BNS Somudra Avijan

BNS Somudra Avijan is one of the largest and the heaviest frigates of the Bangladesh Navy. The Bangladesh Navy acquired the ship from the United States under Excess Defense Articles.[1]

BNS Somudra Avijan moored at USCG Alameda station
History
Bangladesh
Name: Somudra Avijan
Builder: Avondale Shipyards
Launched: 16 November 1968
Acquired: 5 May 2015
Commissioned: 19 March 2016
Homeport: Chattogram
Identification:
Nickname(s): BNS SA
Status: Active
General characteristics
Class and type: Hamilton-class cutter (Modified)
Displacement: 3,250 t
Length: 378 ft (115 m)
Beam: 43 ft (13 m)
Draught: 15 ft (4.6 m)
Propulsion:
Speed: 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph)
Range: 16,000 nmi (30,000 km; 18,000 mi)
Endurance: 45 days
Complement: 178 (21 officers and 157 enlisted)
Sensors and
processing systems:		 AN/SPS-40 air-search radar, MK 92 FCS
Electronic warfare
& decoys:		 1 × Mark 36 SRBOC
Armament: 1 × OTO Melara 76 mm (3 in) gun
Aircraft carried: 1 × Hangar

History

From 1969 to 2015 the ship was known as USCGC Rush and served the US Coast Guard as a high endurance cutter. She was decommissioned on 3 February 2015 and was acquired by Bangladesh under the Foreign Assistance Act as an Excess Defense Article. She was officially handed over to the Bangladesh Navy on 5 May 2015.[2]

BNS Somudra Avijan had been used by U.S. Coast Guard as USCGC Rush before it was sent to Chattogram.

Career

BNS Somudra Avijan visited the port of Manila, Philippines from 13 to 16 November 2015 on her way to Bangladesh from United States.[3] She also visited Malaysia on her way. The ship arrived at Chattogram, Bangladesh on 28 November 2015.[4][5][6] On 19 March 2016, she was commissioned by the Bangladesh Navy.[7]

The ship took part in 15th Western Pacific Naval Symposium (WPNS) and 2nd Multilateral Naval Exercise Komodo (MNEK-2016), a multinational naval exercise arranged by Indonesian Navy for ASEAN and ASEAN+ nations held at Padang, Indonesia. On her way back, she visited Port Klang, Malaysia on a goodwill visit.[8]

Somudra Avijan, with her sister ship Somudra Joy left Chattogram for India and Sri Lanka on a goodwill visit on 18 September 2016. The ships were at Port Blair, India from 21 to 25 September and at Colombo port, Sri Lanka from 29 September to 4 October. They returned Chattogram on 9 October 2016.[9]

Somudra Avijan left for another goodwill visit in the neighboring countries in October 2017. She stayed at Visakhapatnam Port of India from 16 to 19 October 2017 .[10] and at Colombo port of Sri Lanka from 23 to 29 October.[11][12]

The ship left Chattogram on 18 April 2018 to take part in 3rd Multilateral Naval Exercise Komodo (MNEK-2018) to be held in Lombok, Indonesia from 4 May to 9 may 2018.[13] On her way to Lombok, she will visit the Port Klang of Malaysia from 24 April to 27 April 2017. She will visit the Phuket of Thailand from 16 May to 20 May 2018 on her way back home. The ship returned home on 24 May 2018.[14]

Photos and videos
  • BNS Somudra Avijan (F29) at the Manila Harbor

See also

References
  1. 131107-N-WX059-125. United States Navy. 7 November 2013. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  2. "US hands over second naval ship to Bangladesh". navaltoday.com. 7 May 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  3. "Bangladesh naval ship arrives for 3-day visit". Tribune.net. 15 November 2015. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  4. "Navy procures warship from USA". The News Today. 28 November 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  5. "BNS Samudra Avijan reaches Ctg". The Financial Express. 28 November 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  6. "New ship for navy arrives from US". The Daily Star. 29 November 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  7. "Navy to get 2 submarines this year: PM". The Daily Sun. 19 March 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  8. "Navy ship leaves for Indonesia". The Daily Sun. 5 April 2016. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  9. "Bangladesh Navy warships leave for India, SL". banglanews24.com. 18 September 2016. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
  10. "Bangladesh Navy Ship Somudra Avijan on a Goodwill Visit to Visakhapatnam". India Navy. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
  11. "Bangladesh naval ship 'Somudra Avijan' visits Sri Lanka". South Asian Monitor. 25 October 2017. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
  12. "Bangladesh Naval Ship Somudra Avijan on goodwill visit". The Sunday Times. 24 October 2017. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
  13. "ইন্দোনেশিয়ায় অনুষ্ঠিতব্য আন্তর্জাতিক সমুদ্র মহড়ায় অংশ নিতে নৌবাহিনী যুদ্ধজাহাজ সমুদ্র অভিযান এর চট্টগ্রাম ত্যাগ". ISPR. 18 April 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  14. "BANGLADESH NAVAL SHIP SOMUDRA AVIJAN RETURN FROM INDONESIA". ISPR. 13 June 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.