Chilean destroyer Ministro Portales
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{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=File:Ministro Portales.jpg |Ship caption=Destroyer Ministro Portales ready to combat the Argentinians in 1978. }} {{Infobox ship career |Ship country=United States |Ship flag={{USN flag|1973}} |Ship name=USS Douglas H. Fox |Ship namesake=Douglas H. Fox |Ship ordered= |Ship builder=Todd Pacific Shipyards, Seattle |Ship laid down=31 January 1944 |Ship launched=30 September 1944 |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned=26 December 1944 |Ship decommissioned=15 December 1973 |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship struck=December 15, 1973 |Ship reinstated= |Ship honours= |Ship fate=To Chile 8 January 1974 |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header=title |Ship country=Chile |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Chile|naval}} |Ship name=Ministro Portales |Ship namesake= |Ship acquired=8 January 1974 |Ship commissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship honours= |Ship identification=DD-17 |Ship fate=Used as a target ship off Cape Horn on 11 November 1998 |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class={{sclass|Allen M. Sumner|destroyer}} |Ship displacement=2,200 tons |Ship length={{convert|376|ft|6|in|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|40|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship draught= |Ship draft={{convert|15|ft|8|in|abbr=on}} |Ship propulsion=*{{convert|60,000|shp|abbr=on}};
|Ship speed={{convert|34|kn|lk=in}} |Ship range={{convert|6500|nmi|km|abbr=on}} at {{convert|15|kn|km/h}} |Ship complement=336 |Ship sensors= |Ship EW= |Ship armament=*6 × 5 in/38 guns
|Ship armour= |Ship armor= |Ship aircraft= |Ship aircraft facilities= |Ship notes= }} |
Ministro Portales was a {{sclass|Allen M. Sumner|destroyer}} purchased by Chile in 1974 from the United States that had been upgraded to FRAM II. Built and commissioned as {{USS|Douglas H. Fox|DD-779}} in 1944, the ship saw service during World War II and the Korean War. Between 1975 and 1976, the vessel was refitted with an extension on the flight deck for Alouette-III Helicopters.
Ministro Portales participated in the counteractive measures to the Operation Soberanía during the Beagle conflict in 1978. In this period, all the Chilean navy ships were camouflaged.
The vessel served the navy of Chile until it was taken off active duty and towed from Talcahuano to Puerto Williams, arriving at the wharf on 18 September 1991. There, it was a static support vessel for the local torpedo boat fleet until their replacement by missile boats.
On 11 November 1998, Ministro Portales was used as a target and sunk during a practice exercise.
External links
- [http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/779.htm navsource.org: USS Douglas H. Fox]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927011705/http://www.armada.cl/site/unidades_navales/468.htm armada.cl: Destructor Ministro Portales] (In Spanish)
{{Allen M. Sumner class destroyer|others}}
{{1998 shipwrecks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ministro Portales (DD-17)}}
Category:Ships built in Seattle
Category:Allen M. Sumner-class destroyers of the Chilean Navy