Vasco da Gama-class frigate

NRP Corte Real
Class overview
Name:	Vasco da Gama , MEKO 200 PN
Builders:	B&V, Hamburg and HDW, Kiel, Germany
Operators:	Portuguese Navy
In commission:	1991 - present
Completed:	3
Active:	3
General characteristics
Type:	Frigate
Displacement:	2,920 tons standard 3,200 tons full load
Length:	115.9 and 142 m (380 and 466 ft)
Beam:	14.8 m (49 ft)
Draught:	6.2 m (20 ft)
Propulsion:	2 shaft CODOG, controllable pitch propellers 2 MTU 20V 956 TB92 diesel-engines, 8.14MW each 2 General Electric LM2500 gas turbines, 38MW each
Speed:	32 knots (59 km/h) (gas turbines) 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) (Diesel only)
Range:	4,000 nautical miles (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:	1 Thales DA08 air search D band radar 1 Thales MW08 air/surface search F band radar 2 Thales STIR 180 fire-control radar 1 SQS510 hull mounted sonar
Electronic warfare & decoys:	1 APECS II/700 ESM Countermeasures: SRBOC launcher
Armament:	1 100 mm Mod68 CADAM polyvalent artillery piece 1 Phalanx CIWS 20 mm Vulcan anti-ship missile defence system 2 × 3 12.75-inch Mk32 torpedo tubes in triple mountings 2 Mk 141 quad-pack Launcher for a maximum of 8 RGM-84 Harpoon 1 MK 21 Guided Missile Launching System for 8 RIM-7 Sea Sparrow
Aviation facilities:	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.

Ships

Pennant	Name	Laid down	Shipyard	Launched	Commissioned
F330	Vasco da Gama	2 February 1989	B&V, Hamburg	26 June 1989	18 January 1991
F331	Álvares Cabral	2 June 1989	HDW, Kiel	6 June 1990	24 May 1991
F332	Corte-Real	20 October 1989	HDW, Kiel	22 November 1991	1 February 1992

Similar ships

• MEKO
• Hydra-class frigate - Greece
• Anzac-class frigate - Australia and New Zealand
• Barbaros-class frigate - Turkey
• Yavuz-class frigate - Turkey

External links & References

• (Portuguese) Vasco da Gama class, Portuguese Navy website
• Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947-1995