Spanish frigate Navarra (F85)

Career
Name:	SPS Navarra (F85)
Builder:	Bazan
Laid down:	15 April 1991
Launched:	23 October 1992
Commissioned:	27 May 1994
Homeport:	Rota, Cádiz
Status:	in active service, as of 2011[update]
General characteristics
Class and type:	Santa Maria-class frigate
Displacement:	2,851 long tons (2,897 t) light 3,610 long tons (3,668 t) standard 4,177 long tons (4,244 t) full load
Length:	138.8 m (455 ft 5 in)
Beam:	14.3 m (46 ft 11 in)
Draft:	8.6 m (28 ft 3 in)
Propulsion:	2 × General Electric LM2500-30 gas turbines generating 41,000 shp (31 MW) coupled to a single shaft and controllable pitch propeller
Speed:	30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)+
Armament:	• OTO Melara Mk 75 76 mm/62 caliber naval gun • Mk 32 triple-tube (324 mm) launcher for Mark 46 torpedoes • Mk 13 Missile Launcher for RGM-84 Harpoon SSM and SM-1MR Block VIB SAM • 20 mm Meroka CIWS 12 barrel AA system
Aircraft carried:	SH-60 Seahawk LAMPS III helicopter

SPS Navarra (F85) is the fifth of the six Spanish-built Santa Maria-class frigates, based on the American Oliver Hazard Perry class design, of the Spanish Navy.

Laid down on April 15, 1991, and launched on October 23, 1992, Navarra was commissioned in service on May 27, 1994.

The ship features a series of improvements to her previous sisters, with a new Meroka mod 2B CIWS, and upgraded fire control systems with Mk.92 mod6 CORT (Coherent Receiver Transmitter) and SPS-49(v)5 radar instead of previous (v)4.

All of these Spanish frigates have the length of the later Oliver Hazard Perry frigates, and have a wider beam than the US Navy design, and therefore able to carry more top weight. Fin stabilizers are fitted.

Operational Service

So San assault

On December 9, 2002, Navarra intercepted the unflagged freighter So San several hundred miles southeast of Yemen at the request of the United States government as part of Operation Enduring Freedom - Horn of Africa. The frigate fired across the So San's bow after the freighter ignored hails and attempted to evade the frigate. The freighter's crew was North Korean; 23 containers containing 15 complete Scud ballistic missiles, 15 high-explosive warheads, and 23 nitric acid containers were found on board. Yemen claimed ownership of the shipment and protested the interception and U.S. officials released the vessel after receiving assurances that the missiles would not be transferred to a third party.^[1][2] On 23 March 2010, she sank a Somali pirate mothership lifeboat and captured two skiffs,^[3] after private security forces successfully defended the MV Almezaan from a pirate attack.^[4] The six suspected pirates were later released, when the master and crew of the Almezaan refused to testify.^[5]

Other units of class

• Santa María (F81)
• Victoria (F82)
• Numancia (F83)
• Reina Sofía (F84)
• Canarias (F86)

See also

Action of 25 March 2010

External links

• BUQUESDEGUERRA.TK, a Spanish website about warships (Spanish)

References

1. ^ "Scud affair draws US apology" BBC news, 12 December 2002
2. ^ "U.S. lets Scud ship sail to Yemen" CNN.com, 12 December 2002
3. ^ La 'Navarra' intercepta dos esquifes y un barco nodriza Spanish MoD release, 23 March 2010 (Spanish)
4. ^ "'Pirate' dies as ship's guards repel attack off Somalia". BBC News Online. 24 March 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8584604.stm. Retrieved 24 March 2010. 
5. ^ "EU force frees Somali 'pirates'". BBC News. 25 March 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8586729.stm.