Vasco da Gama-class frigate

NRP Corte Real
Class overview
NameVasco da Gama, MEKO 200 PN
Builders
Operators Portuguese Navy
In commission1991–present
Completed3
Active2
Laid up1
General characteristics
TypeFrigate
Displacement
  • 2,920 tons standard
  • 3,200 tons full load
Length115.9 m (380 ft 3 in)
Beam14.8 m (48 ft 7 in)
Draught6.2 m (20 ft 4 in)
Propulsion
Speed
  • 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph) (gas turbines)
  • 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) (Diesel only)
Range4,000 nmi (7,400 km; 4,600 mi) at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Complement
  • 180
  • 19 officers
  • 40 petty-officers
  • 102 enlisted
  • 13 air crew
  • 6 boarding team
Sensors and
processing systems
Electronic warfare
& decoys
  • 1 APECS II/700 ESM
  • Countermeasures: SRBOC launcher
Armament
Aviation facilitiesFlight deck and hangar for 2 Super Lynx Mk.95 helicopters

The Vasco da Gama class is a class of frigates of the Portuguese Navy. Named in honor of the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama, the ships are based on the German MEKO 200 design, and are Portugal's major surface ships. Portugal operates three ships of this class, which were built in Hamburg by Blohm + Voss (B&V) and by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW) in Kiel, using modular construction techniques.

The project for the construction of three frigates of this class was authorized by the Portuguese Government in 1985, five years after the request of the Portuguese Navy for the acquisition of new surface ships. According to Conway's, 60% of the funding for these ships came from NATO military aid. Similar ships have been built for the navies of Greece, Turkey, Australia and New Zealand.

Modernization[edit]

In 2019, the new Military Programming Law was approved by the Portuguese Assembly of the Republic, which provided an amount of 125 million euros for the modernization of the three frigates of the Vasco da Gama class.[1] In November 2022, the order authorizing the Ministry of National Defence to proceed with the modernization, was signed, in order to be able to use the ships in scenarios of high intensity combat.[2] Among the improvements to be made to the frigates is the incorporation of RIM-162 ESSM Block-2 missiles to replace the RIM-7 Sea Sparrow. The frigate NRP Álvares Cabral, within the scope of this modernization process, received in 2023 a new platform command, control and management system, installed by the Portuguese company Edisoft.[3] The Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Henrique Gouveia e Melo, stated at the end of 2023 that the modernization program for the Vasco da Gama frigates will make it possible to modernize 2 frigates for high-intensity combat, namely the modernization or replacement of the SEWACO system. A third frigate will be updated in terms of platform management, communications systems and will also be capable of carrying out amphibious raids to project Portuguese Marine Corps forces.[4] The modernization program for this class of ships will be made in Portugal by the Arsenal do Alfeite shipyard, that began in 2023 and will last until 2027 according to the navy's plans, with the last 2 years for the modernization of two frigates and the previous years to complete the upgrade of another frigate as a command platform.[5][3][4]

Ships[edit]

Pennant Name Laid down Shipyard Launched Commissioned Fate Photo
F330 Vasco da Gama 2 February 1989 B&V, Hamburg 26 June 1989 18 January 1991 Inactive since 2019; Being repaired at Arsenal do Alfeite.[6]
F331 Álvares Cabral 2 June 1989 HDW, Kiel 6 June 1990 24 May 1991 In active service
F332 Corte-Real 20 October 1989 HDW, Kiel 22 November 1991 1 February 1992 In active service

Similar ships[edit]

See also[edit]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ "PSD garante modernização das fragatas Vasco da Gama". www.dn.pt (in European Portuguese). 2019-04-29. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  2. ^ "Despacho n.º 12804". diariodarepublica.pt (in European Portuguese). Diário da República. 7 November 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Fragata Álvares Cabral concluí testes do sistema de comando". Marinha (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-06-02.
  4. ^ a b Sessão Solene do Dia da Marinha - "Visão do CEMA para a Marinha – transformações em curso" 25MAIO23, retrieved 2024-01-07
  5. ^ "Vasco da Gama-class frigates to be modernized in Portugal".
  6. ^ "NRP Vasco da Gama at Arsenal do Alfeite shipyard".

References[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vasco da Gama class frigates.
  • (in Portuguese) Vasco da Gama class, Portuguese Navy website
  • Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947-1995
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