ARA Fournier (M-5)

ARA Fournier (M-5) was a Bouchard-class minesweeper of the Argentine Navy. She was in service from 1940 until her sinking in 1949.

Design and description
The Bouchard-class minesweepers were the first large warships built in Argentina. They were intended to complement and eventually replace the Argentine Bathurst-class ships purchased from Germany after World War I.

The Bouchard class was based on the Bathurst-class design, with diesel engines instead of steam engines and larger calibre main armament. However, these ships had poor stability, which eventually led to the loss of Fournier in 1949.

The minesweepers were 59.00 m long overall and 164 ft between perpendiculars with a beam of 7.30 m and a draught of 2.27 m. The Bouchard class had a standard displacement of 450 LT and 520 LT at full load. They were powered by 2-cycle MAN diesel engines turning two shafts rated at 2000 bhp. They had a capacity for 50 LT of fuel oil, a maximum speed of 15 kn, and had a range of 3000 nmi at 10 kn.

The ships were armed with two single-mounted 3.9 in/47 calibre guns. For anti-aircraft defence, the minesweepers were equipped with one twin 40 mm mount. They also carried two 7.65 mm machine guns and were initially equipped with two depth charges. The Bouchard class had a complement of 62.

Service history


Fournier was built at the Sanchez shipyard in San Fernando. She was launched in 1939, and handed over from the shipyard on 13 October 1940.

On 21 September 1949, Fournier departed Río Gallegos for Ushuaia. The minesweeper never made contact again, and was declared missing on 28 September. She was later determined to have sunk on or around 4 October after striking a rock in the Magellan Straits, about 60 nmi south of Punta Arenas. All hands on board, initially reported as 60 but later established to be 77, were lost.