ARA Punta Alta

History
United States
Name	Red Birch
Builder	United States Coast Guard Yard, Curtis Bay
Launched	1964
Commissioned	1964
Decommissioned	2000
Fate	transferred to Argentine Navy
History
Argentina
Name	Punta Alta (Q63)
Namesake	city of Punta Alta, Argentina
Commissioned	2000
Homeport	Puerto Belgrano Naval Base
Status	Active
Notes	Initially in service with the US Coast Guard
General characteristics
Type	Multipurpose ship
Displacement	525 tons
Length	49.05 m (160.9 ft)
Beam	10 m (32.8 ft)
Draft	2 m (6.6 ft)
Propulsion	2-shaft, 2 × diesel engines
Speed	12.6 knots (14.5 mph; 23.3 km/h)
Complement	31 (6 officers)
Armament	none
Notes	Career and characteristics data from “Histarmar” [1] and “Argentine Navy” [2] websites.

ARA Punta Alta (Q-63) is a multipurpose auxiliary ship of the Argentine Navy, built in the Curtis Bay Shipyard, United States, in 1964; transferred to Argentina in 2000, she is based at Puerto Belgrano. The vessel is named after the Argentine city of Punta Alta, which is close to Puerto Belgrano, and is the second Argentine naval ship with this name.^[2][1]

Design[]

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Punta Alta is a multipurpose ship specialized in buoy maintenance, built at the US Coast Guard shipyard, Curtis Bay, United States. Her hull is specially designed for these tasks, being highly manoeuvrable thanks to its two variable-pitch propellers, twin rudders, and bow thruster. She has a metal hull and superstructure, and a single mast and funnel.^[1]

It is powered by two 16-cylinder V, 900 HP, “Caterpillar” D398 marine diesel engines ^[3] driving two propellers; and two bow thrusters. It also carries two 100 Kw GM diesel generators, and two cranes with 10 ton and 5 ton lifting capacity.^[2][1]

It carries an aluminium hull launch powered by a 130 HP engine and equipped with communications and sounding equipment.^[2][1]

History[]

This section needs expansion. You can help by . (February 2017)

The buoy tender Red Birch was commissioned by the US Coast Guard in 1964, and served with that service until decommissioned in 2000; and transferred to Argentina. She was commissioned in the same year by the Argentine Navy as Punta Alta with pennant number Q-63; and was assigned to the Puerto Belgrano Naval Base, which is still its homeport.^[1][2]

See also[]

• List of active Argentine Navy ships

References[]

Notes[]

Bibliography[]

• Amendolara Bourdette, Ignacio (2005). Guia de los buques de la Armada Argentina 2005-2006 (in Spanish). Buenos Aires, Argentina. ISBN 987-43-9400-5. Retrieved 2014-09-13.

Other sources[]

• "Buque Multipropósito Clase A.R.A. "Ciudad de Zarate"". Histarmar - Historia y Arqueología Marítima (in Spanish). Argentina: Fundación Histarmar. Retrieved 2017-02-04.
• "Buques Multipropósito (Armada Argentina - Poder Naval - Flota de Mar - Unidades)". Argentine Navy official website (in Spanish). Argentina: Argentine Navy. Archived from the original on 2011-06-21. Retrieved 2017-02-04.

Further reading[]

• Rodríguez, Horacio; Arguindeguy, Pablo. Buques de la Armada Argentina: Sus comandos y operaciones. Vol. III (in Spanish). Buenos Aires, Argentina: Presidencia de la Nación, Secretaría de Cultura.

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