Argentinian Battleship Rivadavia

The Argentinian battleship Rivadavia under construction at the Fore River Shipyard located at Quincy, Massachusetts in 1912.

Rivadavia and her sister, Moreno, were the first Argentinian dreadnoughts. They were built in response to the arrival of the Brazilian Minas Geraes class as a part of the South American Dreadnought race. The requirements for the Rivadavia class were left open as Argentina wanted bidders to offer the most modern designs.

The United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, and the United States all bid on building the ships. Though the United States was one of the initial bidders, it was thought that actually winning the bid was a long shot. The Argentinian Navy strongly favoured the United Kingdom. On the other hand, Germany already supplied the military and having them also supply the Navy would have been attractive. To make matters more complicated, the Vice President of Argentina was pro-Italy due to connections he made while serving as an Envoy there.

However, despite these odds, the United States found itself an unexpected ally in the form of La Prensa, the largest newspaper in Buenos Aires. The paper was in favour of American dreadnoughts. To help support their case, La Presna provided evidence of British meddling in previous naval deals. This led to outrage among the Argentinian public and led to the Navy calling for a second round of bidding.

This time around, the United States found itself offering the lowest bid at 10.7 million, almost 1 million dollars cheaper than the United Kingdom's bid. Though the United Kingdom attempted to slash prices, skilful diplomacy by the United States government sealed the deal. The dreadnought Rivadavia would be built by the Fore River Shipyard while Moreno would be built by the New York Shipbuilding Company. Steel would be supplied by the Bethlehem Steel Company.

The choice of the United States as the builder came as a shock to European nations who saw themselves as leaders in naval development. However, they underestimated the power of the gigantic United States steel industry which could produce steel at a much lower price than Europe could. Bethlehem Steel could produce steel 8£ cheaper per ton compared to the cheapest British plants.