Wielingen class frigate

The "Wielingen class" is a class of four multi-functional frigates built for the Belgian Naval Component. 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. It had been damaged earlier during an anti-submarine exercise off the coast of Norway. The third ship, the F912 "Wandelaar", followed in 2004 and was sold to Bulgaria the same year. The "Wielingen" and "Westdiep" were sold to Bulgaria in 2008.

hips

*"F910 Wielingen", build at the Boelwerf shipyard (Temse), launched 30 March 1976, commissioned 20 January 1978, decommissioned in 2006, sold to Bulgaria in 2008, going to be commissioned as Verni (Верни) (42).
*"F911 Westdiep", build at the Cockerill shipyard (Hoboken - Antwerp), launched 08 December 1975, commissioned 20 January 1978, decommissionned on 5th october 2007, sold in 2008 to Bulgaria and commissioned as Gordi (Горди) (43).

*"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 (decommissioned in 1993, now scrapped)

[http://zm-fn.blogspot.com/2007/10/f911-westdiep-retrait-du-service-de-la.html informations & pictures] of ceremony of decommissioning of Westdiep