Wielingen class Frigate Belgian Navy Armed Forces

Belgian Armed Forces - Naval Component / Defensie - Marinecomponent / La Defense - Composante Marine
Wielingen class Frigate

wielingen class frigate belgian navy armed forces bns westdiep wandelaar westhinder 02x

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Ships:

F 910 BNS Wielingen (1978)
F 911 BNS Westdiep (1978)
F 912 BNS Wandelaar (1978)
F 913 BNS Westhinder (1978)

Specifications:

Displacement: 2200 tons (full load)
Length: 106.4 meters (349 feet)
Beam: 12.3 meters (40 ft 4 in)
Draft: 3.9 meters (12 ft 9 in) / 5.4 meters (17 ft 8 in) - sonar dome
Speed: 28 knots (52 km/h) with gas turbine / 14 knots (1 diesel) / 21 knots (2 diesel)
Range: 6000 NM at 16 knots (30 km/h)
Complement: 159

Propulsion:
Combined Diesel or Gas (CODOG)
1 x Rolls-Royce TM-3B gas turbine (27575 hp / 20563 kW)
2 x ABC type DZC 12 cylinder diesel engines (4200 hp / 3100 kW, each)
2 shafts / 2 controllable pitch propellers (CPP)

Armament:
1 x Creusot-Loire 100mm gun
1 x Mk.29 launcher for 8 x RIM-7 Sea Sparrow SAM
4 x MM38 Exocet SSM launcher
1 x Bofors M/50 375mm multiple ASW rocket launcher
2 x ECAN L5 Mod.4 533mm (21”) torpedo tubes

Aviation:
none

Systems:
1 x Kelvin-Hugues type 1007/Scout navigation radar
1 x Hollandse Signaal Apparaten DA-05 surveillance radar
1 x Hollandse Signaal Apparaten WM-25 targeting radar
2 x EOMS IR/Video optical targeting cameras
1 x AN/SQS-510 sonar

The Wielingen class is a class of four multi-functional frigates built for the Belgian Navy. The ships are named after sandbanks in the North Sea, not far from the Belgian coast, or sea routes. The lead ship is named after the Wielingen sandbank.

The Belgian government decided on 22 December 1970 to order four new frigates, which would be built by Belgian shipyards. These ships would replace the old escort ships of the Algerine class. The last of these left service in 1969.

Project studies had already begun in 1964 with the advice of the Dutch Navy and continued in 1971 in cooperation with the two Belgian shipyards, Boelwerf, at Temse, and Cockerill, at Hoboken, Antwerp. The construction of the ships began in 1974. The four ships, Wielingen, Westdiep, Wandelaar, and Westhinder, were commissioned in the following years.

The fourth frigate, Westhinder, was decommissioned in 1993 according to the reforms of Defence Minister Leo Delcroix. She had previously been damaged during an anti-submarine exercise off the coast of Norway. The third ship, Wandelaar, followed in 2004 and was sold to the Bulgarian Navy the same year. Wielingen and Westdiep were sold to Bulgaria in 2008.

source: wikipedia

class + detail images
for more images go to the individual ship's page

wielingen class frigate belgian navy armed forces mk-29 rim-7 sea sparrow sam launcher mm38 exocet ssm missile asw rocket giat 100mm gun 02

wielingen class frigate belgian navy armed forces mk-29 rim-7 sea sparrow sam launcher mm38 exocet ssm missile asw rocket 03 armament

wielingen class frigate belgian navy armed forces mk-29 rim-7 sea sparrow sam launcher mm38 exocet ssm missile asw rocket giat 100mm gun drawing

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