PHOTO GALLERY #32: Bonn, replenishment ship of the German Navy

Bonn, replenishment ship of the German Navy

This is the ninth photo gallery from my visit to Kiel in 2019, on the first weekend of the 137th Kiel Week. The Kiel Week (German: Kieler Woche) or Kiel Regatta is an annual sailing event in Kiel, the capital of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The first weekend of the Kiel Week, the famous Naval Base of Kiel, opens its gates for just four hours per day, for thousands of tourists who are eager to visit the German Navy warships and dozens of foreign warships which visit the city of Kiel, to honor the Kiel Week. Among the German ships moored at the Base, was the final vessel in the giant Berlin-class replenishment ships, Bonn (A1413), a ship that was commissioned in 2013. Her sisters are Berlin and Frankfurt am Main; both have a rear mast and until some years ago they lack of the Thales Variant radar. Berlins are combat support ships which serve the logistical and medical support of mixed task forces. They are the largest ships of the German Navy and named after cities in which German parliaments were or are based. In Canada , the design of the Berlin class was selected in a competition on June 2, 2013 for the two new "Joint Support Ships" ( Protecteur (II) class) of the Royal Canadian Navy. Her length is almost 174m, the beam 24m, while the displacement reaches the 21,000t at full load. Berlin class's capacity is 9,330 tonnes in total, consisting of fuel oil (7,600), aviation fuel (490), fresh water, ammunition, consumer goods and others. There are 84 container parking spaces on board. The ships of the class can take care of the disposal of waste water and waste from the supplied units. The flight deck is quite large while the hangar can accommodate two 10t helicopters, Sea King or NH90, which are used to transport people and materials. The flight deck also allows the use of even larger helicopters. For self-defense, the ship is armed with four (4) Rheinmetall MLG 27 remote weapon 27mm gun systems, Stinger MANPADS and a variety of machine guns. The ships can be equipped with a so-called Naval Rescue Center (MERZ) for medical support as a hospital ship. The MERZ system consists of a network of 26 ISO special containers , which form a two-story deck house and are connected to the on-board supply network. The containers contain examination rooms, operating rooms, diagnostic and therapeutic facilities and laboratories. A bed station below deck instead of a hold is designed for the care of 45 patients. The ships are equipped also with two big cranes, each 22 t lifting load. The crew is about 150 people. Enjoy the photos!

VIKING Norsafe boats for the Hellenic Armed Forces (Part B: Hellenic Navy and Hellenic Coast Guard - MUNIN S1200 CABIN, MARATHON 900RIB-D, MUNIN S1200 EXT. CABIN, METIS 600RIB, METRON 850)

VIKING Norsafe Munin S1200 armed with Kongsberg's Sea
Protector RWS. Original photo by Kongsberg

This is the 2nd part of our visit to the manufacturing plant of VIKING Norsafe Hellas in Thiva, Greece, in order to learn at first hand its world-famous products and especially those that are/will be in service with the Hellenic Armed Forces and the Hellenic Coast Guard. Founded in 1974, VIKING Norsafe Hellas is the Greek subsidiary of the leading global maritime safety solutions provider VIKING Life-Saving Equipment A/S. VIKING Norsafe Hellas produces high quality marine life-saving appliances – lifeboats, rescue boats and davits, using the latest technologies and materials in order to protect seafarers and offshore workers worldwide. In the 1st Part, we showed the large facilities of VIKING Norsafe in Greece as well as a presentation of a new RIB, Munin S1200 Open, that is offered to the Hellenic Army Special Forces. In this article, we will see the Munin S1200 Cabin and other boats of VIKING Norsafe that serve or will serve with the Hellenic Coast Guard and Hellenic Navy.

VIKING Norsafe boats for the Hellenic Armed Forces (Part A: Hellenic Army Special Forces - MUNIN S1200 OPEN)

The first VIKING Norsafe Munin S1200 in high speed in 2018

Naval Analyses, visited the manufacturing plant of VIKING Norsafe Hellas in Thiva, Greece, in order to learn at first hand its world-famous products and especially those that are/will be in service with the Hellenic Armed Forces and the Hellenic Coast Guard. Founded in 1974, VIKING Norsafe Hellas is the Greek subsidiary of the leading global maritime safety solutions provider VIKING Life-Saving Equipment A/S. VIKING Norsafe Hellas produces high quality marine life-saving appliances – lifeboats, rescue boats and davits, using the latest technologies and materials in order to protect seafarers and offshore workers worldwide. 

Internationales Maritimes Museum - A real gem in Hamburg! (Part Β: waship models)

Visiting the IMMH - Part B:ship models!

This is the second part, about my visit to the Internationales Maritimes Museum Hamburg (IMMH, International Maritime Museum of Hamburg), a private museum in a former warehouse (Kaispeicher B) in the HafenCity quarter of Hamburg, Germany. The museum houses predominantly Peter Tamm's collection of model ships, construction plans, uniforms, and maritime art, amounting to over 40,000 items and more than one million photographs on 12,000m2 (130,000 sq ft). It is the world's largest private collection of maritime artifacts. Three thousand years worth of maritime history are displayed on nine ‘decks’ with precious exhibits, model ships, armor, photographs, maps, paintings and much much more. To learn more about the IMMH you can visit Internationales Maritimes Museum - A real gem in Hamburg! (Part A: general impressions) because in this Part B (and final part), we will focus on the ship models and almost mainly those of WWII. Ι repeat that I had a great time there and I wish I could have more time to examine more other ship models (yes, there are not only those ship models I post here) as well as other details, paintings and maps, and to visit some sub-floors in between the nine floors which I missed. I could say that the museum is "nine floors of naval awesomeness"! An amazing well-maintained maritime museum worth visiting again and again! For the moment enjoy more than 200 photos of various warships accompanied by useful information!

Internationales Maritimes Museum - A real gem in Hamburg! (Part A: general impressions)

The impressive IMMH building in Hamburg

The Internationales Maritimes Museum Hamburg (IMMH, International Maritime Museum of Hamburg) is a private museum in the HafenCity quarter of Hamburg, Germany. The museum houses predominantly Peter Tamm's collection of model ships, construction plans, uniforms, and maritime art, amounting to over 40,000 items and more than one million photographs on 12,000m2 (130,000 sq ft). It is the world's largest private collection of maritime artifacts. It opened in a former warehouse in 2008. The private collection was started in 1934 by Peter Tamm (12 May 1928 – 29 December 2016) - former editor for naval themes at the Hamburger Abendblatt newspaper and chairman of the board of the Axel Springer AG - when Tamm was six years old. As Tamm retold the history, the initial event was when his mother presented him his first model ship. From his collection, he founded the Wissenschaftliches Institut für Schifffahrts- und Marinegeschichte (Academic Institute for Shipping and Naval History) located in a mansion at the Elbchaussee street and only open by appointment. Later, on December 10th 2002, the Peter Tamm Sen. Stiftung foundation was established, which is the owner of the Internationales Maritimes Museum Hamburg. In 2004 the Hamburg Parliament approved a €30 million grant for a new museum in the HafenCity quarter unanimously. In 2005, the building was given to the foundation by lease for free for 90 years by the senate of Hamburg. On 25 June 2008, the museum was opened by the German president Horst Köhler. 

Erradii class frigates of the Algerian National Navy

Written by D-Mitch

El Moudamir (911), MEKO A-200AN of the Algerian National Navy

The first MEKO A-200 frigates were ordered from South Africa in 1999. The South African Navy placed an order for four multi-purpose MEKO A-200SAN which are known as the Valour class. The ships were constructed in Germany between 2001-03 and delivered unarmed to S.Africa where the weapons, sensors and combat system were integrated, a process that took 2-3 years per ship. The first vessel, SAS Amatola, was commissioned in February 2006 while the fourth and final ship, SAS Mendi, was handed over in June 2004 and commissioned in March 2007. Two MEKO A-200 AN frigates, a further development of the Valour-class design were built for Algeria by ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS). TKMS is a group and holding company of providers of naval vessels, surface ships and submarines. It was founded when large industrial conglomerate ThyssenKrupp acquired Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft on January 5, 2005.  The group consists of Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft in Kiel, Germany, Atlas Elektronik in Bremen, Germany and Hellenic Shipyards Co. in Skaramangas, Greece (25%). The South African frigates will be analyzed in a future article.

PHOTO GALLERY #31: Oak Hill, dock landing ship of the United States Navy

USS Oak Hill moored at Tirpitz quay, Kiel Naval Base

This is the eighth photo gallery from my visit to Kiel in 2018, on the first weekend of the 136th Kiel Week. More galleries will follow from 2018-19 Kiel Weeks. The Kiel Week (German: Kieler Woche) or Kiel Regatta is an annual sailing event in Kiel, the capital of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The first weekend of the Kiel Week, the famous Naval Base of Kiel, opens its gates for just four hours per day, for thousands of tourists who are eager to visit the German Navy warships and dozens of foreign warships which visit the city of Kiel, to honor the Kiel Week. Τhe United States Navy was represented by a number of ships including the USS Oak Hill (LSD-51), a Harpers Ferry-class dock landing ship (LSD). She is named in honor of Oak Hill, the residence of James Monroe, the fifth President of the United States. The Monroe Doctrine was penned at Oak Hill, and subsequently delivered at an 1823 Congressional address which asserted that the Western Hemisphere was never to be colonized again. This doctrine is the inspiration for the Ship’s Motto: Nations’ Protector. Oak Hill is the second ship to honor the residence. Oak Hill was commissioned on 8 June 1996 and is the third vessel in a class of four. She is 186 meters long and has a full displacement around 16,600 tons. Enjoy the photos!

MEKO 200 Frigate Mild-Life Upgrade (MLU) programmes worldwide

Written by D-Mitch

MEKO 200 frigates HMNZS Te Mana, HMAS Parramatta and
HMAS Perth during the International Fleet Review 2013

The MEKO 200 is a frigate (FFG) design by the German shipyard Blohm+Voss as part of the MEKO family of warships. Ten MEKO 200 frigates were built to the Anzac-class design; eight for the Royal Australian Navy (first ship entered service in 1993), and two for the Royal New Zealand Navy (first ship entered service in 1994). Eight MEKO 200TN frigates were acquired by Turkey in three different tracks: four Track I/Yavuz vessels (first ship in 1987), two Track IIA/Barbaros class vessels (first ship in 1997) and two Track IIB/Barbaros (Salihreis subclass) vessels (first ship in 1998). Portugal acquired three MEKO 200PN/Vasco da Gama class (first ship commissioned in 1991) and Greece four MEKO 200HN/Hydra class (first ship commissioned in 1992). Total 25 vessels of seven (7) configurations! This article focuses on the Mild-Life Upgrade (MLU) programmes that are implemented on the MEKO 200 classes worldwide, of which some of them have change completely the appearance of the ships.

The new eyes of the Hellenic Navy and Hellenic Coast Guard: Miltech Hellas TDR-10A and TDR-HR-300

TDR-10A EO-sensor on a Hydra class frigate

This is the last update on the news regarding the equipping of Hellenic Navy warships and Hellenic Coast Guard offshore patrol vessels with new electro-optical (EO) sensors. In the article The new eyes of the Hellenic Navy Fleet: Miltech Hellas TDR-10 and IRB-75, I reported that a sensor designed and produced by the Greek company Miltech Hellas, the TDR-10 model, has equipped three Hellenic Navy gunboats and one frigate while 15 more systems of the advanced model TDR-10A, a completely new system, would equip front line surface combatants of the Greek Fleet that lack such a sensor. The TDR-10A was described in detail in the previous article The new eyes of the Hellenic Navy: Miltech Hellas TDR-10 ADVANCED.