Elbe class replenishment ship
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 Tender A516 Donau in Warnemünde |
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Operators: | German Navy |
| In commission: | 1993- |
| Completed: | 6 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 3,586 tonnes |
| Length: | 100.55 m (329 ft 11 in) |
| Beam: | 15.40 m (50 ft 6 in) |
| Draft: | 4.05 m (13 ft 3 in) |
| Propulsion: | 1 × Deutz MWM SBV diesel engines 2,562 kW, Bow thruster |
| Speed: | 15 knots (28 km/h) |
| Range: | 2,600 nmi (4,800 km) |
| Capacity: | 24 standard 6.2 m containers (maximum) Supplies: 700 m³ fuel 60 m³ aviation (helicopter) fuel 280 m³ fresh water 160 tonnes ammunition 40 tonnes supplies Disposal: 5 tonnes solid waste 180 m³ waste water 32 m³ waste oil |
| Complement: | 40 (standard) + >38 (repair party, passengers, squadron staff) |
| Armament: | 2 × Fliegerfaust 2 surface-to-air missile stands (MANPADS) 2 × Rheinmetall Rh202 20 mm autocannon; being replaced by 2 × MLG-27 27 mm remote controlled autocannons |
| Aviation facilities: | No hangar, but a helo deck was added for Sea King sized or larger helicopters |
The Type 404 Elbe class replenishment ships of the German Navy were built to support squadrons of Fast Attack Crafts, submarines and minesweeper/hunters. As such they are usually called tender.
The ships carry fuel, fresh water, food, ammunition and other matériel. They also have a medical station aboard but doctors are not part of their standard complement and will have to be flown in. The tender also manage waste disposal for the ships they support at sea and can carry out minor repairs of assigned ships. For this purpose Elbe class tenders assigned to FAC squadrons, for example, carry the SUG repair and support shop specialized for these boats on their deck in a set of 13 standard containers.
Extensive communication gear and accommodations enable them to serve as squadron flagship.
While in general all Elbe class tenders are quickly configurable to be reassigned to support other squadrons, one of the six ships is usually modified to support German submarines - carrying batteries for reloading for example. This ship - currently A515 Main - while still being of the same class, and easily reconfigurable - is often named as a separate "sub-class" due to this larger modification.
[edit] Major deployments
- A511 Elbe along with a reduced squadron of four Gepard class FACs is stationed off the coast of Lebanon as part of the current UNIFIL mission.
- A515 Main was based out of Gibraltar in 2003 to support NATO Operation Straits of Gibraltar with her FAC squadron, monitoring, boarding and escorting commercial shipping through the straits as part of Operation Active Endeavour.
- A516 Donau operated with a reduced squadron of five Albatros and Gepard class FACs off the Horn of Africa as part of NATO Combined Taskforce 150 in Operation Enduring Freedom in 2002.
- A515 Main deployed to Djibouti in 2002 to as part of the logistics operations base there supporting the ships of NATO Combined Taskforce 150 in Operation Enduring Freedom.
[edit] List of ships
| Pennant number |
Name | Call sign |
Commissioned | Base | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A511 | Elbe | DRHU | January 28, 1993 | Warnemünde | 7th FAC squadron |
| A512 | Mosel | DRHK | July 1, 1993 | Kiel | 5th Minesweeper squadron |
| A513 | Rhein | DRHL | September 1, 1993 | Kiel | 3rd Minesweeper squadron |
| A514 | Werra | DRHM | December 9, 1993 | Kiel | 3rd Minesweeper squadron |
| A515 | Main | DRHN | June 10, 1994 | Eckernförde | 1st Submarine squadron |
| A516 | Donau | DRHO | November 15, 1994 | Warnemünde | 1st Corvette squadron |
The ships were named after German rivers.
[edit] References
- Tender ELBE-Klasse - German Navy, official homepage (German)
- http://www.tender-elbe.de/seiten/typenbla.htm (German)
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