View source for Port Belgrano Naval Base

{{Short description|Argentine Navy base}}
{{More citations needed|date=June 2016}}

{{EngvarB|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox military installation
| name = Port Belgrano Naval Base
| ensign =
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| partof = <!-- for elements within a larger site -->
| location = [[Punta Alta]], [[Buenos Aires Province]], Argentina
| nearest_town = [[Bahia Blanca]]
| country = 
| image = File:Vista general de la Base Naval de Puerto Belgrano en 1943.jpg
| alt = 
| caption = Aerial view of Puerto Belgrano, 1943
| image2 = <!--secondary image, major command emblems for airfields -->
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| type = Naval base
| coordinates = {{Coord|38|53|13|S|62|05|52|W|type:landmark_region:AR_dim:2000|display=inline,title}}
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| pushpin_map = Argentina
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| pushpin_map_caption = Location in [[Argentina]]
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| operator = [[Argentine Navy]]
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| site_other_label = <!-- for renaming "Other facilities" in infobox -->
| site_other = <!-- for other sorts of facilities – radar types etc -->  
| site_area = {{Convert|122|hectare|acre|abbr=}}
| code = <!--facility/installation code, applies to US -->
| built = {{Start date|1896}}
| used = 1896 – present
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| condition = Operational
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'''Port Belgrano Naval Base''' ({{langx|es|Base Naval Puerto Belgrano}} - BNPB) is the largest [[naval base]] of the [[Argentine Navy]], situated next to [[Punta Alta]],  near [[Bahía Blanca]], about {{convert|560|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} south of [[Buenos Aires]]. It is named after the [[brigantine]] ''General Belgrano'' (named after [[Manuel Belgrano]]) which sounded the area in late 1824.

[[File:SLR2931.jpg|thumb|220px|[[24 cm K L/35|Krupp 240mm gun]], Battery nº 4, Puerto Belgrano]]

Home of the Argentine Seas Fleet ({{in lang|es}} ''Flota de Mar''), it concentrates the major ships and arsenals; and is close to the main bases of other Argentine Navy organisations: [[Argentine Marines|Marine]]'s camp ''Baterías'' and [[Argentine Naval Aviation|Naval aviation]]'s [[Comandante Espora Naval Air Base|air base ''Comandante Espora'']] ({{langx|es|Base Aeronaval Comandante Espora}} - BACE) .

==History==
Designed by Italian engineer [[Luis Luiggi]], Puerto Belgrano opened on November 30, 1896, under the name '''Puerto Militar''' ({{langx|en|Military Port}}). In 1911, the French-owned railway company [[Ferrocarril Rosario y Puerto Belgrano]] opened a broad gauge ({{convert|5|ft|7|in|m}}) line between Puerto Belgrano and [[Rosario]]. The harbor was renamed Puerto Belgrano in 1923.

[[File:D11ARALaArgentina.jpg|thumb|210px|[[ARA La Argentina (D-11)|ARA La Argentina]], docked at Puerto Belgrano.]]

The base grew in importance with the size of the fleet.  During [[World War I]] and [[World War II]] the {{sclass|Rivadavia|battleship|2}}s {{ship|ARA|Moreno||}} and {{ship|ARA|Rivadavia||6}} were docked here, and during the [[Cold War]] the aircraft carriers {{ship|ARA|Independencia|V-1|6}} and {{ship|ARA|Veinticinco de Mayo|V-2|6}} were docked at this base.

The shipyard continues doing maintenance and refits of vessels and [[submarines]].

In April 2006, the [[Royal Navy]]'s Antarctic patrol vessel {{HMS|Endurance|A171|6}} entered Puerto Belgrano for repairs after damaging its rudder while in [[Antarctica]] in February. It was the first time since the end of the 1982 [[Falklands War]] ({{langx|es|Guerra de las Malvinas}}) that a British Royal Navy ship had entered the Argentine naval base.

== Facilities ==
{{Expand section|date=June 2016}}

The base contains a naval hospital, specialized workshops, six middle and tertiary level military schools, a banking headquarters and seven residential neighborhoods for naval personnel, public schools, a printing press, the newsroom of the magazine "Gaceta Marinera", a bank headquarters, the "Stella Maris" Catholic parish, a civil registry, post office, a museum, seven residential neighborhoods for naval personnel, a hotel, among other facilities. All of them surround the quays and drywalls that were proposed by the ship's captain [[Félix Dufourq]], who carried out many of the studies aimed at finding the most suitable place for the construction of the naval facilities.

== Based ships ==
Source:<ref>{{Cite web|last=Redacción|date=2018-03-06|title=Poder Naval Argentino - Infografía Zona Militar|url=https://www.zona-militar.com/2018/03/06/poder-naval-argentino-infografia-zona-militar/|access-date=2021-10-30|website=Zona Militar|language=es}}</ref>
=== Destroyers ===
[[File:Destructores ARA “Sarandí” y ARA “Almirante Brown” (34635698546).jpg|thumb|''ARA Sarandí'' and ''ARA Almirante Brown'' in 2017.]]
* [[ARA Almirante Brown (D-10)|ARA ''Almirante Brown'' (D-10)]]
* [[ARA La Argentina (D-11)|ARA ''La Argentina'' (D-11)]]
* [[ARA Sarandí (D-13)|ARA ''Sarandí'' (D-13)]]

=== Corvettes ===
[[File:P41Esporax15.jpg|thumb|ARA ''Espora,'' the lead ship of the [[Espora-class corvette|Espora Class]] Corvettes.]]
* [[ARA Espora (P-41)|ARA ''Espora'' (P-41)]]
* [[ARA Rosales (P-42)|ARA ''Rosales'' (P-42)]]
* [[ARA Spiro (P-43)|ARA ''Spiro'' (P-43)]]
* [[ARA Parker (P-44)|ARA ''Parker'' (P-44)]]
* [[ARA Robinson (P-45)|ARA ''Robinson'' (P-45)]]
* [[ARA Gómez Roca|ARA ''Gómez Roca'' (P-46)]]

=== Auxiliaries and Amphibious ===
* [[French tanker Durance|ARA ''Patagonia'' (B-1)]]
* [[ARA Canal Beagle|ARA ''Canal Beagle'' (B-3)]]
* [[ARA Bahía San Blas|ARA ''Bahía San Blas'' (B-4)]]
* ARA ''Puerto Argentino'' (A-21)
* ARA ''Estrecho de San Carlos'' (A-22)
* ARA ''Islas Malvinas'' (A-24)
* [[ARA Teniente Olivieri|ARA ''Teniente Olivieri'' (A-2)]]
* [[ARA Punta Alta|ARA ''Punta Alta'' (Q-63)]]

=== Antarctic Naval Command ===
* [[ARA Almirante Irízar|ARA ''Almirante Irízar'']]

=== Tugships ===
* ARA Querandí (R-2)
* ARA Tehuelche (R-3)
* ARA Mataco (R-4)
* ARA Mocoví (R-5) 
* ARA Zeus (R-9)

== Centro Espacial Manuel Belgrano (CEMB) ==

A launch pad is planned Argentine space launch vehicle "[[Tronador (rocket)|Tronador II]]", named Centro Espacial Manuel Belgrano (CEMB) at {{coord|-38.9628|-61.715|name=Centro Espacial Manuel Belgrano (CEMB)}}.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-04-04 |title=Facilidades auxiliares |url=https://www.argentina.gob.ar/ciencia/conae/acceso-al-espacio/facilidades-auxiliares |access-date=2023-12-08 |website=Argentina.gob.ar |language=es}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-05-30 |title=Centro Espacial Manuel Belgrano |url=https://www.argentina.gob.ar/ciencia/conae/centros-y-estaciones/centro-espacial-manuel-belgrano |access-date=2024-12-04 |website=Argentina.gob.ar |language=es}}</ref> Land for the construction of the facilities were ceded to [[CONAE]] (Argentine Space Agency). The location was selected because of existing Navy facilities, security measures already in place, large enough available area, and a favorable location for launches into polar orbits.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.adnbahiablanca.com.ar/m-info.asp?id=13865&idcat=1&idsub=48 |title=Punta Alta: Construyen planta de lanzamiento de satélites - ADN Bahia Blanca |access-date=2014-08-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819085313/http://www.adnbahiablanca.com.ar/m-info.asp?id=13865&idcat=1&idsub=48 |archive-date=2014-08-19 }}</ref>

== See also ==
{{EB1911 poster|Bahia Blanca|referring the Puerto Militar of Bahia Blanca}}
* [[List of shipbuilders and shipyards#Argentina|List of shipyards of Argentina]]
* [[Mar del Plata Naval Base]]
* [[Ushuaia Naval Base]]
* [[Falklands Naval Station]]

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
{{Refbegin}}
* {{in lang|es}} [http://www.histarmar.com.ar/Armada%20Argentina/BNPB-Indice.htm Puerto Belgrano history] at Histarmar
* [http://www.mercopress.com/Detalle.asp?NUM=7614 HMS Endurance completes repairs in Puerto Belgrano]
{{Refend}}

== External links ==
{{Commons|:Category:Puerto Belgrano|Puerto Belgrano}}
*{{in lang|es}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20050322201628/http://www.ara.mil.ar/La_Armada/OrganizacionyDespliegue/belgrano.htm Official Site]

{{Argentina space program}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Shipyards of Argentina]]
[[Category:Argentine Navy bases]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Buenos Aires Province]]
[[Category:Ports and harbours of Argentina|Belgrano]]
[[Category:Rocket launch sites in Argentina]]
[[Category:1896 establishments in Argentina]]