IRN Santa Maria (DD-1921)
The Santa Maria class provided the destroyer leaders desperately required for the 20 odd M type destroyers the Iberian Navy had built or purchased. As the pairs of these ships were completed the light cruisers being used as leaders could be reassigned to other duties. The class was an export version of the very successful V&W class destroyers. The class had the low angle 4" gun as standard when completed, with a single 3" AA gun and two single 2 pounder AA guns. The 1934 (and later for some ships of the class) upgrade for the 4" to change out the low angle mounting for a new dual-purpose mounting and better shield meant that the minor AA armaments could also be upgraded. A quad 2 pounder pom pom mounting replaced the single 3", and eventually a pair of 20mm were fitted in the bridge wings and a pair of twin 20mm replaced the single 2 pounder guns. The ships kept their two triple torpedo tube sets throughout their lives.
The Iberians never had enough of these larger destroyers. Having received 20 of the M class at virtually scrap value gave the Iberians 10-15 years of plenty of destroyers, even if they were small ones. But the task of finding the money to replace the full 24 M type units was never found till the advent of the war time budgets allowed for the building of the Blas de Lezo class. Yes, two of the class will be named Nina and Pinta....
| Displacement | 1,300 tons std, 1,650 tons full load | |
| Length | 312 ft | |
| Breadth | 30 ft | |
| Draught | 11 ft | |
| Machinery | 2 shaft geared turbines, 28,000shp | |
| Speed | 34 knots | |
| Range | 4000 at 15 knots, 1000 at 32 knots. | |
| Armament | 4 x 4" (4x1) 1 x 3" (1x1) 2 x 2pd (2x1) |
4 x 4" (4x1) 4 x 2pd (1x4) 6x 20mm (2x2 2x1) |
| Torpedoes | 6 x 21" (2x3) | |
| Complement | 120 | |
| Notes | IRN Nina IRN Pinta IRN Santa Maria |
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Maintenance of the 'Tinfish' on one side and loading the 3" AA gun in the other photo.