Italy’s 3 new frigates at sea together for the first time

Carlo Bergamini (F590) is a general purpose frigate while Virginio Fasan (F591) and Carlo Margottini (F592) are ASW variants. A total of 6 GP and 4 ASW frigates are planned for the Italian Navy. France will take 7 ASW frigates and 2 air-defence frigates. Morocco has accepted a single frigate into service.

“Nuovo successo per la Marina Militare e l’industria italiana” – Le prime tre FREMM prendono il largo

Golfo di La Spezia – Nel corso della mattina del 26 settembre il Golfo dei poeti ha tenuto a battesimo Nave Carlo Margottini che ha effettuato la sua prima uscita in mare. L’ultima “nata” del programma FREMM, strategico ed ambizioso programma di costruzioni navali militari in Europa che vede impegnati Francia ed Italia, rappresenta un successo programmatico nato dalla vincente sinergia tra la cantieristica italiana e la Marina Militare.

Nave Margottini, unitamente alle altre due FREMM (fregate europee multi-missione) italiane, realizzate da Orizzonte Sistemi Navali, la joint-venture fra Fincantieri e Selex ES, hanno lasciato per la prima volta tutte insieme i moli del cantiere del Muggiano per il mare aperto.

La capoclasse nave Carlo Bergamini, consegnata alla Marina Militare lo scorso maggio e le gemelle Virginio Fasan e Carlo Margottini, che dovrebbero essere consegnate rispettivamente entro fine anno ed il prossimo febbraio, hanno effettuato una serie di evoluzioni e prove nel corso della giornata volte a testare l’efficienza dei moderni imbarcati.

Royal Navy Tribal-class frigates

HMS Ashanti (F117)
built: Yarrow & Co Ltd, Glasgow
laid down: 15 January 1958
launched: 9 March 1959
commissioned: 23 November 1961
fate: sunk as target 1988

HMS Nubian (F131)
built: HM Dockyard, Portsmouth
laid down: 7 September 1959
launched: 6 September 1960
commissioned: 9 October 1962
fate: sunk as target 1987

HMS Gurkha (F122)
built: JI Thornycroft & Co Ltd, Southampton
laid down: 3 November 1958
launched: 11 July 1960
commissioned: 13 February 1963
fate: sold to Indonesia as ‘Wilhelmus Zakarias Yohannes’ in 1984

HMS Eskimo (F119)
built: JS White & Co Ltd, Cowes, Isle of Wight
laid down: 22 October 1958
launched: 20 March 1960
commissioned: 21 February 1963
fate: sunk as target 1986

HMS Tartar (F133)
built: HM Dockyard, Devonport
laid down: 22 October 1959
launched: 19 September 1960
commissioned: 26 February 1962
fate: sold to Indonesia as ‘Hasanuddin’ 1984

HMS Mohawk (F125)
built: Vickers-Armstrongs (Shipbuilders) Ltd, Barrow-in-Furness
laid down: 23 December 1960
launched: 5 April 1962
commissioned: 29 December 1963
fate: sold for scrap 1982

HMS Zulu (F124)
built: Alex Stephen & Sons, Ltd, Linthouse, Glasgow
laid down: 13 December 1960
launched: 3 July 1962
commissioned: 17 April 1964
fate: sold to Indonesia as ‘Martha Khristina Tiyahahu’ 1984

South Korean launches second Incheon-class frigate

The Korean Incheon-class frigate is a ‘coastal defence frigate’ that will replace the aging Pohang-class corvettes in their patrol and maritime security rôle. The building programme is scheduled to place 15 ships in service by 2020.

South Korea launches second Incheon frigate

South Korea has launched its second Incheon-class FFX coastal defense vessel, Yonhap news agency reported.

SEOUL, July 25 (UPI) — South Korea has launched its second Incheon-class FFX coastal defense vessel, Yonhap News Agency reported.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and senior naval officials attended the launching ceremony for the 2,300-ton frigate Gyeonggi at Hyundai Heavy Industry’s shipyard in the southeastern city of Ulsan.

The Incheon, lead vessel in the class, was designed under the government’s Future Frigate Experimental program and launched in January.

Yonhap reported naval officials said the Gyeonggi — named after Gyeonggi province that surrounds Seoul — will be delivered to the navy next year and deployed for operation in 2015.

The Incheon is expected to be commissioned next year.

About 20 frigates will be built to replace the country’s aging Ulsan and Pohang patrol escort ships by 2020. The vessels were built between the early 1980s and the early 1990s.

The Pohang-class vessels were built by Korea Shipbuilding Corp., Hyundai Heavy Industries, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Korea Takoma. Hyundai Heavy Industries also built the Ulsan guided missile ships.

The Incheon and Gyeonggi vessels are South Korea’s first coastal patrol vessels built after the sinking of the patrol ship Cheonan — a Pohang-class ship — allegedly by North Korea in March 2010. The incident raised many questions by South Korean politicians and defense analysts about the condition of the navy’s equipment.

The 1,200-ton naval corvette Cheonan sank rapidly after an explosion from a suspected torpedo ripped the vessel in half. It sank just more than 1 mile southwest of Baeknyeong Island near the de facto sea border with North Korea.

North Korea consistently denies it had anything to do with the sinking.

The South Korean government also became concerned the country’s maritime protection was left wanting in the face of increasing intrusions by foreign fishing ships, especially Chinese and North Korean, into its economic zones.

In December 2011, then-South Korean President Lee Myung-bak called for “strong” measures to protect the country’s coast guard sailors during an increasing crackdown on illegal fishing by Chinese boats. Lee said he wanted no repeat of the attack earlier that month on two coast guard sailors during a raid on a Chinese boat suspected of fishing illegally in South Korean waters earlier.

A coast guard officer allegedly was stabbed by the captain of the Chinese fishing boat and died shortly after in hospital. Another coast guard member was stabbed but lived, Yonhap reported.

The confrontation between the coast guard and Chinese fishing vessel was one of the most difficult in years, said the team that boarded the ship, a report in Joongang Daily said at the time.

http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Security-Industry/2013/07/25/South-Korea-launches-second-Incheon-frigate/UPI-80921374746520/

New Admiral Grigorovich class frigate laid down at Kaliningrad

The Admiral Grigorovich-class (Project 11356) frigate is a modified Burevestnik-class (Project 1135) frigate, a long-established class of general purpose frigates which has already seen 3 iterations at the Krivak, Krivak II and Krivak III. The Russian-built Talwar-class frigate (4000 tons, 30 knots) supplied to the Indian Navy provides the base design for the Project 11356.

Russia Lays Down New Frigate for Black Sea Fleet

Russia Lays Down New Frigate for Black Sea Fleet

KALININGRAD, July 13 (RIA Novosti) – The Yantar shipyard in Russia’s Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad has launched construction of a new Project 11356 frigate for the Russian navy, local media reported.

The official ceremony, attended by Deputy Commander of the Baltic Fleet, Rear Admiral Sergei Popov, was held Friday, according to Baltic Reporter online news portal.

The Admiral Butakov is the fourth in a series of six Project 11356, or Admiral Grigorovich-class, frigates for delivery to the Black Sea Fleet between 2014 and 2016 under a contract with the Defense Ministry.

The lead warship in the series, the Admiral Grigorovich, was laid down in December 2010, the second, the Admiral Essen, in July 2011 and the third, the Admiral Makarov, in February 2012.

The Project 11356 frigates, displacing 3,850 tons are designed for anti-ship and anti-submarine warfare on the high seas, and for anti-aircraft operations, both independently and as an escort ship.

The ships are armed with an eight-cell launcher for Kalibr and Klub (3M54E) anti-ship and surface-to-surface missiles, a 100-mm main gun, Kashtan gun/missile close-in air defense systems, Shtil vertical-launch air defense missile systems, two torpedo tubes, an anti-submarine rocket system and a Ka-28 or Ka-31 helicopter, according to globalsecurity.org and rusnavy.com.

http://en.ria.ru/military_news/20130713/182213396/Russia-Lays-Down-New-Frigate-for-Black-Sea-Fleet.html