ARV Zulia (D-21)
Zulia was one of three s of the Venezuelan Navy. Named for the Venezuelan state of Zulia, it was built by the British shipyard Vickers Armstrong in the 1950s. It served as the leader of the 2nd Destroyer Division, and remained in service until 1978. Design and description. In 1950, the Venezuelan Navy placed an order for two large destroyers, and "Zulia", with the British shipbuilding company Vickers Armstrong, with an order for a third ship, , following later. The ships was of similar size and layout to the British "Daring"-class destroyers, but carried the same gun mounts  as the older and smaller , and was often compared with the Battles. The ships were long overall and between perpendiculars, with a beam of and a draught of . Displacement was standard and full load. Two Yarrow boilers fed steam at to Parsons geared steam turbines, which drove two propeller shafts. The machinery, arranged on the 'unit' principle, where boiler rooms and engine rooms alternated to increase survivability, was rated at , giving a speed of . The conservative machinery (the "Daring"s boilers produced steam at a pressure of ) gave a range of , less than a "Daring" despite carrying more fuel. Main gun  armament consisted of three twin QF Mark IV mounts, with two forward and one mount aft, with a close-in armament of 16 40mm Bofors guns in eight twin mounts. Torpedo armament consisted of a single triple mount for 21-inch (533 mm) torpedoes, while 30 depth charges could be carried. The ship had a crew of 18 officers and 236 other ranks. Construction and career. "Zulia" was laid down at Vickers Armstrong's Barrow-in-Furness shipyard on 24 July 1951, was launched on 29 June 1952 and completed on 15 September 1954. "Zulia" was refitted at Vickers  Armstrong's Hebburn shipyard in 1959, where the ship's torpedo tubes were removed to accommodate two Squid anti-submarine mortars. In 1960, the ship was fitted with modernised electronics at the New York Navy Yard.