''Drazki'' ( bg, Дръзки, , daring, intrepid) is a of the
Bulgarian Navy
The Bulgarian Navy ( bg, Военноморски сили на Република България, Voennomorski sili na Republika Balgariya, lit=Naval Forces of the Republic of Bulgaria) is the navy of the Republic of Bulgaria and forms part of ...
. Originally constructed for the
Belgian Navy
The Belgian Navy, officially the Belgian Naval Component ( nl, Marinecomponent; french: Composante marine; german: Marinekomponente ) of the Belgian Armed Forces, is the naval service of Belgium.
History Early history
The Belgian Navy w ...
as ''Wandelaar'', the ship was acquired by the Bulgarian Navy in 2004. The frigate is currently in active service.
Construction and career
In the Belgian Navy
''Wandelaar'' was
launched on 21 June 1977 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 Chu ...
, as the third ship in the ''Wielingen'' class. The frigate was later
commissioned on 3 October 1978 with the
pennant number
In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number (an internationalisation of ''pendant number'', which it was called before 1948). Historically, naval ships flew a flag that iden ...
F912, and later christened by
Princess Marie-Esméralda of Belgium
Princess Marie-Esméralda of Belgium, Lady Moncada (born 30 September 1956) is a member of the Belgian Royal Family. She is the half-aunt of King Philippe of Belgium and Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg. Princess Marie-Esméralda is a journalist, ...
on the 27 October. It was named after the Wandelaar
sand bank
In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. It ...
off the coast of Belgium, near
Zeebrugge
Zeebrugge (, from: ''Brugge aan zee'' meaning "Bruges at Sea", french: Zeebruges) is a village on the coast of Belgium and a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. Zeebrugge serves as both the international port of Bruges-Zee ...
.
In the Bulgarian Navy
''Wandelaar'' was sold to the Bulgarian Navy in 2004. It was refurbished and commissioned as ''Drazki'' with pennant number 41. In 2008 two other
sister ship
A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...
s, and , were sold to Bulgaria.
See also
*
Bulgarian torpedo boat Drazki
''Drazki'' (Bulgarian language: ''Дръзки''; also transliterated as ''Druzki'', "Intrepid") was a Bulgarian Navy torpedo boat built at the start of the 20th century. A ship of the same class is now a museum ship under her name in Varna.
Hi ...
, after which the current ship was named
References
Wielingen-class frigates
1978 ships
Wielingen-class frigates of the Bulgarian Navy
Ships built in Belgium
Frigates of the Cold War
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