title: ARA El Plata (1874)
text: # ARA El Plata (1874)
  
  ARA El Plata was the first of two El Plata-class monitors built in Britain in the 1870s for the Argentine Navy.
  
  ## Description
  
  El Plata was 186 feet (56.7 m) long overall, with a beam of 44 feet (13.4 m) and a draft of 9.5–10.5 feet (2.9–3.2 m). She displaced 1,535–1,677 long tons (1,560–1,704 t), and her crew numbered 120 officers and enlisted men.
  
  The ship had two compound steam engines, each driving one propeller shaft, rated at a total power of 750 indicated horsepower (560 kW). This gave her a maximum speed of 9–9.5 knots (16.7–17.6 km/h; 10.4–10.9 mph). El Plata carried 120 long tons (122 t) of coal which gave her a range of approximately 1,400 nautical miles (2,600 km; 1,600 mi).
  
  