The Nueva Esparta-class destroyers were a class of warships used by the navy of Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

. The lead ship was named after Nueva Esparta

Nueva Esparta

Nueva Esparta State is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. It comprises Margarita Island, Coche, and the largely uninhabited Cubagua.The state is the smallest one in area, and is located off the northeast Caribbean coast of Venezuela. It is the only insular state of Venuezuela...

 (Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

 for "New Sparta

Sparta

Sparta or Lacedaemon, was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the banks of the River Eurotas in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. It emerged as a political entity around the 10th century BC, when the invading Dorians subjugated the local, non-Dorian population. From c...

"), the name of the largest island in Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

.

These ships were requested in 1950, and were built by the Vickers Armstrong

Vickers Armstrong

Vickers-Armstrongs Limited was a British engineering conglomerate formed by the merger of the assets of Vickers Limited and Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Company in 1927...

s shipyards in Barrow-in-Furness

Barrow-in-Furness

Barrow-in-Furness is an industrial town and seaport which forms about half the territory of the wider Borough of Barrow-in-Furness in the county of Cumbria, England. It lies north of Liverpool, northwest of Manchester and southwest from the county town of Carlisle...

 between 1951 and 1954.

History

The ships were designed by Vickers Armstrong shipyards in the 1950s for the Venezuela naval forces. The design has been identified as a derivative of the Batch 3 Battle-class destroyer

Battle class destroyer

The Battle class were a class of destroyers of the British Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy . Built in three groups, the first group were ordered under the 1942 naval estimates. A modified second and third group, together with two ships of an extended design were planned for the 1943 and 1944...

s built for the United Kingdom and Australia, according information released by the International Naval Research Organization

International Naval Research Organization

The International Naval Research Organization is the publisher of the quarterly journal, Warship International; the journal is mainly about warships in the era of iron and steel . The International Naval Research Organization is a non-profit organization....

 and several independent researchers in 2006.
They were to form part of a fleet that included a 25,000 ton aircraft carrier

Aircraft carrier

An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...

 and a Tiger-class cruiser

Tiger class cruiser

The Tiger-class helicopter cruisers were the first of such a type in the Royal Navy, and the last cruisers built for the Royal Navy. They were originally designed to be Minotaur-class light cruisers...

.

The fleet arrangement for 30/04/1949 covers:

• 1 (25000 to) aircraft carrier (conceptual engineering)
• 1 (8000 ton) cruiser (detailed engineering)
• 3 Nueva Esparta-class destroyers (built)
• 6 s (built)
• 4 submarines (1 used from US Navy)
• 12 patrol boat (detailed engineering)
• 2 minesweepers (basic engineering)
• 1 marine assault ships (built)

The names assigned to these ships were associated with states in Venezuela.

• Nueva Esparta refers to bravery and loyalty.
• Zulia to remember the Battle of Lake Maracaibo
  Battle of Lake Maracaibo
  The Battle of Lake Maracaibo also known as the "Naval Battle of the Lake" was fought on 24 July 1823 in Venezuela's Lake Maracaibo between Admiral José Prudencio Padilla and royalist Captain Ángel Laborde....
  
   in the Venezuelan War of Independence
  Venezuelan War of Independence
  -The First Republic:Criollos resented the mercantilist policies of Spain. Trade was only allowed in Pacific ports which was a terrible burden for Argentina, Paraguay and the Caribbean colonies. This is significant as Cuba and Puerto Rico were forced to allow free trade in 1763 by Britain and...
  
   and the huge contribution of this state to that conflict.
• Aragua
  Aragua (state)
  Aragua State is located in the north-central region of Venezuela. It has plains and jungles and Caribbean beaches. The most popular are Cata and Choroni...
  
   because this state is the military heart of Venezuela, and as homage to the La Victoria battle remembered on "Youth Day".

Ships

Code	Name	Shipyard ID.	Keel date	Launch date	Commissioned	Repair	Weapons refit	Major maint	Status	Decommissioned	Life cycle
D11	Nueva Esparta	1009	24/07/1951	19/11/1952	08/12/1953	1959	1960	1968/69	Sunk	1978	25,08
D21	Zulia	1010	24/07/1951	29/06/1953	14/02/1956	1959	1960	N/A	Floating museum - sunk	1983	29,32
D31	Aragua	1036	29/06/1953	27/01/1955	14/02/1956	1959	N/A	N/A	Sunk	1975	19,89

Sensors and EW

Model	Max range	Abilities	Notes
FH-4	500	Surface and aerial search, bearing, and classification data	Passive RWR/ESM/SIGINT
Tipo 162	1	Search, bearing, and range data	Active sonar
Type 170	3	Search, bearing & range data	Active sonar
Type 177	3	Search, bearing & range data	Active/passive radar
Type 275 fc	16	Surface & aerial search in surface, bearing and classification, range & altitude data	Radar
Type 293	45	Surface & aerial search in surface, bearing and range data, IFF	Radar
Type 974	25	Surface & aerial search in surface, bearing and range data	Radar

Armament

Mount	Rate of Fire	Capacity	Weapons per mount
8 x twin mounting 40mm L/60 Bofors Bofors 40 mm gun The Bofors 40 mm gun is an anti-aircraft autocannon designed by the Swedish defence firm of Bofors Defence...	1	42	42 x 40mm/60 twin double Bofors (max 42)
2 x Mark 4 Squid Squid (weapon) Squid was a British World War II ship-mounted anti-submarine weapon. It consisted of a three-barrelled mortar which launched depth charges. It replaced the Hedgehog system, and was in turn replaced by the Limbo system....	180	3	3 x MK4 Squid (max 3)
3 x 4.5 inch (113 mm) L/45 Vickers Mark V in Mark IV twin mounting	5	23	23 x 114mm/45 Vickers MK IV Twin (max 23)

Magazines

Magazines	Rate of Fire	Armor	Capacity	Stores
4.5 in (114 mm)	3	Light	900	900
MK4 Squid	15	None	20	20
40mm	4	None	800	800

Communications and datalinks

Name	Type	Range	Channels	Description
HF	Radio	300	10	HF secure
VHF	Radio	100	10	VHF secure
UHF	Radio	100	10	UHF secure
HF	Radio	300	10	HF plain
VHF	Radio	100	10	VHF plain
UHF	Radio	100	10	UHF plain

Sensor signatures

Signature Type	Front	Side	Rear
Pasive sonar	95	96	97
Active sonar	16	27	17
Visual	110	151	110
IR	—12	67	18
Radar	71	140	71

Service

One ship was assigned to each destroyer division along with two Almirante Clemente-class destroyers; Nueva Esparta went to the first division, Zulia to the second and Aragua to the third.

External links

• http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/venezuela/navy-history.htm A brief history about this ships
• pictures
• http://www.ussmullinnix.org/1962Cruise.html
• http://www.navyphotos.co.uk/index12.htm
• list of Venezuelan Navy ships