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Karlsruhe on 21 August 2013
Class overview
Builders	Bremer Vulkan AG Weser Blohm + Voss Nordseewerke Howaldtswerke
Operators	German Navy
Preceded by	Köln class
Succeeded by	Brandenburg class Baden-Württemberg class
Built	1979–1990
In commission	1982–2022
Completed	8
Retired	8
General characteristics
Type	Frigate
Displacement	3,680 tonnes (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)
Range	more than 4,000 nmi (7,400 km) at 18 knots (33 km/h)
Complement	202 crew plus 20 aviation
Sensors and processing systems	1 × EADS TRS-3D air search radar (three-dimensional) 1 × WM 25 combined surface search and fire control radar I/J band 1 × Thales Nederland STIR 180 fire-control radar I/J/K band 1 × Kelvin Hughes Nucleus 5000 I band navigation radar 1 × STN Atlas DSQS-23BZ hull-mounted sonar
Electronic warfare & decoys	ESM/ECM EADS FL 1800S 2 × SCLAR decoys SLQ-25 Nixie torpedo decoy
Armament	Naval guns: 1 × OTO-Melara 76 mm dual-purpose gun 2 × Mauser MLG27 27 mm autocannons Antiaircraft warfare: 1 × 8-cell launch system, 16 × Sea Sparrow surface to air missiles CIWS: 2 × MK 49 launcher, 21 × RAM each Anti-ship missiles: 2 × quadruple Harpoon anti-ship missile launchers Antisubmarine warfare: 2 × Mark 32 324-mm twin torpedo launchers, 8 × DM4A1 or Mark 46 torpedo
Aircraft carried	Place for 2 Sea Lynx Mk.88A helicopters equipped with torpedoes, air-to-surface missiles Sea Skua, and/or heavy machine gun.

The eight F122 Bremen-class frigates of the German Navy was a series of frigates commissioned between 1982 and 1990. The design was based on the proven and robust Dutch Kortenaer class but used a different propulsion system and hangar lay-out. The ships were built for anti-submarine warfare as a primary task although they were not fitted with towed array sonars. They were also equipped for anti-surface warfare, while having anti-aircraft warfare point defences.

This class of ship was one of the last to be constructed under post-war displacement limitations imposed by the WEU on West Germany.

All eight Bremen-class frigates were replaced by the F125-class frigate. Prior to that the Bremen class served as the backbone of the German Navy.

Employment

During the Cold War period, the ships' main war task was to escort convoys for reinforcement and resupply of allied forces in Europe in the Northern Atlantic. They frequently took part in NATO Standing Naval Forces. Since 1990, all ships have served in additional supporting missions such as the embargo operations against former Yugoslavia in the Adriatic Sea or Operation Enduring Freedom against the international terrorism.

During their lifetime, the ships' equipment has frequently been modernized and proven to be reliable platforms.

Notable actions

Karlsruhe successfully assisted an Egyptian freighter repel pirates on 25 December 2008 in the Gulf of Aden.

In 2012 Rheinland-Pfalz was reportedly used to gather intelligence on Syrian troop movements to be passed to the Free Syrian Army assist in their attacks on the Syrian Army.

In December 2015 Augsburg joined the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle in the south-eastern Mediterranean Sea to go to the Arabian Sea as part of the intervention against ISIS in the Syrian Civil War.

Ships

All ships were based in Wilhelmshaven. Together they formed the 4. Fregattengeschwader (4th Frigate Squadron) of the German Navy.

Gallery

• Bremen
• Niedersachsen at New York, 2004
• Köln
• Rheinland-Pfalz
• Lübeck
• Emden at Portsmouth, UK, 2013
• Karlsruhe at London, 2016

See also

• List of frigate classes
• List of German Federal Navy ships
• List of naval ship classes of Germany

References

1. Fiorenza, Nicholas (24 October 2011). "More Details Of German Cuts". Ares: A Defense Technology Blog. Aviation Week. Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
2. "Syria rebels aided by Germany intel ship in fight against Assad forces, report says". Haaretz. Reuters. 19 August 2012. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
3. "Kampf gegen IS-Terror : Fregatte "Augsburg" steht schon unter französischem Kommando". Handelsblatt. 6 December 2015. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
4. Deutsche Marine steht an Frankreichs Seite, Bundesministerium der Verteidigung, 3 December 2015, retrieved 6 December 2015
5. marine.de
6. "Kein Abschied für immer". 22 March 2013. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
7. "Fregatte Köln: Ein letztes Kölsch zum Abschied". Express.de. 1 August 2012. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
8. "FGS Lubeck Decommissioned After 32 Years of Service". Retrieved 31 January 2023.

Sources

• Website for all active and retired Frigate F213 Seamen
• "Fregatte BREMEN-Klasse" (in German). Deutsche Marine. Retrieved 4 August 2008.
• naval-technology.com
• https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/26/world/africa/26pirates.html?ref=world
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7799796.stm

External links

• Media related to Bremen class at Wikimedia Commons

• Frigates of Germany
• Bremen-class frigates
• German involvement in the Syrian civil war
• Frigate classes