French frigate De Grasse

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De Grasse is one of three Template:Sclass guided-missile frigates built for the French Marine Nationale during the Cold War. They were designed as convoy escorts.

Design and description

The Tourville-class ships were designed as anti-submarine (ASW) escorts for convoys in the North Atlantic and are enlarged versions of the older , designed around a requirement to accommodate two Westland Lynx helicopters and Exocet anti-ship missiles.Template:Sfn They have an overall length of Template:Convert, a beam of Template:Cvt and a draught of Template:Cvt. The ships have a standard displacement of Template:Convert and Template:Convert at full load. The Tourvilles were powered by two geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam provided by four boilers. The turbines were rated at Template:Convert to give the ships a maximum speed of Template:Convert and a range of Template:Convert at Template:Convert. The frigate had a complement of 292 sailors including 17 officers.Template:Sfn

The primary anti-ship weapon of the Tourvilles consisted of six single box launchers for MM38 Exocet missiles, located to the rear of the bridge with three launchers on each broadside. The frigates were designed with three [[French 100 mm naval gun|Template:Convert Modèle 1968]] guns in single-gun turrets; one superfiring pair forward of the bridge and the third gun positioned atop the rear superstructure. Unlike her sisters Tourville and Duguay-Trouin, De Grasse had the aft gun deleted during construction in anticipation of a Crotale anti-aircraft missile system being installed at that location. They were also equipped with two Template:Cvt guns. The anti-submarine weapons of the Tourville-class ships included a Malafon anti-submarine missile launcher between the fore and aft superstructures for which they carried 13 missiles. They had two launchers for L5 torpedoes, one on each side of the ship. Each ship carried ten torpedoes. The Tourvilles were the first French ships of destroyer-size or larger designed to carry helicopters, a pair of Lynx ASW helicopters in a double hangar at the stern.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

They were equipped with a DRBV 51B search radar, a DRBC 32D fire-control radar and a DRBV 26 early-warning radar. For anti-submarine warfare, they were equipped with DUBV 23 hull-mounted sonar and DUBV 43 towed variable depth sonar. For electronic defence, the vessels mounted two Syllex chaff launchers. The SENIT 3 tactical data system coordinated sensor data.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Construction and career

De Grasse was laid down at the Arsenal de Rochefort on 14 June 1972, launched on 30 November 1974 and commissioned on 1 October 1977.Template:Sfn

Between 1994 and 1996, De Grasse were refitted with the modern SLASM anti-submarine system, an active Very Low Frequency sonar.Template:Sfn

Gallery

• The frigate De Grasse
  The frigate De Grasse
• Aft of the frigate De Grasse; the towed sonar is clearly visible
  Aft of the frigate De Grasse; the towed sonar is clearly visible
• The command bridge of De Grasse
  The command bridge of De Grasse
• The frigate De Grasse, harboured in Portsmouth, for the International Festival of the Sea (25 August 2001).
  The frigate De Grasse, harboured in Portsmouth, for the International Festival of the Sea (25 August 2001).
• De Grasse (centre left) in a 5-country multinational fleet, during Operation Enduring Freedom in the Oman Sea.
  De Grasse (centre left) in a 5-country multinational fleet, during Operation Enduring Freedom in the Oman Sea.

External links

• Template:In lang Frégate De Grasse, netmarine.net