Commandant Rivière-class frigate

Escort Commandant Bourdais on the Seine river in July 1989
Class overview
Name	Commandant Rivière
Builders	Arsenal de Lorient
Operators	Marine Nationale National Navy of Uruguay
In commission	1962 - 1991
Completed	9
Laid up	1 (Uruguay)
Retired	6
General characteristics
Type	frigate
Displacement	1,750 tons standard, 2,230 tons full load
Length	98 m
Beam	11.5 m
Draught	4.3 m
Propulsion	2 shaft diesel 16,000 hp
Speed	25 knots
Range	7500 nmi at 16 knots
Boats & landing craft carried	LCPS boats
Complement	9 officers 67 non-commissioned officers 93 Quarter-masters and sailors
Sensors and processing systems	DRBV22A sentry radar Decca 1226 navigation radar DRBC32C fire control radar DUBA3 sonar SQS17 sonar
Electronic warfare & decoys	ARBR10 radar detector
Armament	3 x 100 mm guns (3x1) - one gun later replaced by 4 MM38 Exocet Missiles 2 - 30 mm guns 1 -305 mm anti-submarine mortar 6 - 550 mm torpedo tubes (2x3)

The Commandant Rivière class was a type of frigates built for the French Navy in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Labeled "aviso-escorteur" (fr: "sloop-escort"), they were designed to perform the role of overseas patrol in peacetime and Anti-Submarine escort in wartime.

Four similar ships were built for the Portuguese Navy as the João Belo class frigate. The ships had accommodation for an 80-man commando detachment with two fast landing boats, each capable of landing 25 men.

All French units were decommissioned in the mid-1990s, save for three frigates that were sold to the Uruguayan Navy.

Ships

All French ships were built by Arsenal de Lorient

Pennant	Name	Namesake	Commissioned	Fate
F725	Victor Schoelcher	Victor Schoelcher	1962	Sold to Uruguay 1988 as the General Artigas
F726	Commandant Bory	Victor Bory	1964	Decommissioned late 1990s
F727	Admiral Charner	Léopold Victor Charner	14 December 1962	Sold to Uruguay 1991 as the Montevideo
F 728	Doudart de Lagrée	Ernest Doudart de Lagrée	1 May 1963	Decommissioned 1991
F729	Balny	Adrien-Paul Balny d'Avricourt	1 February 1970	Decommissioned 1994
F 733	Commandant Rivière	Henri Rivière	4 December 1962	Trials ship 1986 - decommissioned late 1990s
F740	Commandant Bourdais	Adrien Bourdais	10 March 1963	Sold to Uruguay 1990 as the Uruguay
F748	Protet	Auguste Léopold Protet	1 May 1964	Decommissioned 1992
F749	Enseigne de Vaisseau Henry	Paul Henry	1 January 1965	Decommissioned 1994

See also

• João Belo class frigate

References

• Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947-1995