''Louise-Marie'' (F931) is a of the Marine Component of the

Belgian Armed Forces The Belgian Armed Forces (; , ) are the combined national military forces of Belgium. The Monarchy of Belgium, King of the Belgians is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. The Belgian Armed Forces was established after Belgium Belgian Rev ...

that was commissioned in 2008. It is the second of the two frigates of this

class Class, Classes, or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used d ...

that were purchased from the

Royal Netherlands Navy The Royal Netherlands Navy (, ) is the Navy, maritime service branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. It traces its history to 8 January 1488, making it the List of navies, third-oldest navy in the world. During the 17th and early 18th centurie ...

on 22 December 2005. It was originally commissioned in 1991 in the Netherlands, where it served as HNLMS ''Willem van der Zaan'' (F829).

Service

HNLMS ''Willem van der Zaan'' was rechristened ''Louise-Marie'' (F931) on 8 April 2008 in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

by Queen Paola of Belgium. It was named after ''Louise-Marie'', a naval vessel purchased by the Belgian navy in 1840, which in turn was named after Queen Louise-Marie of Belgium, the wife of Leopold I.

Missions

In September 2010, ''Louise-Marie'' was reported to be preparing for a second deployment to the

Horn of Africa The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...

. On 29 November 2013, the ship arrived in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, UK as part of the preparations for the centenary of the start of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

delivering soil from 70 World War I battlefields collected by British and Belgian schoolchildren for the

Flanders Fields Memorial Garden The Flanders Fields Memorial Garden is a monument dedicated to the participants of World War I situated alongside the Guards Chapel at Wellington Barracks in Central London, England. The garden was opened by Queen Elizabeth II of the United K ...

in London's

Wellington Barracks Wellington Barracks is a military barracks in Westminster, central London, for the Foot Guards units on public duties in that area. The building is located about from Buckingham Palace, allowing the guard to be able to reach the palace very q ...

. On January 19, 2024, it was announced the Louise-Marie was being sent to the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

to aid in the EU-led

Operation Aspides Operation Aspides, also known as EUNAVFOR Aspides, is an EU military operation in response to Houthi engagements with international shipping in the Red Sea. Named after the Greek word for shields (), Operation Aspides—unlike the US-led Ope ...

to protect naval shipping in response to a rise in

Houthi The Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, is a Zaydi Shia Islamist political and military organization that emerged from Yemen in the 1990s. It is predominantly made up of Zaydi Shias, with their namesake leadership being drawn largely ...

attacks on commercial vessels near the coast of

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

. Scheduled to transit the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...

on April 12, deployment indefinitely postponed due to failed operational and technical tests while transiting 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 east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

, including an incident where a

RIM-7 Sea Sparrow The RIM-7 Sea Sparrow is a U.S. ship-borne short-range Surface-to-air missile, anti-aircraft and anti-missile weapon system, primarily intended for defense against anti-ship missiles. The system was developed in the early 1960s from the AIM-7 Spa ...

missile was reportedly "stuck" in its launch tube. On 27 April, the issues were resolved and Louise-Marie set course for the area of operations.

References

External links

Homepage of HNLMS ''Willem van der Zaan'' on the website of the Royal Netherlands Navy
- Only available in

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Louise-Marie (F931) 1989 ships Ships built in Vlissingen Karel Doorman-class frigates of the Belgian Navy Karel Doorman-class frigates Naval ships of Belgium nl:Hr. Ms. Willem van der Zaan (1991)

Service

Missions

See also

References

External links