Vosper Thornycroft Mark 7 Frigate, Dat Assawari (F01) - ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

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Vosper Thornycroft Mark 7 Frigate, Dat Assawari (F01)

TL;DR
Coastal vessel, Libyan frigate, 5th in a line of Vosper-Thornycroft Cold War export ships. Features an automatic destroyer gun, some strong autocannons, and a SAM system.

Overview:
Ordered in 1968 by Libya, Dat Assawari (named after the famous Battle of the Masts, and also possibly a bad transliteration), was built at the Vosper Thornycroft shipyard in Woolston, England. The ship was based on the earlier Saam-class frigates (Vosper Thornycroft Mark 5 frigates) built for Iran, being slightly larger and carrying different weapons. While under construction, the Libyan monarchy was overthrown, and the new government attempted to cancel the order, but by then the ship was mostly complete, and the Libyan government ultimately commissioned the ship in 1973, becoming the flagship of the Libyan Navy. Despite Libya’s various wars with Egypt, Chad, and Tanzania in the 1970s, the navy did not see action. By 1979, Dat Assawari was in a poor state, and due to be refitted. Unfortunately it was unable to make the trek back to Britain, so instead was refitted at the CNR shipyard in Genoa. During refitting in 1980, the ship was damaged by a bomb planted by French frogmen, but the ship was repaired and completed its refits in 1983. The ship’s radar suite was overhauled and its missile and ASW weapons replaced with Italian ones. Ultimately, the Libyan Navy was unable to keep it maintained, having to have its engines repaired in 1984, and in 1989 the ship returned to Genoa to be refitted once more. However this time the refitting was not completed, and the ship returned to Libya to become a static training ship in Tripoli. In the 2000s, the ship was discarded and moved to Al-Khums, where it was likely scrapped. Its 35mm autocannons would later be mounted on a technical during the Libyan Civil War.

Specifications: (1973)

Armament:
1x1 4.5"/55 (114mm) Mk.8 Mod.0
2x1 40mm Bofors L/70
1x2 35mm/90 Oerlikon-Bührle GDM-A
1x3 Seacat GWS.21 SAM (18 missiles)
1x3 305mm Limbo Mark 10 ASW mortar

Displacement:
1325t standard
1650t full

Length: 101.6m

Beam: 11.1m

Draft: 3.36m

Propulsion: 2 Rolls-Royce Olympus gas turbines and 2 Paxman Ventura 16 YJCM diesel engines, 46 000 + 3800 hp, driving 2 shafts

Speed: 37.5 knots (69.5 km/h)

Range: 5700nmi (at 17 knots)

Crew: 132

Systems:
2 Contraves Sea Hunter 4 (RTN-10X) FCR
Type 262 FCR
Plessey AWS-1 Search radar
Decca 629 Navigation radar
Type 162 Sonar
Type 170B Active sonar
Type 174 Passive sonar

Images:



image

During its modernization in Italy, you can clearly see the Limbo mortar here

image
Bonus pic of its guns used in a technical

Sources:
Gardiner, R., Chumbley, S., & Budzbon, P. (1995). Libya. In Conway’s All the World’s Fighting Ships 1947-1995 (p. 255). Naval Institute Press.
Sobański, M. (2011). Libijska Marynarka Wojenna. In Okręty Wojenne Vol. XVIII, Nr 108 (4/2011) (pp. 90-93).
Libyan frigate Dat Assawari - Wikipedia Dat Assawari (211) - Wikipedia
cmano-db.com
DAT ASSAWARI small frigate (1973)
https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2022/october/operation-octopus-sabotage-dat-assawari
Small Navies of the World – Frigates – The Searchers

https://www.worldnavalships.com/libyan_navy.htm

https://www.facebook.com/asoc.foronaval/posts/la-fragata-libia-dat-assawari-en-marzo-de-1973jaroslaw-malinowski/2872216659495106/
http://navyworld.narod.ru/Libya.htm#F01

3 Likes

This would be a really fun BP ship for the UK. +1

+1, would be an interesting premium vessel for the UK