''Hassan II'' (612) ( ar, الحسن الثاني) is a of the

Royal Moroccan Navy ber, ⴰⴷⵡⴰⵙ ⴰⴳⴻⵍⴷⴰⵏ ⵏ ⵢⵉⵍⴻⵍ , image = , caption = Royal Moroccan Navy Seal , start_date = active since: 11th century current form: 30 Apr ...

. The ship was the first to be constructed for Morocco by

Chantiers de l'Atlantique Chantiers de l'Atlantique is a shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France. It is one of the world's largest shipyards, constructing a wide range of commercial, naval, and passenger ships. It is located near Nantes, at the mouth of the Loire, Loire river ...

Saint-Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; Gallo: ''Saint-Nazère/Saint-Nazaer'') is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean ...

, France, from 1999 to 2002. The frigate entered service in 2002. ''Hassan II'' is the second of two ''Floréal''-class frigates in Moroccan service, the other being .

Design and description

The s were designed in response to a demand for a cheap warship capable of operating in low threat areas and able to perform general patrol functions. As a result, the ''Floréal'' class were constructed to mercantile standards in the areas of ammunition stowage, helicopter facilities and damage control, which significantly lowered the cost of the vessels. The ''Floréal'' class were designed for using modular construction which shortened their building times. The Moroccan frigates of the class are similar to those in French service with a few changes. ''Hassan II'' has a

standard displacement The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...

of and at full load. The frigate measures

long between perpendiculars Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the stern ...

and

overall Overalls, also called bib-and-brace overalls or dungarees, are a type of garment usually used as protective clothing when working. The garments are commonly referred to as a "pair of overalls" by analogy with "pair of trousers". Overalls were ...

with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy * Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy ** Laser beam * Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized g ...

of and a draught of . Due to the frigate's broad beam, the ship is equipped with fin stabilisers. The frigate is powered by a combined diesel and diesel (CODAD) system comprising four

SEMT Pielstick SEMT Pielstick was a French company that designed and built large diesel engines. Its full name was (Company of Thermal Machines Studies). Founded in 1948, SEMT was bought by MAN Diesel in 2006 During its existence as an independent compa ...

6 PA6 L280 BPC

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-ca ...

s driving two shafts each turning a LIPS

controllable pitch propeller In marine propulsion, a variable-pitch propeller is a type of propeller with blades that can be rotated around their long axis to change the blade pitch. Reversible propellers—those where the pitch can be set to negative values—can also ...

. The CODAD system is rated at The vessel is also equipped with one

bow thruster Manoeuvering thruster (bow thruster or stern thruster) is a transversal propulsion device built into, or mounted to, either the bow or stern, of a ship or boat to make it more manoeuvrable. Bow thrusters make docking easier, since they allow th ...

. Due to the mercantile construction design, the four diesels are all located within one machinery room for ease of maintenance. Both

diesel fuel Diesel fuel , also called diesel oil, is any liquid fuel specifically designed for use in a diesel engine, a type of internal combustion engine in which fuel ignition takes place without a spark as a result of compression of the inlet air and ...

and TR5

aviation fuel Aviation fuels are petroleum-based fuels, or petroleum and synthetic fuel blends, used to power aircraft. They have more stringent requirements than fuels used for ground use, such as heating and road transport, and contain additives to enhance ...

is brought aboard at a single location at the stern compared to naval-constructed vessels which sport two. The ship also has three diesel-electric generators located just fore and aft of the machinery room. ''Hassan II'' has a maximum speed of and a range of at . ''Hassan II'' is armed with two

Exocet The Exocet () is a French-built anti-ship missile whose various versions can be launched from surface vessels, submarines, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. Etymology The missile's name was given by M. Guillot, then the technical directo ...

MM38

surface-to-surface missile A surface-to-surface missile (SSM) or ground-to-ground missile (GGM) is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea and strike targets on land or at sea. They may be fired from hand-held or vehicle mounted devices, from fixed ins ...

s in launchers situated centrally atop the midships

superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...

. The ship also mounts one Otobreda gun turret with Najir fire control system located forwards. The vessel is capable of being armed with two 20 mm modèle F2 guns situated in atop the aft superstructure. In place of the guns, the Moroccan ''Floréal''-class frigates can be fitted with twin launchers for

Simbad SIMBAD (the Set of Identifications, Measurements and Bibliography for Astronomical Data) is an astronomical database of objects beyond the Solar System. It is maintained by the Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg (CDS), France. SIMB ...

surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft syst ...

s. The ship is equipped with two Decca Bridgemaster radars, one for use as navigational radar, the other for helicopter control, Thomsen-CSF ARBR 17 radar intercept electronic surveillance systems and two Dagaie decoy systems. The frigate is equipped with a helicopter landing pad located on the stern and a

hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

. The ship is capable of operating the embarked

Eurocopter AS565 Panther The Eurocopter (now Airbus Helicopters) AS565 Panther is the military version of the Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin medium-weight multi-purpose twin-engine helicopter. The Panther is used for a wide range of military roles, including combat assault, f ...

up to sea state 5. ''Hassan II'' is capable of operating helicopters up to the size of the

Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma The Airbus Helicopters H215 (formerly Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma) is a four-bladed, twin-engine, medium-size utility helicopter developed and initially produced by the French aerospace company Aérospatiale. It has been subsequently manufactur ...

. The ship has a complement of 89 including officers.

Construction and career

''Hassan II'' was ordered as the second of a pair of ''Floréal''-class frigates on 12 July 1999 from

for construction at their yard in

, France. The vessel's

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in B ...

was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...

in December 1999 and was built using modular construction methods which reduced the ship's construction time. ''Hassan II'' was launched on 11 February 2002 and commissioned into the

Royal Moroccan Navy ber, ⴰⴷⵡⴰⵙ ⴰⴳⴻⵍⴷⴰⵏ ⵏ ⵢⵉⵍⴻⵍ , image = , caption = Royal Moroccan Navy Seal , start_date = active since: 11th century current form: 30 Apr ...

on 20 December 2002. Beginning in September 2013, the frigate underwent a six-week refit at the Portuguese shipyard ALFEITE. In 2014, ''Hassan II'' trained with

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

vessels in 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 north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

as part of Operation Phoenix Express. In 2018, the ship took part in the international joint

naval exercise A military exercise or war game is the employment of military resources in training for military operations, either exploring the effects of warfare or testing strategies without actual combat. This also serves the purpose of ensuring the co ...

Neptune Trident, operating alongside the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack subma ...

in the

Gulf of Guinea The Gulf of Guinea is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean from Cape Lopez in Gabon, north and west to Cape Palmas in Liberia. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian (zero degrees latitude and longitude) is in the ...

. In 2019, ''Hassan II'' and the corvette were deployed to multiple European ports to train with European navies, stopping in the Netherlands, France and Germany.

Citations

References

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hassan II (612) Floréal-class frigates 2002 ships Frigates of the Royal Moroccan Navy