Wielingen-class frigate
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| General Characteristics | 
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|---|---|
| Displacement: | 2,200 tons |
| Length: | 106.38 m |
| Beam: | 12.3 m |
| Draught: | 5.6 m (incl. sonardome) |
| Propulsion: | CODOG = Combined Diesel or Gas Turbine hp ABC type DZC Dieselengines of 4200 PK hp 1 Rolls Royce Olympus TM - 3B Gasturbine of 25.575 PK |
| Speed: | 28 knots |
| Crew: | 159 |
| Armament: | 1 automatic cannon 100 mm CREUSOT LOIRE hp 1 launchinstallation NATO SEA SPARROW with 8 rockets 1 launchinstallation MM-38 EXOCET with 4 rockets 1 rocketdepthbomber 375mm BOFORS 2 lauchinstallations with 10 torpedoes ECAN l5 Mod. 4 |
The Wielingen class is a class of four multi-functional frigates of the Belgian Navy. The ships are named after sandbanks in the North Sea, not far from the Belgian coast, or searoutes. The lead ship is named after the Wielingen sandbank.
History
The Belgian government decided on 22 December 1970 to order four new frigates, which would be built by the Belgian shipyards. These ships would replace the old escortships of the Algerine class. These were put out of service in 1969.
The studies on this project already began in 1964 with the advice of the Dutch Navy and continued in 1971 in cooperation with the two Belgian shipyards, Boelwerf (Temse) and Cockerill (Hoboken - Antwerp). The construction of the ships began in 1974. The four ships, F910 Wielingen, F911 Westdiep, F912 Wandelaar and F913 Westhinder, were commissioned in the following years.
The fourth frigate, the F913 Westhinder, was put out of service in 1993 according to the Delcroix reformation plan. The third ship, the F912 Wandelaar, followed in 2004 and was sold to Bulgaria the same year. There are also talks on selling Wielingen and Westdiep.
Ships
- F910 Wielingen, build at the Boelwerf shipyard (Temse), launched 30 March 1976, commissioned 20 January 1978
- F911 Westdiep, build at the Cockerill shipyard (Hoboken - Antwerp), launched 08 December 1975, commissioned 20 January 1978
- F912 Wandelaar, build at the Boelwerf shipyard (Temse), launched 21 June 1977, commissioned 3 October 1978 (sold in 2004 to Bulgaria and commissioned as Drazki (Дръзки) (41))
- F913 Westhinder, build at the Cockerill shipyard (Hoboken - Antwerp), launched 30 30 March 1976, commissioned 20 January 1978 (put out of action in 1993)