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- Maybe
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Background
The Bremen class Frigates was a class of 8 frigates that were built by Germany from the 1979 up until 1990 with the class being made up by FGS Bremen, FGS Niedersachsen, FGS Rheinland-Pfalz, FGS Emden, FGS Köln, FGS Karlsruhe, FGS Augsburg, and FGS Lübeck. The Bremen class were designed as the successor to the Köln class frigates and like the Köln class the Bremen class was limited in their displacement by limits imposed by the Western European Union following the end of the 2nd World War. Compared to the Köln class these ships were completely different with the ships being based off the Dutch Kortenaer class though these ships used a different propulsion system and had space for operating and storing helicopters. They were armed with 1 76mm OTO Melara gun as the primary gun due to the advancements in missile capability and as such these ships were equipped with 2 4-cell harpoon missile launchers located amid ship though images exist of the ships having the numbers reduced to 3-cell launchers however these seem to have occurred due to circumstance rather than part of any refit, additionally the ships were equipped with a 8-cell sea sparrow launcher and they also came with 4 Mk-32 Mod.9 twin torpedo tubes with the tubes themselves being in fixed mount in the hull, and later on the ships would see the installation of 2 27mm MLG27 cannons as well as the installation of 2 21 cell Mk 49 missile launchers which used the RIM-116 RAM.
History
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The first 4 ship of the class would be laid down in 1979 followed by another in 1980 and another in 1981 before the last 2 ships were laid down in 1987, the first 6 ships would be commissioned between 1982 to 1984 with the last two ships entering service in the late 1980’s. The lead ship Bremen would be the first to enter service and had the unique distinction of being the first German warship to use helicopters and would later undergo a unique modification from the rest of the class as her 5 bladed propellers were replaced with 7 bladed propellers which ended up increasing the ships speed. Due to the period they were designed was influenced by the Cold War as they were designed for operations to cover NATO convoys in the northern Atlantic.
During their careers the class would all be involved in similar operations as they were apart of NATO Standing Naval Forces and took part in operations off Yugoslavia in the 1990’s as apart of NATO operations and would repeatedly take part in anti piracy operations off Africa. They would also make some notable appearances as in 1989 the Niedersachsen alongside the destroyer Rommel and the supply ship Coburg visited Leningrad which was the first visit by German ships to the Soviet Union/Russia in 77 years. While in service the class would undergo various refits including the addition of new air defense systems such as the RIM-166 RAM and weapons more suited to smaller targets more suited for the anti piracy operations they found themselves in such as 12.7mm and 7.62mm machine guns and later the addition of 27mm auto cannons and over time more modern systems.
As the years went on the class would start being pulled from service in the 2010’s with 7 of the 8 ships being decommissioned between 2012 to 2019, and the last ship being Lübeck would be decommissioned in 2022 with half of the class by this point at least being sold for scrap while the other 4 were laid up in Kiel.
Specifications
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Displacement: 3,680 tons (3,620 long tons)
Length: 130.50 m (428 ft 2 in)
Beam: 14.60 m (47 ft 11 in)
Draft: 6.30 m (20 ft 8 in)
Installed power:
CODOG (Combined diesel or gas)
2 × MTU 20V956 TB92 diesel engines, 8.14 MW (10,920 hp) total
2 × General Electric LM2500 gas turbines, 38 MW (51,000 hp) total
2 × Renk STG 150-50 gearboxes, 10:1 (diesel) and 720:47 (turbine)
4 × Deutz MWM diesel-generators, 750 kW (1,010 hp)
Propulsion: 2 × propeller shafts, controllable pitch, five-bladed Sulzer-Escher propellers, later replaced with seven-bladed ones from Wegemann & Co. (Bremen only)
Speed: 30 knots (56 km/h) (It’s not stated this figure is the increased speed from Bremen when she got the 7 bladed propellers and from what sources indicate it seems to be more likely the base speed figure)
Range: 4,000 nmi (7,400 km) at 18 knots (33 km/h)
Complement: 202 crew plus 20 aviation
Sensors and processing systems:
1 x EADS TRS-3D air search radar
1 x WM 25 combined surface search and fire control radar (I/J-band)
1 x Thales Nederland STIR 180 fire control radar (I/J/K-band)
1 x Kelvin Hughes Nucleus 5000 navigation radar
1 x STN Atlas DSQS-23BZ bow sonar
Electronic warfare & decoys:
1 x EADS FL 1800S ESM/ECM system
2 x Oto-Melara SCLAR chaff/flare launcher
1 x SLQ-25 Nixie torpedo decoy system
Armament:
Naval guns:
1 × OTO-Melara 76 mm DP gun
Surface to air missile launchers:
1 × 8 cell Mk 29 missile launcher (16 × Sea Sparrow surface to air missiles carried total)
CIWS:
2 × MK 49 21 cell missile launchers (RIM-116 rolling airframe missiles (RAM)) (added later on)
Auto cannons:
2 × Mauser MLG27 27mm auto cannons (added later on)
Anti-ship missile launchers:
up to 8 x Mark 141 missile launchers (8 x Harpoon anti ship missiles)
Torpedo Tubes:
4 × Mk 32 324-mm torpedo tubes (8 × DM4A1 or Mark 46 torpedo)
Machine guns: (These are not definitive numbers but based off photos and these may not equip all of these all at once)
up to 6 x 12.7mm machine guns (based on photos)
up to 2 x 7.62 machines guns (based on photos)
Aircraft carried: 2 x Sea Lynx Mk.88A helicopters
More Images
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Sources
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German frigate Bremen - Wikipedia
Bremen-class frigate - Wikipedia
Image sources
