The Los Galapagos is an Ecuadorian Esmeraldas class corvette of 685 tons displacement, launched in 1981. She is powered by four MTU 20 V 956 TB 92 diesel engines rated at 24400 hp providing a top speed of 37 knots and a range of 7040 km at 14 knots. She is armed with two triple Aerospatiale Exocet MM40 anti-ship missile launchers; one Selenia Elsag Albatros quad anti-aircraft missile launcher; one OTO Melara 76 mm/62 compact gun; two Breda 40 mm/70 anti-aircraft guns; two triple 324 mm ILAS-3 torpedo tubes for the Whitehead Motofides A244 anti-submarine torpedo. She carries a complement of 51 crew and has a landing deck for a Bell Model 206Bhelicopter. Research Los Galapagos
The Galapagos (the Spanish for 'tortoises') is a group of thirteen islands of volcanic origin in the North Pacific Ocean, about 600 miles west of the coast of Ecuador, to which they belong. They have a total area of 2950 square miles. The most important islands are Albemarle, 60 miles long by 15 wide, and rising 4700 feet above the sea; Indefatigable, Chatham, Charles, James, and Narborough. Of these some were formerly used by the Republic of Ecuador as penal settlements. Many of the fauna and flora of the islands are peculiar to them, the most remarkable being a large lizard and the elephanttortoise. Research Galapagos
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Matt and Leela Probert
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