As of: February 24, 2024, 5:00 a.m
By: Jakob Koch
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The frigate “Hamburg” recently took part in the Irini mission off Libya.
Now she is supposed to help against the Houthi rebels in the Red Sea.
(Archive photo) © dpa (2) / Roman Koksarov / Hauke-Christian Dittrich
The “Hessen” has just set off for the Red Sea, and the Navy is already preparing the next warship, the frigate “Hamburg,” for deployment against the Houthis.
Kiel – The situation in the Red Sea is tense.
It was only on Tuesday night that French frigates shot down two drones after they had previously registered numerous drone attacks from the direction of Yemen.
“These actions contribute to maritime security, from the Suez Canal to the Strait of Hormuz, and support the defense of freedom of navigation,” the French Defense Ministry said in Paris.
The EU military operation decided on Monday to secure merchant shipping in the Red Sea pursues the same goal.
Also included: the most powerful German warship, the frigate “Hessen”.
But the frigate “Hamburg” will soon replace its sister ship in the conflict with the Houthi rebels.
German warship for use in the Red Sea: frigate “Hamburg” is to take action against Houthi rebels
The frigate “Hamburg” is currently cruising through the tranquil Kiel Fjord and the Baltic Sea.
In the Schleswig-Holstein state capital, the ship and crew are completing a special training program under frigate captain Jan Fitschen.
In addition to extinguishing fires and combating leaks on board, training was carried out on the weapon systems, writes the
Kieler Nachrichten
.
The frigate “Hessen” is scheduled to return to its home port of Wilhelmshaven in April – it spent almost eight months at sea, a large part of which was in NATO operations.
The “Hamburg” will then be sent to the Gulf of Aden to regenerate people and machines.
The armament of the frigate “Hamburg” is designed for air defense
As part of the “Sachsen” class, the frigate “Hamburg” was designed as a multi-purpose ship for escort and maritime control.
Its focus is air defense: With its radar SMART-L (Signal Multibeam Acquisition Radar for Tracking, L band), the “Hamburg” can, for example, monitor the airspace over the North Sea, according to the Bundeswehr.
This is likely to bring the Houthi drones into focus.
A look at the detailed armament of the frigate “Hamburg”:
Armament of the frigate Hamburg: |
32 cell VTOL for SM-2 and ESSM |
2× quadruple FK starter for ship-to-ship missile RGM-84 Harpoon |
|
2×starter for short-range anti-aircraft defense RIM-116 RAM |
|
1× main gun 76 mm Compact |
|
2× 27 mm MLG autocannon |
|
2× MKL 32 triple torpedo tube sets |
With a permanent crew of 236 soldiers, the frigate “Hamburg” has a high need for personnel.
If there are helicopters on board, an additional 18 naval aviators are added.
This is similar to the frigate “Hessen”, which launched from Wilhelmshaven on February 8th towards the Red Sea, where it is supposed to protect merchant ships from attacks by the Iran-backed Houthi militia as part of an EU mission.
If the Bundestag approves it on Friday, as expected, it will travel to the operational area from the Suez Canal immediately afterwards.
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The Houthis want to force an end to the Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip by shelling ships, which are a response to the terrorist attack by the Islamist Hamas on October 7th.
The sea route through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal is one of the most important trade routes in the world.
Because of the Houthi attacks, large shipping companies are increasingly avoiding the shortest sea connection between Asia and Europe.
This is now having a significant impact on the global economy.
The USA and Great Britain have recently attacked Houthi targets in Yemen.
The EU operation, on the other hand, is purely defensive.
Operation off Libya: Turkish government veto ended search of frigate “Hamburg”
One of the last major missions of the “Hamburg” took place as part of the EU operation “Irini”: Damsl checked the frigate's compliance with the UN arms embargo against Libya.
Among other things, the crew stopped a tanker that was supposed to illegally bring kerosene into the civil war-torn country.
The search of a suspicious Turkish container ship caused a stir and had to be canceled due to a veto by the Turkish government.
The “Hamburg” had managed to make a “visible and significant contribution to stabilization in the maritime area off Libya,” said commander Jan Fitschen at the time.
(jako)