Bremen-class frigate

Karlsruhe on 21 August 2013
Class overview
Builders
Operators German Navy
Preceded byKöln class
Succeeded by
Built1979–1990
In commission1982–2022
Completed8
Retired8
General characteristics
TypeFrigate
Displacement3,680 tonnes (3,620 long tons)
Length130.50 m (428 ft 2 in)
Beam14.60 m (47 ft 11 in)
Draft6.30 m (20 ft 8 in)
Installed power
Propulsion2 × propeller shafts, controllable pitch, five-bladed Sulzer-Escher propellers, later replaced with seven-bladed ones from Wegemann & Co. ("Bremen" only)
Speed30 knots (56 km/h)
Rangemore than 4,000 nmi (7,400 km) at 18 knots (33 km/h)
Complement202 crew plus 20 aviation
Sensors and
processing systems
Electronic warfare
& decoys
Armament
Aircraft carriedPlace for 2 Sea Lynx Mk.88A helicopters equipped with torpedoes, air-to-surface missiles Sea Skua, and/or heavy machine gun.

The eight F122 Bremen-class frigates of the German Navy was a series of frigates commissioned between 1982 and 1990. The design was based on the proven and robust Dutch Kortenaer class but used a different propulsion system and hangar lay-out. The ships were built for anti-submarine warfare as a primary task although they were not fitted with towed array sonars. They were also equipped for anti-surface warfare, while having anti-aircraft warfare point defences.

This class of ship was one of the last to be constructed under post-war displacement limitations imposed by the WEU on West Germany.

All eight Bremen-class frigates were replaced by the F125-class frigate. Prior to that the Bremen class served as the backbone of the German Navy.[1]

  1. ^ Fiorenza, Nicholas (24 October 2011). "More Details Of German Cuts". Ares: A Defense Technology Blog. Aviation Week. Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 12 May 2012.