Although A-14 Patiño and A-836 Amsterdam come from the same design and externally they are nearly twins, internally they are very different. A-14 vessel was conceived to supply an aircraft carrier and its escort group and the A-836 was conceived to supply mainly a naval group composed by frigates. The ship can maintain its maximum speed of 20 knots in a sustained manner, which allows it to accompany the battle group without problems. Patiño has the ability to perform the provisioning underway, which makes it a very valuable vessel in real operations.A-14 Patiño was built in just 24 months thanks to the use of an integrated modular system devised by Bazan company. The stability and subdivision rules of the US Navy were followed, allowing the ship to navigate with winds up to 100 knots and with two adjacent compartments flooded. The ship allows a growth up to 150 tons in its displacement and an increase of 10 centimeters in its center of gravity.The ship can carry about 6,815 tons of DFM (diesel fuel marine) or F-76, 1,798 tons of JP-5 or F-44 aviation fuel, 182 tons of fresh water, 100 tons of food, 240 tons of ammunition, 25 tons of sonobuoys and 9 tons of spare parts. This vessel can provide supplies during 3 weeks to a Naval Combat Group, normally composed within the Spanish Navy, by an aircraft carrier, 5 escorts and some 20 aircraft.The ship has four supply stations for liquids. The two on the port side can supply 680 m3/h of fuel and 50 m3/h of fresh water and the two on the starboard side can supply 680 m3/h of DFM, 115 m3/h of JP-5 and 50 m3/h of fresh water. The greater supply capacity on the port side is due to the fact that former R-11 Principe de Asturias aircraft carrier had its supply taps to starboard, for that reason the stations on the starboard side have less capacity of fuel JP-5. In addition, the A-14 Patiño has a fifth station aft.For solid cargo the ship has four other stations, two on each side, one for heavy solids up to 2 tons and another for light solids up to 250 kg. In adition, an aft station for vertical replenishment (VERTREP), placed on the flight deck, complete its supply elements. The solid cargo is distributed inside the ship in a corridor located on the starboard side through which containers and vehicles can circulate. The load is carried to the deck with two elevators of 5 and 3.5 tons capacity. The loading and unloading operations are fully automated and in charge of a quartermaster’s Colonel.The A-14 Patiño has a flight deck of 26 x 22 meters located aft and can accommodate and maintain up to three AB-212 medium helicopters or two SH-3 Sea King heavy helicopters, although usually only one is taken. The ship has the ability to perform visual and instrumental flight operations, both day and night, and has accommodations for an air component up to 24 people.The crew consists of 150 people and the ship can hold 20 more provisionally, for example, Naval Infantry in security and surveillance missions or a General Staff in command and control missions. The ship has a library, a gym, fitness room, jogging areas, laundry and a 10-bed hospital with operating room, radiological exploration equipment and dental service. The comfort of the crew is a very careful aspect and the ship has single or double accommodations for officers, doubles or quadruples for non-commissioned officers, quadruples for corporals and sextuples for sailors, all of them with furniture and desks.A-14 Patiño has a self-protection armament consisting of two 20mm Oerlikon GAM-B01 guns, four 12.7mm M2 Browning machine guns and two 7.62mm MG-42 machine guns. It also has six Mk.36 (SRBOC) chaff dispensers, a SLQ-25 NIXIE acoustic device against torpedoes and a URN-25A TACAN Aldebaran ECM/ESM system. Finally, it has two rigid RHIB and one Zodiac boats with which it can carry out missions of registration of other ships, rescue, transport and self-protection among others.The electronic equipment is very complete and is composed of an integrated EID ICCS.3 communications system and satellite communications via SECOMSAT and INMARSAT. In addition, a Kelvin Hughes KH.1007 air/surface radar, a Kelvin Hughes KH.1007 helicopters control radar, a LPI PILOT Mk.2 Mod.7 navigation radar, an AN/TPX-54 (V) Mk.12 IFF system, a FLIR camera, the AIS automatic identification equipment, a REGULUS radiocommunications equipment and a CCTV for internal control of the ship are installed. The internal communication is made through a system of wireless radiotelephones distributed throughout the ship that works even in case of serious damage to the ship.The motto of the ship is “Non venit ministrari, sed ministrare” (I have not come to be served, but to serve), and it really fulfills it. She has participated in Operation Sharp Guard in 1996, Operation Allied Action in 1998, Operation Enduring Freedom in 2002, Operation “Libre Hidalgo” in 2006, Operation Active Endeavor in 2009 and 2010, Operation Atalanta in 2010, 2011 and 2012. She has also participated in a multitude of international naval exercises within the NATO’s naval forces of STANAVFORLANT/SNMG-1 and STANAVFORMED/SNMG-2 and within the European framework EUROMARFOR and EUNAVFOR. In 2016 she fulfilled the curious task of giving support to the Royal Canadian Navy, (at his own request), in various naval exercises due to the temporary lack of AOR ships.On December 9, 2002, Patiño jumped to the front pages of the press when they board the “So-San” cargo ship when sailing to the southwest of Yemen. The ship sailed without a flag and after ignoring the warning shots, a helicopter was finally sent with a special operations team that reduced the crew. Later, they found 15 Scud missiles, 15 250 kg conventional warheads, 23 nitric-acid tanks and 85 drums filled with chemical products destined for the Yemeni Army. This material was hidden under 40,000 bags of cement and did not appear on the cargo manifest. Also on January 12, 2012, she returned to the media when she was attacked “by mistake” by Somali pirates who mistook her with a simple merchant, as a result one pirate was killed and the other six were arrested, two of which were Yemeni.
