Vasco da Gama-class Frigate

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.

Specifications

 * Type: Frigate
 * Service Period: 1991-Present
 * Characteristics:
 * Length: 380 feet (115.82 meters)
 * Beam: 49 feet (14.94 meters)
 * Draught: 20 feet (6.1 meters)
 * Displacement: 2,920 tons (Standard); 3,200 tons (Full Load)
 * Crew: 180 (19 officers, 40 petty officers, 102 enlisted, 13 air crew, 6 boarding crew)
 * Propulsion:
 * 2 x MTU 20V 956 TB92 diesel-engines, 8.14MW each
 * 2 x General Electric LM2500 gas turbines, 38MW each
 * Range: 4,000 nautical miles (7,408 kilometers) at 18 knots (33.34 km/h)
 * Speed: 32 knots (59.26 km/h)
 * Sensor Suite:
 * Thales DA08 D-Band Air Search Radar
 * Thales MW08 F-Band Air/Surface Search Radar
 * Thales STIR 180 Fire Control Radar
 * AN/SQS-510 Hull mounted Sonar
 * Countermeasures:
 * APECS II/700 ESM
 * SBROC Launcher
 * Armament:
 * 1 x 100mm/55-caliber Mdl 68 CADAM naval gun
 * 1 x Mk.21 Guided Missile Launcher (fires RIM-7 Sea Sparrow SAMs)
 * 2 x Mk.141 Missile Launchers (fires RGM-84 Harpoon AShMs)
 * 2 x 12.75" Mk.32 triple torpedo tubes
 * 1 x 20mm Phalanx CIWS
 * Aircraft Carried: 2 x Westland Super Lynx Mk.75 maritime helicopters

Unit Run

 * NRP Vasco da Gama (F330)
 * NRP Álvares Cabral (F331)
 * NRP Corte-Real (F332)
 * NRP Pêro Escobar (F333)