of Beagle Channel. The Chilean [[Navarino Island]] is seen in the top-right while the Argentine part of [[Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego]] is seen at the bottom-left....

. Naval races flared up in the 1890s and in 1902; the latter was eventually settled via British mediation. Provisions in the dispute-ending treaty imposed restrictions on both countries' navies. The United Kingdom's Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 bought the two Constitución-class

Swiftsure class battleship

The Swiftsure class was a class of two British pre-dreadnought battleships. Originally ordered by Chile, they were purchased by the United Kingdom prior to completion.-Background:...

 pre-dreadnought

Pre-dreadnought

Pre-dreadnought battleship is the general term for all of the types of sea-going battleships built between the mid-1890s and 1905. Pre-dreadnoughts replaced the ironclad warships of the 1870s and 1880s...

 battleships that were being built for Chile, and Argentina sold its two Rivadavia-class

Kasuga class cruiser

The was a class of two armored cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy based on the developed by Italy at the end of the 19th century.-Background:...

 armored cruiser

Armored cruiser

The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Like other types of cruiser, the armored cruiser was a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship, and fast enough to outrun any battleships it encountered.The first...

s under construction in Italy to Japan.

After was commissioned, Brazil decided in early 1907 to halt three obsolescent pre-dreadnoughts which were under construction in favor of two or three dreadnought

Dreadnought

The dreadnought was the predominant type of 20th-century battleship. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's had such an impact when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her were referred to as "dreadnoughts", and earlier battleships became known as pre-dreadnoughts...

s. These ships, which were designed to carry the heaviest battleship armament in the world at the time, came as an abrupt shock to the navies of South America, and Argentina and Chile quickly canceled the 1902 armament-limiting pact. Argentina in particular was alarmed at the possible power of the ships. The Minister of Foreign Affairs

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship is the Argentine government ministry which oversees the foreign relations of Argentina.The current Chancellor is Héctor Timerman.-External links:...

, Manuel Augusto Montes de Oca, remarked that even one Minas Geraes-class ship could destroy the entire Argentine and Chilean fleets. While this may have been hyperbole, either one was much more powerful than any single vessel in the Argentinian fleet. Although debates raged in Argentina over whether it would be prudent to counter Brazil's purchase by acquiring their own dreadnoughts, which would cost upwards of two million pounds sterling

Pound sterling

The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...

, further border disputes—particularly near the River Plate

Río de la Plata

The Río de la Plata —sometimes rendered River Plate in British English and the Commonwealth, and occasionally rendered [La] Plata River in other English-speaking countries—is the river and estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River on the border between Argentina and...

 with Brazil—decided the matter, and they ordered and Moreno from the Fore River Shipbuilding Company

Fore River Shipyard

The Fore River Shipyard of Quincy, Massachusetts, more formally known as the Fore River Ship and Engine Building Company, was a shipyard in the United States from 1883 until 1986. Located on the Weymouth Fore River, the yard began operations in 1883 in Braintree, Massachusetts before being moved...

 in the United States.

Construction and trials

After the two new dreadnoughts were awarded to Fore River, Moreno was subcontracted

Subcontractor

A subcontractor is an individual or in many cases a business that signs a contract to perform part or all of the obligations of another's contract....

 out to the New York Shipbuilding Corporation

New York Shipbuilding

The New York Shipbuilding Corporation was founded in 1899 and opened its first shipyard in 1900. Located in Camden, New Jersey on the east shore of the Delaware River, New York Ship built more than 500 vessels for the U.S...

 of Camden

Camden, New Jersey

The city of Camden is the county seat of Camden County, New Jersey. It is located across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 77,344...

, New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

 as called for in the final contract. Morenos keel was laid

Keel

In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event...

 on 9 July 1910, and construction was overseen by the Argentine Naval Commission. After the completion of the hull

Hull (watercraft)

A hull is the watertight body of a ship or boat. Above the hull is the superstructure and/or deckhouse, where present. The line where the hull meets the water surface is called the waterline.The structure of the hull varies depending on the vessel type...

, she was launched

Ship naming and launching

The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...

 on 23 September 1911. Isabel Betbeder, wife to the chief of the Argentine Naval Commission, sponsored

Ship Sponsor

A ship sponsor, by tradition, is a female civilian who is invited to "sponsor" a vessel, presumably to bestow good luck and divine protection over the seagoing vessel and all that sail aboard...

 Moreno. The ship was then moored to a dock to commence fitting-out

Fitting-out

Fitting-out, or "outfitting”, is the process in modern shipbuilding that follows the float-out of a vessel and precedes sea trials. It is the period when all the remaining construction of the ship is completed and readied for delivery to her owners...

, which was finished on 15 February 1915. She was commissioned

Ship commissioning

Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...

 into the Argentine Navy nine days later.

Over the course of their construction, Rivadavia and Moreno were the subject of various rumors insinuating that Argentina would accept the ships and then sell them to a European country or Japan, a fast-growing rival

Japanese militarism

refers to the ideology in the Empire of Japan that militarism should dominate the political and social life of the nation, and that the strength of the military is equal to the strength of a nation.-Rise of militarism :...

 to the United States. The rumors were partially true; Argentina was looking to get rid of the battleships and devote the proceeds to opening more schools. This angered the American government, which did not want its warship technology offered to the highest bidder—yet they did not want to exercise a contract-specified option that gave the United States first choice if the Argentinians decided to sell, as naval technology had already progressed past the Rivadavias, particularly in the adoption of the "all-or-nothing" armor scheme. Instead, the United States and its State Department

United States Department of State

The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...

 and Navy Department

United States Department of the Navy

The Department of the Navy of the United States of America was established by an Act of Congress on 30 April 1798, to provide a government organizational structure to the United States Navy and, from 1834 onwards, for the United States Marine Corps, and when directed by the President, of the...

 put diplomatic pressure on the Argentine government.

The Argentine government, bolstered by socialist additions in the legislature, introduced several bills in May 1914 which would have put the battleships up for sale, but the bills were all defeated by late June. Following the commencement of the First World War

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, the German and British ambassadors to the United States both complained to the US State Department; the former believed that the British were going to be given the ships as soon as they reached Argentina, and the latter charged the United States with ensuring that the ships fell into Argentina's possession only. International armament companies attempted to influence Argentina into selling them to one of the smaller Balkan countries, from which they would find their way into the war.

In October 1914, Moreno sailed to New York where she was painted in the New York Naval Shipyard

Brooklyn Navy Yard

The United States Navy Yard, New York–better known as the Brooklyn Navy Yard or the New York Naval Shipyard –was an American shipyard located in Brooklyn, northeast of the Battery on the East River in Wallabout Basin, a semicircular bend of the river across from Corlear's Hook in Manhattan...

, then conducted her sea trials starting on the 25th. Reporters for several newspapers, including The New York Times

The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

, and American naval officers were allowed on board during this time; the Times reporters gave a glowing account of the alcohol-serving café

Café

A café , also spelled cafe, in most countries refers to an establishment which focuses on serving coffee, like an American coffeehouse. In the United States, it may refer to an informal restaurant, offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches...

 on the ship, calling it "the cutest little bar on any of the seven seas".

The trials were plagued with serious engine trouble, culminating in the failure of an entire turbine on 2 November. Moreno was forced to put in at Rockland

Rockland, Maine

Rockland is a city in Knox County, Maine, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 7,297. It is the county seat of Knox County. The city is a popular tourist destination...

, Maine

Maine

Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

—where many of the observers on board were left to be brought back by train to Camden—before proceeding for repairs to the Fore River Shipyard

Fore River Shipyard

The Fore River Shipyard of Quincy, Massachusetts, more formally known as the Fore River Ship and Engine Building Company, was a shipyard in the United States from 1883 until 1986. Located on the Weymouth Fore River, the yard began operations in 1883 in Braintree, Massachusetts before being moved...

, which had built the ship's engines.

In early 1915, nearly five years after construction had begun, the shipbuilding contractors demanded payment from the Argentine government for additional work, but the Argentines did not believe this was warranted, as Moreno had been scheduled to be completed more than a year prior. After mediation

Arbitration

Arbitration, a form of alternative dispute resolution , is a legal technique for the resolution of disputes outside the courts, where the parties to a dispute refer it to one or more persons , by whose decision they agree to be bound...

 offered by Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...

, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy

Assistant Secretary of the Navy

Assistant Secretary of the Navy is the title given to certain civilian senior officials in the United States Department of the Navy....

 at the time, Moreno was released on 20 February to Argentine sailors who had been staying in American battleships moored in the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

Even Morenos departure was marked by mishaps. On the night of 26 March, Moreno accidentally rammed and sank the barge Enterprise when she was on the Delaware River

Delaware River

The Delaware River is a major river on the Atlantic coast of the United States.A Dutch expedition led by Henry Hudson in 1609 first mapped the river. The river was christened the South River in the New Netherland colony that followed, in contrast to the North River, as the Hudson River was then...

, 30 miles (48.3 km) south of Philadelphia near the city of New Castle

New Castle, Delaware

New Castle is a city in New Castle County, Delaware, six miles south of Wilmington, situated on the Delaware River. In 1900, 3,380 people lived here; in 1910, 3,351...

. No one was hurt, but the battleship accidentally ran aground immediately after. Efforts to refloat her succeeded, and Moreno continued on her way at around 7:30 the next morning without damage. On the 29th, President Woodrow Wilson

Woodrow Wilson

Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...

 was hosted for lunch on board the warship, accompanied by the Argentine ambassador to the United States, Romulo S. Naon. On 15 April, Moreno ran aground in the river again, this time near Reedy Island

Reedy Island

Reedy Island is a small island in the middle of the channel of the Delaware River near its mouth on Delaware Bay in the U.S. state of Delaware. It is located approximately 1 mi east of Port Penn, Delaware and 5 mi southwest of Salem, New Jersey.The island was the location of Reedy...

. Like the previous time, she was not damaged and tugs were able to refloat the ship the next day.

Service

Moreno docked in Argentina for the first time on 26 May 1915. She was immediately assigned to the Argentine Navy's First Division, based out of the major naval base of 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...

. She remained there until 1923 when she was put into the reserve fleet. In 1924, Moreno was sent to the United States for modernization. The opportunity to show the flag was not missed; Moreno made stops in Valparaiso

Valparaíso

Valparaíso is a city and commune of Chile, center of its third largest conurbation and one of the country's most important seaports and an increasing cultural center in the Southwest Pacific hemisphere. The city is the capital of the Valparaíso Province and the Valparaíso Region...

 and Callao

Callao

Callao is the largest and most important port in Peru. The city is coterminous with the Constitutional Province of Callao, the only province of the Callao Region. Callao is located west of Lima, the country's capital, and is part of the Lima Metropolitan Area, a large metropolis that holds almost...

 before transiting the Panama Canal and sailing north.

Most of the work was done in Philadelphia, though armament changes were made in Boston. Moreno was converted to use fuel oil instead of coal, was fitted with a new fire-control system, rangefinders were added to the fore and aft superfiring turrets, and the aft mast was replaced by a tripod. To reduce exhaust interference when spotting ships in a battle, a funnel cap was installed. The main armament's range was increased from 13120 yards (11,996.9 m) to 20800 yards (19,019.5 m), and the turrets were modified to double the firing rate. The 6-inch secondary armament was retained, but the smaller 4-inch guns were taken off in favor of four 3 inches (76.2 mm) anti-aircraft

Anti-aircraft warfare

NATO defines air defence as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action." They include ground and air based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements and passive measures. It may be to protect naval, ground and air forces...

 guns and four 3-pounders

Ordnance QF 3 pounder Vickers

The Ordnance QF 3 pounder Vickers was a British artillery piece first tested in Britain in 1910. It was used on Royal Navy warships. It was more powerful than and unrelated to the older QF 3 pounder Hotchkiss, with a propellant charge approximately twice as large, but it initially fired the same...

.

When she returned to Argentina in August 1926, Moreno was assigned to the training division of the Navy before being reassigned to the First Division sometime after the training division was abolished in 1928. In 1932 she was moved into the new Battleship Division with Rivadavia. The remainder of the 1930s was filled with diplomatic cruises. Moreno, escorted by the three s, brought Argentine president Agustín Pedro Justo

Agustín Pedro Justo

General Agustín Pedro Justo Rolón was President of Argentina from February 20, 1932, to February 20, 1938...

 to Brazil in 1933 for a major diplomatic visit. Departing in the afternoon of 2 October, he arrived in Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

 on the morning of 7 October to huge celebrations. Brazilian ships of the first and second squadrons along with three squadrons worth of warplanes met Moreno at sea and escorted her to the harbor. When Justo landed and traveled by car to Guanabra Palace, the road was flanked by a plethora of army and naval forces along with thousands of citizens. Rio was described as "ablaze with light", and a 95 feet (29 m) high imitation of France's Arc de Triomphe

Arc de Triomphe

-The design:The astylar design is by Jean Chalgrin , in the Neoclassical version of ancient Roman architecture . Major academic sculptors of France are represented in the sculpture of the Arc de Triomphe: Jean-Pierre Cortot; François Rude; Antoine Étex; James Pradier and Philippe Joseph Henri Lemaire...

 was erected, onto which various colors were projected. Justo then took a royal train

Royal Train

A royal train is a set of carriages dedicated for the use of the monarch or other members of that particular royal family. Most monarchies with a railway system employ a set of royal carriages.-Australia:...

, originally designed for Albert I of Belgium

Albert I of Belgium

Albert I reigned as King of the Belgians from 1909 until 1934.-Early life:Born Albert Léopold Clément Marie Meinrad in Brussels, he was the fifth child and second son of Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders, and his wife, Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen...

's use during Brazil's 1922 centennial celebrations, to Sao Paulo

São Paulo

São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...

. After three days, he traveled to Santos, where he boarded Moreno to travel first to Uruguay, then back to Argentina; he arrived in the latter on 22 October.

In 1934, Moreno was sent as one of Argentina's representatives for the anniversary of Brazil's independence. In 1937, Rivadavia and Moreno were sent on a diplomatic cruise to Europe. Departing Argentina on 6 April, they split up when they reached the English Channel

English Channel

The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...

. Moreno participated in the British Spithead Naval Review, where The New York Times described her as "a strange vestigial sea monster in this company of more modern fighting ships." Afterward, Moreno met up with Rivadavia at Brest, France

Brest, France

Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...

 and cruised together to Wilhelmshaven

Wilhelmshaven

Wilhelmshaven is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea.-History:...

 before splitting up again; Moreno went to Bremen

Bremen

The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...

, while Rivadavia put in at 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...

. They then sailed for home and arrived in Puerto Belgrano on 29 June.

In September 1939, Moreno and Rivadavia traveled together to Brazil with naval cadets. However, before they could return, four s had to be sent to escort the ships back, as the Second World War

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 had erupted in Europe. Since Argentina remained neutral

Argentina in World War II

Argentina stayed neutral during most of World War II, despite internal disputes and pressure of the United States to join the Allies. Argentina broke relations with the Axis powers on January 26, 1944, and declared war on March 27, 1945.-First years:...

 in the war, Moreno was utilized little. By 1949, she had been decommissioned

Ship decommissioning

To decommission a ship is to terminate her career in service in the armed forces of her nation. A somber occasion, it has little of the elaborate ceremony of ship commissioning, but carries significant tradition....

 into reserve and was used as a barracks ship

Barracks ship

Barracks ship or barracks barge are terms used to indicate a ship or a non-self-propelled barge containing a superstructure of a type suitable for use as a temporary barracks for sailors. A barracks ship may also be used as a "Receiving Unit" for sailors who need temporary residence prior to being...

. In 1955, during the Liberating Revolution

Revolución Libertadora

The Revolución Libertadora was a military uprising that ended the second presidential term of Juan Perón in Argentina, on September 16, 1955.-History:...

 (Revolución Libertadora), she was used as a prison ship

Prison ship

A prison ship, historically sometimes called a prison hulk, is a vessel used as a prison, often to hold convicts awaiting transportation to penal colonies. This practice was popular with the British government in the 18th and 19th centuries....

; Morenos crew was reduced to the bare minimum during this time. On 1 October 1956, the ship was stricken from the navy list; on 11 January 1957, Argentina sold Moreno to the Japanese Yawata Iron and Steel Company for scrapping

Ship breaking

Ship breaking or ship demolition is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for scrap recycling. Most ships have a lifespan of a few decades before there is so much wear that refitting and repair becomes uneconomical. Ship breaking allows materials from the ship, especially...

 for $2,468,660. Five months later on 12 May, the Argentine fleet assembled to salute the battleship one last time as she was towed out by the Dutch-owned ocean tugs Clyde and Ocean. Moreno was towed through the Panama Canal to the scrappers, arriving on 17 August.

External links

• "Historia y Arqueología Marítima" (HistArMar) – Battleships ARA Moreno & Rivadavia – History & Pictures (in Spanish, retrieved 2009-05-05)
• "Historia y Arqueología Marítima" (HistArMar) – Battleship ARA Moreno (1915) – Pictures & Specifications (in Spanish, retrieved 2009-05-05)