Greek frigate ''Elli'' (F450) () is the

lead ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships that are all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very comple ...

of the Greek of

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, and the third

Hellenic Navy The Hellenic Navy (HN; , abbreviated ΠΝ) is the Navy, naval force of Greece, part of the Hellenic Armed Forces. The modern Greek navy historically hails from the naval forces of various Aegean Islands, which fought in the Greek War of Independ ...

ship by that name. It is named after the battle of Elli in which the hellenic navy defeated the Ottoman fleet. The class is based on 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 ...

's and was built in a Dutch shipyard; however, unlike later members of its class in the Hellenic Navy, it was not originally in Dutch service but was sold directly to

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. The ''Elli'' was built at the Koninklijke Maatschappij de Schelde in Vlissingen, Holland, along with the frigate ''Limnos'' as part of a commission for the two ships from the Greek government. Her maiden voyage was on 10 October 1981 under her first captain, Grigoris Demestihas. She arrived in Greece on 15 November that year. The ''Elli'' took part in the

Persian Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

from 1990–91, enforcing the UN resolution on Iraq in the neighborhood of 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 ...

. It was modernised in 2006.

References

External links

Official Hellenic Navy page for Standard Class Frigates (English)
Elli-class frigates Ships built in Vlissingen 1981 ships Gulf War ships of Greece Frigates of Greece Frigates of the Cold War {{mil-ship-stub