''Leopold I'' (F930) 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 ...

. Prior to 29 March 2007, the ship was known as HNLMS ''Karel Doorman'' (F827). It is one of the two frigates of this class 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.

HNLMS ''Karel Doorman''

HNLMS ''Karel Doorman'' was the first ship of the of multi-purpose

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

s (also known as "M-fregat" class). She was the third ship in the Royal Netherlands Navy to be named after Admiral

Karel Doorman Karel Willem Frederik Marie Doorman (23 April 1889 – 28 February 1942) was a Royal Netherlands Navy officer who during World War II commanded remnants of the short-lived American-British-Dutch-Australian Command naval strike forces in ...

, who was killed during the

Battle of the Java Sea The Battle of the Java Sea (, ) was a decisive naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II. Allied navies suffered a disastrous defeat at the hand of the Imperial Japanese Navy on 27 February 1942 and in secondary actions over succ ...

. The ship was laid down on 26 February 1985, launched on 20 April 1988 and commissioned on 31 May 1991. She took part in anti-drug operations in the Caribbean together with the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

, was part of the UN operations in the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...

during the conflicts in the former republics of

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, as well as various

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

exercises.

''Leopold I''

On 20 July 2005, the Belgian government decided to buy two of the remaining six Dutch M-class frigates to replace the two remaining frigates of the (''Wielingen'' and ''Westdiep'') then in service with the Belgian Naval Component. On 22 December 2005, ''Karel Doorman'' and ''Willem van der Zaan'' were sold to Belgium. ''Karel Doorman'' was taken out of service in 2006 and turned over to the Belgian Marine Component on 29 March 2007 where the ship was christened ''Leopold I'', in honour of the first

King of the Belgians The monarchy of Belgium is the Constitutional monarchy, constitutional and Inheritance, hereditary institution of the monarchical head of state of the Kingdom of Belgium. As a popular monarchy, the Belgian monarch uses the title king/quee ...

, by

Queen Fabiola of Belgium Fabiola Fernanda María-de-las-Victorias Antonia Adelaida de Mora y Aragón (11 June 1928 – 5 December 2014) was Queen of the Belgians as the wife of King Baudouin from their marriage in 1960 until his death in 1993. The couple had no child ...

Zeebrugge Zeebrugge (; from , meaning "Bruges-on-Sea"; , ) 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-Zeebrugge and a seafront resort with ...

Marine Base. The patronage of ''Leopold I'' was accepted by the city of

Nivelles Nivelles (; ; ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant. The Nivelles municipality includes the former municipalities of Baulers, Bornival, Thines, and Monstreux. The Nivelles arrondissement ...

. ''Willem van der Zaan'' was commissioned into the Belgian Marine Component as in April 2008.

East African deployment

''Leopold I'' embarked upon her first official mission for the Naval Component on 5 September 2007. She was deployed to East Africa as part of the international mission against

Somali pirates Horn of Africa * Somali Peninsula, a region of East Africa, also known as "The Horn of Africa" * Somalis, an inhabitant or ethnicity associated with Greater Somali Region ** Greater Somalia ** Somali language, a Cushitic language ** Somali culture ...

. The operation was given the codename ''East African Venture''. On 30 November 2007 she arrived back at her home port of Zeebrugge, marking the end of the deployment.

Fight against ISIL

In November 2015, a

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

press release stated that ''Leopold I'' would be part of the task force launching strikes against the

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS occupied signi ...

. Her deployment took place from 18 November 2015 to 4 January 2016.

Coronavirus pandemic

Belgian Defense announced on 25 March 2020 that a crew member had tested positive for

SARS-CoV-2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19, the respiratory illness responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had the Novel coronavirus, provisional nam ...

. The sailor had been evacuated via air to

Den Helder Den Helder () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Den Helder occupies the northernmost point of the North Holland peninsula. It is home to the country's main naval base. From here the Royal TESO fe ...

on 20 March 2020 after he began showing symptoms, and was quarantined at home when the test returned positive on 24 March. As a precaution, the ship broke off from its operation with the French carrier battle group led by ''Charles de Gaulle'' and returned to Zeebrugge on 27 March 2020, about a month earlier than planned.

References

External links

Section of the website of the Belgian Ministry of Defence about the F930 ''Leopold I''

Homepage of ''Hr. Ms. Karel Doorman'' (in Dutch)

some pictures of F930 on Kiel Canal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leopold I (F930) 1988 ships Ships built in Vlissingen Karel Doorman-class frigates Karel Doorman-class frigates of the Belgian Navy Naval ships of Belgium Naval ships involved in the COVID-19 pandemic Leopold I of Belgium