Almirante-class destroyer

The Almirante class were two destroyers built for the Chilean Navy by Vickers in Barrow in Furness, UK, in 1960, named after Chilean admirals. Their weapons and Marconi sensors were in advance of the RN Daring-class destroyer, but their internal layout resembled that of the Battle-class destroyer. They served until the late 1990s. They were fitted with a unique Vickers-designed 4-inch dual purpose naval gun, which fired up to 50 rounds per minute. The gun was in advance of the standard RN 4.5-inch guns, more automated and reliable than the Tiger-class cruiser 3 and 6-inch mounts, but not water-cooled. It was rejected for RN use because of doubt about its sustained firing, the large stocks of surplus WW2 single 4.5 and twin 4-inch guns which the RN claimed wrongly were close to the new 4-inch N(R) in performance, and mainly because it was a private out-of-house, Vickers design. The ships were modernised in Britain in 1975, and decommissioned in the late 1990s.

Programme
Chile decided to upgrade its destroyer fleet in the early 1950s and turned to British yards to fulfil the order. Bids were received from Vickers and Thornycroft; the Vickers design was chosen. The order was announced in January 1954 and finalised in 1955. The sensors were a mixture of British- and Netherlands-made radars.

Chile had considered buying a second pair of destroyers in the mid-1960s but instead purchased two Condell-class frigates, a derivative of the Leander-class frigate, instead.

Ships
Vickers offered two similar ships to the Colombian Navy but the Colombians bought two Halland-class destroyers from Sweden instead.