Belgian frigate Louise-Marie

(Redirected from Belgian frigate Louise-Marie (F931)) Belgian Navy frigate, purchased in 2005 For other ships with the same name, see HNLMS Willem van der Zaan.

History
HNLMS Willem van der Zaan (F829) in 1995
Netherlands
Name	Willem van der Zaan
Namesake	Schout-bij-nacht Willem van der Zaan
Builder	Koninklijke Schelde Groep, Flushing (Netherlands)
Laid down	6 November 1985
Launched	21 January 1989
Commissioned	28 November 1991
Decommissioned	25 August 2006
Fate	Sold to Belgium on 22 December 2005
Belgium
Name	Louise-Marie
Namesake	Queen Louise-Marie of Belgium
Christened	8 April 2008
Acquired	22 December 2005
Commissioned	8 April 2008
Homeport	Zeebrugge Naval Base
Identification	MMSI number: 205205000 Callsign: ORJQ
Status	Active
General characteristics
Class and type	Karel Doorman-class frigate
Displacement	2,800 tonnes
Length	122.325 m (401.33 ft)
Beam	14.37 m (47.1 ft)
Draught	6.2 m (20 ft)
Speed	30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Complement	15 officers, 70 NCO's, 60 sailors
Armament	16 × RIM-7 Sea Sparrow anti-air VLS 8 × Boeing Harpoon anti-ship missile 2–6 × FN MAG 7.62 mm machine gun 2–4 × Browning M2 12.7 mm machine gun 2 × Twin-Mark 46 torpedo tubes 1 × OTO Melara 76 mm gun 1 × Goalkeeper CIWS
Aircraft carried	1 x NH90 NFH helicopter

Louise-Marie (F931) is a Karel Doorman-class frigate of the Marine Component of the Belgian Armed Forces that was commissioned in 2008. It is the second of the two frigates of this class that were purchased from the Royal Netherlands Navy on 22 December 2005. It was originally commissioned in 1991 in the Netherlands, where it served as HNLMS Willem van der Zaan (F829).

Service

HNLMS Willem van der Zaan was rechristened Louise-Marie (F931) on 8 April 2008 in Antwerp by Queen Paola of Belgium. It was named after Louise-Marie, a naval vessel purchased by the Belgian navy in 1840, which in turn was named after Queen Louise-Marie of Belgium, the wife of Leopold I.

Missions

In September 2010, Louise-Marie was reported to be preparing for a second deployment to the Horn of Africa.

On 29 November 2013, the ship arrived in London, UK as part of the preparations for the centenary of the start of World War I delivering soil from 70 World War I battlefields collected by British and Belgian schoolchildren for the Flanders Fields Memorial Garden in London's Wellington Barracks.

On January 19, 2024, it was announced the Louise-Marie was being sent to the Red Sea to aid in the EU-led Operation Aspides to protect naval shipping in response to a rise in Houthi attacks on commercial vessels near the coast of Yemen. Scheduled to transit the Suez Canal on April 12, deployment indefinitely postponed due to failed operational and technical tests while transiting the Mediterranean Sea, including an incident where a RIM-7 Sea Sparrow missile was reportedly "stuck" in its launch tube. On 27 April, the issues were resolved and Louise-Marie set course for the area of operations.

References

"Nederlands fregat voortaan onder Belgische vlag" (in Dutch). De Telegraaf. 2 April 2008. Archived from the original on 5 April 2008. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
"defence.professionals". Archived from the original on March 17, 2012. Retrieved 2010-09-29.
"WW1 'sacred soil' ceremony takes place in London". BBC News. 30 November 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
"Belgium sends warship to Red Sea". Politico. 19 January 2024. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
Ruitenberg, Rudy. "Belgium postpones Red Sea deployment after frigate mishaps". DefenseNews. Paris. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
Goossens, Kasper (13 April 2024). "Raket blijft steken; inzet Belgisch fregat Rode Zee uitgesteld". Marineschepen.nl (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 26 April 2024. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
Karreman, Jaime (29 April 2024). "Na lanceerproblemen is Belgisch fregat nu klaar voor Rode Zee". Marineschepen.nl (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 29 April 2024. Retrieved 29 April 2024.

External links

Homepage of HNLMS Willem van der Zaan on the website of the Royal Netherlands Navy - Only available in Dutch.

v t e Karel Doorman-class frigates
Royal Netherlands Navy	Karel Doorman Van Speijk Willem van der Zaan Tjerk Hiddes Van Amstel Abraham van der Hulst Van Nes Van Galen
Belgian Navy	Leopold I (ex-Karel Doorman) Louise-Marie (ex-Willem van der Zaan)
Chilean Navy	Almirante Blanco Encalada (ex-Abraham van der Hulst) Almirante Riveros (ex-Tjerk Hiddes)
Portuguese Navy	Bartolomeu Dias (ex-Van Nes) Dom Francisco de Almeida (ex-Van Galen)
Preceded by: Jacob van Heemskerck class Followed by: De Zeven Provinciën class

v t e Ships of the Belgian Naval Component
Karel Doorman-class frigates	Leopold I Louise-Marie
Tripartite-class minehunters	Aster Bellis Crocus Lobelia Narcis Primula
Castor-class patrol vessels	Castor Pollux
Auxiliary vessels	Zenobe Gramme Spich Werl

Categories:

Misplaced Pages