''Hydra'' (F-452) (

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

Φ/Γ ''Ύδρα'') 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 and flagship of the

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. The ship was built in the same shipyard as the

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MEKO 200 The MEKO 200 is a frigate design by the Blohm + Voss shipyard of Germany, as part of the MEKO family of warships. Variants ''Anzac'' class (MEKO 200ANZ) Ten MEKO 200 frigates were built to the Anzac-class frigate, ''Anzac''-class design: ei ...

frigate class, on which its design was based. Three more vessels were built by Hellenic Shipyards Co. at

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in following years. It is the fifth ship in the Hellenic Navy to bear the name ''Hydra''. ''Hydra'' was the first of four frigates of the MEKO 200 type (the four being ''Hydra'', , , and ) ordered by the Greek government. The ship was delivered to the Hellenic Navy on 15 October 1992 and first sailed in Greek waters on 28 January 1993. The crest of the frigate ''Hydra'' is the same as that of her predecessor. It is based on one of the flags which the ships of

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sailed under during the 1821 revolution. In April 1988, the Hellenic Navy proposed and approved the four frigates of the MEKO 200 type in an effort to modernize its fleet. After a lengthy negotiation process, the following contracts were signed to fulfill the program: * A contract with ΜΕΚΟ Consortium (MC), Blohm + Voss AG and Thyssen Rheinstahl Technik to build the frigate in Germany. * A second contract with MEKO Consortium to supply parts to Hellenic Shipyards to build the other three ''Hydra''-class frigates in Scaramanga, Greece On 12 May 2020, Hydra sailed off from her port in Salamis Island to participate in

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, however the ship was damaged for unknown reasons and had to be replaced by another ship of the same class, '' Spetsai''. In March 2024, in response to the

Red Sea crisis {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Red Sea crisis , width = , partof = the Iran–Israel proxy conflict, the Middle Eastern crisis (2023–present), and the Yemeni civil war (2014–present) , image ...

, ''Hydra'' was deployed to the Red Sea to protect shipping from

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 as part of the European Union's

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 ...

. The ship was equipped with new electronic warfare and anti-drone systems for the mission. On March 13, she spotted two Houthi drones and shot them down with her 127mm gun. In 25 April, the frigate Hydra fired shots at two drones as part of its mission in EUNAV FOR ASPIDES operation (Operation Shields) in the Gulf of Aden. According to reports, the incident occurred while the navy frigate was helping to protect a merchant vessel in the maritime route. The Greek frigate reportedly shot at two Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), in accordance with the Rules of Engagement, where one drone was shot down, and the other changed course. The ship returned to Greece on 6 June 2024.

References

External links

Official Hellenic Navy page for Hydra Class Frigates (English)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hydra (F-452) 1991 ships Hydra-class frigates Ships built in Hamburg Frigates of Greece