ARA Santísima Trinidad ( 1974 ) ARA " Santísima Trinidad " is a Type 42 destroyer of the Argentine Navy , the only destroyer of her class built outside Britain . She participated in the 1982 Falklands War . The warship is currently lying on her side , sunk at her moorings pierside in Puerto Belgrano . Construction and trials . She was built at the Argentine AFNE Río Santiago shipyard and commissioned in 1980 . Sabotage . Construction began in 1973 , but commissioning was long delayed by an improvised limpet mine attack carried out by divers of the guerrilla organization Montoneros on 22 August 1975 . The date was chosen as a retaliation for the massacre at Trelew three years before , when a number of leftist militants were executed inside Almirante Zar air base , operated by the navy . The raid was allegedly planned in imitation of Operation Frankton , a British commando attack against German shipping in Bordeaux during World War II . The attack involved the use of a folding boat , frogmen and a limpet mine with of explosives , which was laid on the river bed below the destroyer after a failed attempt to attach the device to the hull . The ship ' s bottom and electronics suffered severe damage , and completion was suspended for a year as a result of the attack . Commissioning . The Argentine Navy enhanced the offensive capabilities of their Type 42s by fitting MM - 38 " Exocet " missiles . The boat deck s of the original design were replaced by special decks to install the missiles around the funnel , but the launchers were apparently never mounted on " Santisima Trinidad " . In November 1981 she made her maiden voyage to Britain , where the destroyer carried out her first sea trials , and her crew was trained in the operation and launching of Sea Dart missile s . Operational history . Falklands War . Argentine Landings . She was the leading ship of the Argentine landings on the Falklands , on 2 April 1982 . Both the navy and the army commanders of the operation were on board . A team of 84 amphibious commandos and 8 tactical divers landed at Mullet Creek at midnight in 21 " Gemini " boats lowered from her deck . The wireless message asking the surrender of the British Governor and the Marines detachment was also radioed from the destroyer . Sea Harrier incident . During the remainder of the Falklands War , along with her sister ship " Hércules " , the unit served as the main escort to the aircraft carrier ARA " Veinticinco de Mayo " . At first " Hercules " operated independently along with a group of older destroyers , but the development of mechanical problems in her sister ship forced the Argentine commander to merge the two Type 42 destroyers into one escorting force . The carrier naval group was known as " Grupo de Tareas 79 . 1 " ( task force 79 . 1 ) , and was intended to search for and engage its British counterpart from waters north of the Falklands . " Santísima Trinidad " was responsible for the command and control of the group ' s air defence . Late on 1 May , the carrier launched a number of S - 2 Tracker surveillance aircraft , with the aim of finding the British Task Group . One of the Tracker ' s crew radioed that they were being chased by an unknown jet while returning to " Veinticinco de Mayo " . Shortly after midnight , " Santísima Trinidad " was ordered to switch her Type 965 radar on and track the unidentified contact . She then locked up a Sea Harrier with her Type 909 fire - control radar , followed afterwards by her sister " Hercules " . The British aircraft , Sea Harrier XZ451 piloted by Flight Lieutenant Ian Mortimer and belonging to the 801 Naval Air Squadron , was fended off by the threat of the Sea Dart , but not before spotting the area of deployment of the Argentine Fleet . After realising that the enemy was not engaged in a major amphibious operation as supposed , which made any attempt of the Argentine against the British carriers extremely dangerous , the Argentine commander , Admiral Allara , decided to withdraw his forces to shallow waters close to the coast . Withdrawal . The destroyer lost her Sea Lynx helicopter on 4 May when the aircraft hit her flight - deck as the Argentine fleet was redeploying . She spent the next few days in dry dock to repair the mechanical problems which reduced her speed during the operations of 1 May . Right to the end of the conflict , she was engaged in patrol duties off Patagonia . A lesser known task of the " Santísima Trinidad " was the transmission of interference signals on the frequencies used by the Sea Harriers air controllers during the Air Force attacks on Bluff Cove on 8 June . Once the end of hostilities was declared , " Santísima Trinidad " escorted the British transport " Canberra " into Puerto Madryn with about 3 , 000 Argentine prisoners on board . After the war . After the war the British weapons and supplies embargo on Argentina made the purchase of spare parts impossible . The Argentine Minister of Defense considered selling the destroyers , and as a consequence , the Navy placed " Santísima Trinidad " in reserve as a parts supplier for " Hércules " . From 2 March to 15 March 1987 she took part in Operation " Grifo " , the Argentine response to Operation " Fire - Focus " , the largest British military exercise around the Falklands since 1982 . Her last Sea Dart missile test launch was conducted on 27 November 1987 against an Argentine - built drone . " Santísima Trinidad " ´s last voyage took place in 1989 . Fate . Since 2004 , " Santísima Trinidad " is listed as " in reserve awaiting overhaul " , but it was expected that the navy would formally decommission her . There were projects in the Argentine congress calling for " Santísima Trinidad " to be converted into a museum ship . On 21 January 2013 , " Santísima Trinidad " suffered a broken valve which resulted in the flooding of six compartments . The flooding was beyond the capacity of the pumps and the crew were evacuated . The ship took on a 50 degree list and sank at her moorings . Decisions are yet to be made on re - floating the vessel . " Santísima Trinidad " was in poor condition before she sank ; the ship had been cannibalized to keep her sister " Hercules " operational , as the British refused to sell the Argentines spare parts after the Falklands War .