''Godetia'' (A960) was a command and logistical support ship of the Belgian Naval Component, launched on 7 December 1965 at the Boelwerf in

Temse Temse (; french: Tamise ) is a municipality in East Flanders, Belgium. The name Temse is derived from the Gallo-Roman/Gaul Tamisiacum or Tamasiacum. This is also reflected in the French name for the town, Tamise. The main sights include the Ch ...

and entered service on 2 June 1966. The patronage of ''Godetia'' was accepted by the city of

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...

. She was the first of two support ships acquired to replace

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

-era ships. Used primarily to provide logistic support to Belgium's fleet of

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

s, ''Godetia'' has also seen service as a

training ship A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house class ...

, royal yacht and fisheries protection. The vessel has served with

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 1 Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 1 (SNMCMG1) is a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) standing mine countermeasures immediate reaction force. Its role is to provide NATO with an immediate operational response capability. History From ...

in the

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages * Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originati ...

and

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north ...

seas. In June 2021, ''Godetia'' was taken out of service.

Description

''Godetia'' was designed as a command and logistical support ship and measured

long overall __NOTOC__ Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, an ...

and at the

waterline The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. Specifically, it is also the name of a special marking, also known as an international load line, Plimsoll line and water line (positioned amidships), that indi ...

, with a beam of and a draught of . The ship had a

light displacement The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...

of and at full load. The ship was powered by four ACEC-

MAN A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromo ...

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-ca ...

s turning two shafts with

controllable pitch propeller In marine propulsion, a variable-pitch propeller is a type of propeller with blades that can be rotated around their long axis to change the blade pitch. Reversible propellers—those where the pitch can be set to negative values—can al ...

s creating . ''Godetia'' had a maximum speed of and a range of at . The ship was initially armed with two twin-mounted Bofors guns located fore and aft. ''Godetia'' had a complement of 100 with accommodation for an additional 35 personnel. The vessel has a large central

hold Hold may refer to: Physical spaces * Hold (ship), interior cargo space * Baggage hold, cargo space on an airplane * Stronghold, a castle or other fortified place Arts, entertainment, and media * Hold (musical term), a pause, also called a Ferm ...

serviced by a single crane. The ship was equipped with royal apartments for the monarch of Belgium. The ship has passive tank stabilisation and closed-circuit ventilation. It could accommodate oceanographic research personnel and had laboratory space.

Refits

A refit in the late 1960s saw the aft 40 mm gun mount removed and the first level of the superstructure extended aft to create a landing pad for use by a light helicopter. Furthermore, reels of minesweeping cable were placed to either side of the landing pad. A refit in 1979–1980 saw the foremost cable reel removed and replaced with a

deckhouse A cabin or berthing is an enclosed space generally on a ship or an aircraft. A cabin which protrudes above the level of a ship's deck may be referred to as a deckhouse. Sailing ships In sailing ships, the officers and paying passengers wo ...

. The remaining twin 40 mm gun mount was removed and a single 40 mm gun mount was installed along with four twin machine gun mounts. ''Godetia'' underwent a mid-life refit in 1981–1982 which increased the ship's displacement to standard and fully loaded. The helicopter deck was extended further aft to allow Alouette III helicopters to continue to land as the fore part of the deck was used to store minesweeping cable drums. Furthermore, a

hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

was fitted in front of the landing pad and the crane was replaced. The four twin 12.7 mm mounts were removed in 1983. Six single 12.7 mm guns were later installed aboard the ship. The ship was refitted again in 2006 and 2009, with the minesweeping cables removed, a mine avoidance

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect objects on o ...

installed. The complement changed to 8 officers, 84 enlisted personnel and up to 40 cadets.

Construction and career

Belgian Navy A690 Godetia Officers and Crew at Blyth Power Station

The ship was constructed by Boelwerf in

, the first of two logistics ships ordered by Belgium to replace the ageing , which had transferred to the Belgian Navy after being seized after

from the Germans. The logistics vessel was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

on 15 February 1965, launched on 7 December 1965 and commissioned into the Belgian Naval Component on 2 June 1966. ''Godetia'' is the second naval ship named for the

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

operated by Belgians after , a British which was manned by Belgian sailors during World War II. The ship's main mission was to provide logistic support to Belgium and its allies' fleet of

s. However, the ship was later re-designated a mine countermeasures support ship and also used for

training Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or fitness that relate to specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, productivity and performance. I ...

and fisheries protection. ''Godetia'' served with

(SNMCMG1) in 2007 in the

and

seas, and became the flagship of the unit in 2018. In May–June 2015 ''Godetia'' was a part of the European Union's Triton operation, enforcing the maritime border in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

. In May, the ship recovered 200 migrants from a boat adrift in the Mediterranean after the boat's engine failed. Then in June a further 103 migrants were saved from an overloaded boat and brought to Italy for care. In 2021, ''Godetia'' rejoined SNMCMG1 for a final mission before being withdrawn from service on 26 June 2021. Belgium has no plans to replace the vessel.

Citations

References

* * * * * * *

External links

*
Section of the website of the Belgian Ministry of Defence about A960 ''Godetia''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Godetia (A960) 1965 ships Ships built in Belgium Auxiliary ships of the Belgian Navy Naval ships of Belgium