German frigate Sachsen

Sachsen is a Sachsen-class frigate of the German Navy, the lead ship of her class.

For other ships with the same name, see Sachsen (ship).
Sachsen at Wilhelmshaven in 2017
History
Germany
Name: Sachsen
Builder: Blohm+Voss, Hamburg
Laid down: 1 February 1999
Launched: 20 January 2001
Commissioned: 4 November 2004
Identification:
Status: Active
General characteristics
Class and type: Sachsen-class frigate
Displacement: 5,800 tonnes
Length: 143 m (469 ft)
Beam: 17.44 m (57.2 ft)
Draught: 6 m (20 ft)
Propulsion:
Speed: 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph)
Range: 4,000 nmi (7,400 km; 4,600 mi)+ at 18 kn (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Complement: 230 crew + 13 aircrew
Sensors and
processing systems:
Electronic warfare
& decoys:
  • 1 FL 1800 S II ECM suite
  • 6 Sippican Hycor SRBOC launcher
Armament:
Aircraft carried: 2 Sea Lynx Mk.88A or 2 NH90 helicopters equipped with torpedoes, air-to-surface missiles Sea Skua, and/or heavy machine gun.

Construction and commissioning

Built by Blohm+Voss, Hamburg, Sachsen was the first of the Sachsen class to be launched and then commissioned into the German Navy. She is based at Wilhelmshaven, initially as part of 1. Fregattengeschwader with the other ships of the Sachsen class, and from 9 January 2005 as part of the 2. Fregattengeschwader, which itself became part of the new Einsatzflottille 2 on 27 June 2005.[1]

Service

In August 2004, Sachsen completed a series of live missile firings at the Point Mugu missile launch range off the coast of California that included a total of 11 ESSM and 10 SM-2 Block IIIA missiles. The tests included firings against target drones such as the BQM-74E Chukar III and BQM-34S Firebee I, as well as against missile targets such as the AQM-37C Jayhawk and air-launched Kormoran 1 anti-ship missiles.[2] While serving in Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 in 2004, Sachsen took part in training operations with the United States' aircraft carrier USS Enterprise.[3] She was part of Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 in 2007, and in 2009 participated in the UNITAS Gold exercises, during which she took part in the sinking of a target ship, the former destroyer USS Conolly. In July 2012 she deployed as part of Operation Atalanta, combatting piracy off the coast of Somalia. From 26 August 2013 to 14 December 2013 Sachsen was part of Standing NATO Maritime Group 2.[4]

Sachsen deployed from Wilhelmshaven on 9 October 2015 to participate in the NATO exercise "Trident Juncture".[5][6] Sachsen replaced the Dutch frigate HNLMS De Ruyter in Standing Nato Maritime Group 2 on 12 December 2016, serving as the flagship of Admiral Axel Deertz during this time.[7][8] The frigate Brandenburg replaced her as flagship of the taskforce in early April 2017. On 5 January 2018 Sachsen was assigned to EU Navfor Med, replacing the frigate Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.[9]

On June 21, 2018 Sachsen was operating with Lübeck near the Arctic Circle when it attempted to fire a SM-2 Block IIIA missile, and it exploded above the ship. The explosion scorched the paint off the bridge and the vertical launch cells battery. Two German sailors suffered minor injuries. After a brief port call in Harstad, Norway, both frigates returned to their homeport of Wilhelmshaven, Germany.[10][11]

References
  1. "Fregatte „Sachsen"-Klasse (124)" (in German). marine.de. 11 January 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  2. Lok, Joris Janssen (October 2005). "Live firing tests rewrite the guiding principles". Jane's Navy International. 110: 38–40.
  3. Kaylor, N. C. (13 March 2007). "CCSG 12 Visits FGS Sachsen". US Navy. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  4. "„Sachsen" erstmals zum „Atalanta"-Einsatz unterwegs". WZ online (in German). Wilhelmshavener Zeitung. 24 July 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  5. Presse- und Informationszentrum Marine (2015-10-09). "Fregatte Sachsen bei Trident Juncture". marine.de (in German). Bundeswehr. Retrieved 2015-11-23.
  6. "NATO-Großübung Trident Juncture". marine.de (in German). 6 October 2015. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  7. "Berichte aus dem NATO-Verband". marine.de (in German). Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  8. "NATO-Einsatz in der Ägäis: Neues Flaggschiff, neuer Kommandeur". bundeswehr.de (in German). Retrieved 31 December 2016.
  9. "Fregatte „Sachsen" auf dem Weg ins Mittelmeer". marine.de (in German). 5 January 2018. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  10. LaGrone, Sam (27 June 2018). "VIDEO: Missile Explodes During German Frigate Training Exercise; Incident Similar to 2015 U.S. Navy Explosion". USNI News. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  11. Mizokami, Kyle (27 June 2018). "A German Warship Was Scorched By Its Own Missile". Popular Mechanics. Archived from the original on June 28, 2018. A German air defense frigate was damaged in a missile-firing incident off the Norwegian coast last week. A SM-2 missile somehow became trapped in its launcher, and the resulting rocket exhaust inflicted serious damage to the ship’s bow. Two German Navy sailors were injured in the incident.
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