Spanish frigate Victoria (F82)

''Victoria'' (F82) is the second of the six Spanish-built s of the Spanish Navy, based on the American design. Constructed in 1983, the vessel was launched on 23 July 1986 and commissioned on 11 November 1987. The frigate has been assigned to Operation Atalanta, fighting piracy of the Somalian coast.

Design and description

The ''Santa María'' class are a series of six guided missile frigates based on the American . The ''Oliver Hazard Perry'' class had been conceived as a way to reduce unit costs while maintaining an anti-air warfare (AAW) platform with anti-submarine (ASW) and anti-surface warfare capabilities. The ''Oliver Hazard Perry'' class came in two forms, the short-hulled and long-hulled, with the ''Santa María'' class being of the later with additional beam to allow for more top weight for future modifications. The class came in two batches, with the first four being of batch one and the final two of the second. The first batch of ships have a displacement of light, standard and at full load. The second batch have the same light and standard displacements, with a full load displacement of . The frigates measure long overall and at the waterline with a beam of and a standard draught of and a maximum draught at the sonar dome of . The ships have a complement of 223 sailors including 13 officers.

The ''Santa María'' class is propelled by a controllable pitch propller powered by two General Electric LM2500 gas turbines creating , giving the vessels a maximum speed of . The frigates stow of fuel and have a range of at or at . The ships have four 1,000 kW Kato-Allison 114-DOOL diesel generator sets creating a total of 4,000 kW. These can power two retractable, rotatable auxiliary propulsion motors. The vessels have fin stabilisers fitted.

Armament and sensors

Frigates of the ''Santa María'' class are armed with a single-armed Mk 13 missile launcher serviced by a 40-round magazine that can handle 32 SM-1MR anti-air/ship missiles and 8 Harpoon anti-ship missiles. The Harpoon missiles have a range of at Mach 0.9 carrying a warhead. The SM-1R missiles have a range of at Mach 2. The vessels also mount a single OTO Melara /62 calibre naval gun capable of firing 85 rounds per minute up to with each shell carrying a warhead. For AAW defence, the ships mount a single Meroka /120 12-barrelled close-in weapons system (CIWS) capable of firing 3,600 rounds per minute up to . For ASW, the frigates are armed with two triple-mounted Mark 32 torpedo tubes for Mod 5 Mark 46 torpedoes.

The vessels are equipped with AN/SPS-49(V)4 2-D air search radar, RAN-12L (being replaced by RAN-30) 2-D low horizon air search radar for the Meroka CIWS, SPS-55 surface search radar and a Mk 92 fire-control radar. For ASW, the ships have SQS-56 sonar, SQR-19(V) towed array. For weapons fire control, they have Mk 13 weapons control, Mk 92 and SPG-60 STIR missile control, SQQ-89 ASW systems. For electronic warfare they have Nettunel intercept, a SLQ-25 Nixie towed torpedo decoy, and Mk36 SROC decoy launchers.

Aircraft

As long-hulled versions of the ''Oliver Hazard Perry'' class, the ''Santa María''-class frigates have twin hangars to accommodate up to two Sikorsky SH-60B Seahawk Light Airborne Multi-Purpose System (LAMPS) III helicopters though only one is usually embarked. The helicopter deck, located aft, is equipped with the RAST helicopter deck-handling system designed to handle LAMPS helicopters.

Construction and career

''Victoria'' was ordered on 29 June 1977. The ship was laid down on 16 August 1983 at Izar's shipyard in Ferrol, Spain. Delays in construction followed as the Spanish Navy deferred the frigate's construction in order to focus on the construction of a new aircraft carrier. The frigate was launched on 23 July 1986 and commissioned into service on 11 November 1987. The vessel is homeported at Rota, Spain as part of the 41st Escort Squadron.

On 29 March 2009, as she was taking part in Operation Atalanta, the German Navy tanker was attacked by a seven-man pirate boat. In addition to the regular 40-man civilian crew, ''Spessart'' carried a 12-man security detail which exchanged small arms fire with the pirates, and repelled the assault. The SH-60B helicopter aboard ''Victoria'' intercepted the fleeing pirate skiff, opened fire, and kept guard over the surrendering pirates until relieved by naval units. Fellow warships , and were also involved in this chase.

On 2 June 2010, ''Victoria'' provided medical assistance to the crew of the Libyan vessel MV ''Rim'', and prevented recapture of that ship by Somali pirates, after the crew of ''Rim'' overpowered the pirates who had hijacked the ship four months earlier. ''Rim'' had been anchored in the harbour of Garacad, Somalia, since her 3 February 2010 taking in the Gulf of Aden. On 3 August 2010, a helicopter from ''Victoria'' stopped a pirate attack on the Norwegian chemical tanker MV ''Bow Saga'', which had sent a distress call that it was under attack by a pirate skiff. The seven pirates on board the skiff were later captured by a second team from the European Union naval force in the region. On 3 August 2010, the Norwegian chemical tanker MV ''Bow Saga'' was proceeding through the transit corridor in the middle of the Gulf of Aden when it came under attack. A pirate skiff with 7 people on board shot at the bridge, damaging the windows. EU NAVFOR heard her distress call and ordered the closest warship, ''Victoria'' react to the incident. ''Victoria'' already had her helicopter in the air and was able to intervene only ten minutes after the call. The pirates stopped the attack and tried to flee. After warning shots, first from the helicopter and then from the warship ''Victoria'', the pirates eventually stopped. The skiff was searched by a boarding team from ''Victoria'' and weapons were subsequently found.

In November 2022, the Spanish Navy announced that ''Victoria'' was to be modified to include a second boat deck to allow for the use of rigid-hulled inflatable boats.

Notes

Citations

References

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External links

Video of fleeing pirate skiff from ''Spessart'' incident under helicopter fire

{{DEFAULTSORT:Victoria
Ships of the Spanish Navy
1986 ships
Santa María-class frigates
Ships built in Ferrol, Spain