Belgian frigate Leopold I - Misplaced Pages

(Redirected from HNLMS Karel Doorman (F 827)) For other ships with the same name, see HNLMS Karel Doorman.

History
HNLMS Karel Doorman
Netherlands
Name	Karel Doorman
Namesake	Schout-bij-nacht Karel Doorman
Builder	Koninklijke Schelde Groep, Vlissingen (Netherlands)
Laid down	26 February 1985
Launched	20 April 1988
Commissioned	31 May 1991
Decommissioned	2006
Identification	F827
Fate	Sold to Belgium on 22 December 2005, and transferred on 29 March 2007
Belgium
Name	Leopold I
Namesake	King Leopold I of Belgium
Christened	29 March 2007, by Queen Fabiola of Belgium
Acquired	Purchased on 22 December 2005, from the Royal Netherlands Navy
In service	29 March 2007
Homeport	Zeebrugge Naval Base
Identification	Pennant number: F930 MMSI number: 205203000 Callsign: ORJP
Motto	Audaces Fortuna Juvat ("Fortune favours the bold"; Latin)
Status	Active
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	Karel Doorman-class frigate
Displacement	2,800 tonnes
Length	122.325 m (401 ft 3.9 in)
Beam	14.37 m (47 ft 2 in)
Draught	6.2 m (20 ft 4 in)
Speed	24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph)
Complement	15 officers, 70 NCOs, 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

Leopold I (F930) is a Karel Doorman-class frigate of the Marine Component of the Belgian Armed Forces. Prior to 29 March 2007, the ship was known as HNLMS Karel Doorman (F827). It is one of the two frigates of this class purchased from the Royal Netherlands Navy on 22 December 2005.

HNLMS Karel Doorman

HNLMS Karel Doorman was the first ship of the Karel Doorman class of multi-purpose frigates (also known as "M-fregat" class). She was the third ship in the Royal Netherlands Navy to be named after Admiral Karel Doorman, who was killed during the Battle of the Java Sea. The ship was laid down on 26 February 1985, launched on 20 April 1988 and commissioned on 31 May 1991.

She took part in anti-drug operations in the Caribbean together with the US Navy, was part of the UN operations in the Adriatic Sea during the conflicts in the former republics of Yugoslavia, as well as various NATO exercises.

Leopold I

On 20 July 2005, the Belgian government decided to buy two of the remaining six Dutch M-class frigates to replace the two remaining frigates of the Wielingen class (Wielingen and Westdiep) then in service with the Belgian Naval Component. On 22 December 2005, Karel Doorman and Willem van der Zaan were sold to Belgium.

Karel Doorman was taken out of service in 2006 and turned over to the Belgian Marine Component on 29 March 2007 where the ship was christened Leopold I, in honour of the first King of the Belgians, by Queen Fabiola of Belgium at Zeebrugge Marine Base. The patronage of Leopold I was accepted by the city of Nivelles. Willem van der Zaan was commissioned into the Belgian Marine Component as Louise-Marie in April 2008.

East African deployment

Leopold I embarked upon her first official mission for the Naval Component on 5 September 2007. She was deployed to East Africa as part of the international mission against Somali pirates. The operation was given the codename East African Venture. On 30 November 2007 she arrived back at her home port of Zeebrugge, marking the end of the deployment.

Fight against ISIL

In November 2015, a French Navy press release stated that Leopold I would be part of the Charles de Gaulle task force launching strikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Her deployment took place from 18 November 2015 to 4 January 2016.

Coronavirus pandemic

Belgian Defense announced on 25 March 2020 that a crew member had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. The sailor had been evacuated via air to Den Helder on 20 March 2020 after he began showing symptoms, and was quarantined at home when the test returned positive on 24 March. As a precaution, the ship broke off from its operation with the French carrier battle group led by Charles de Gaulle and returned to Zeebrugge on 27 March 2020, about a month earlier than planned.

References

"Mission Arromanches 2 : Déploiment du GAN en Méditerranée orientale et dans l'Océan Indien". colsbleus.fr (in French). 18 November 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
@BelgiumDefence (25 March 2020). "Despite all the precautions taken, a case of contamination COVID19 has been confirmed among the crew of the frigate Leopold I." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
^ "Contamination au Coronavirus: Le Leopold I Reste à Quais" (in French). Belgian Military. 27 March 2020. Archived from the original on 22 April 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
"Corona infection on board Belgian frigate Leopold I". vrt.be. 25 March 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
"Covid-19. Did Belgium make the right choice by interrupting the Foch mission". bruxelles2.eu. 10 April 2020. Archived from the original on 26 April 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
"French Carrier Strike Group Begins 'Foch' Deployment". navalnews.com. 22 January 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2020.

External links

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

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