BNS ''Bangabandhu'' ( bn, বানৌজা বঙ্গবন্ধু) is a

guided-missile frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

of the

Bangladesh Navy The Bangladesh Navy ( bn, বাংলাদেশ নৌবাহিনী, Bangladesh Nou Bahini) is the naval warfare branch of the Bangladesh Armed Forces, responsible for Bangladesh's of maritime territorial area, and the defence of imp ...

. She is currently based at

Chattogram Chittagong ( /ˈtʃɪt əˌɡɒŋ/ ''chit-uh-gong''; ctg, চিটাং; bn, চিটাগং), officially Chattogram ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম), is the second-largest city in Bangladesh after Dhaka and third largest city in B ...

, serving with the Commodore Commanding BN Flotilla (COMBAN). She is currently the only frigate of the Bangladesh Navy armed with ASW

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

and gun based

CIWS A close-in weapon system (CIWS ) is a point-defense weapon system for detecting and destroying short-range incoming missiles and enemy aircraft which have penetrated the outer defenses, typically mounted on a naval ship. Nearly all classes of la ...

Armament

This vessel has the

Otomat The Otomat is an anti-ship and coastal defence missile developed by the Italian company Oto Melara jointly with Matra and now made by MBDA. The name comes, for the first versions, from the name of the two builders ("Oto Melara" and "Matra") and ...

Mk 2 Block IV

anti-ship missile An anti-ship missile (AShM) is a guided missile that is designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea skimming variety, and many use a combination of inertial guidance and active radar homing. A good ...

s on board the vessel which has a range of . In April 2018, Bangladesh Navy issued a tender for replacing two 40 mm Fast Forty guns on board the ship with new 40 mm twin-barrel gun system.

Career

''Bangabandhu'' was named after Bangladesh's founding father,

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman ( bn, শেখ মুজিবুর রহমান; 17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), often shortened as Sheikh Mujib or Mujib and widely known as Bangabandhu (meaning ''Friend of Bengal''), was a Bengalis, Beng ...

, who is popularly called ''Bangabandhu'' (Friend of Bengal). The ship was ordered in March 1998. She was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

on 12 May 1999 at

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd ( ko, 대우조선해양; abbreviated DSME) is one of the "Big Three" shipbuilders of South Korea, along with Hyundai and Samsung. History On 21 February 2011, the A. P. Moller-Maersk Group (Ma ...

Republic of Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its east ...

. She was launched on 29 August 2000, and commissioned on 20 June 2001. In 2007 she was recommissioned again under a new name, as BNS ''Khalid Bin Walid''. Later on in 2009 she was renamed BNS ''Bangabandhu''. The ship participated in Exercise Ferocious Falcon, a multinational crisis management exercise, held at

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

in November 2012. While transiting to the exercise, the frigate visited the port of

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The ship took part in Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training(CARAT), an annual bilateral exercise with

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, from 2011 to 2015. On 29 August 2013, the ship received the ''National Standard''. In 2014,

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (MH370/MAS370) was an international passenger flight operated by Malaysia Airlines that disappeared on 8 March 2014 while flying from Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia to its planned destination ...

, a 777-200ER, went missing while in flight. Due to the possibility of finding the wreckage in the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line between ...

, ''Bangabandhu'', along with the frigate , joined the search operation in the region. On 31 May 2016, she started for

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

with 150 tonnes of relief for the victims of the floods and landslides caused by Cyclone Roanu. The relief included drugs, water purifying machines, pure drinking water, tents, food items and generators. She also joined the rescue efforts there. The ship left for

on 22 February 2018 to take part in 6th ''Doha International Maritime Exhibition and Conference (DIMDEX-2018)'' to be held from 12 to 14 March 2018. She paid goodwill visits to

Mumbai port Mumbai Port Trust (also known as the Bombay Port Trust) is a port which lies midway on the West coast of India, on the natural deep-water harbour of Mumbai (Bombay) in Maharashtra.The harbour spread over is protected by the mainland of Konkan t ...

, in India, from 2 to 5 March 2018 and to Colombo port in Sri Lanka from 22 to 25 March 2018. On 29 March 2018, she returned to her homeport, Chattogram.

References and notes

External links

Photo from Google earth
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bangabandhu Ships built by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Frigates of the Bangladesh Navy Ulsan-class frigates of the Bangladesh Navy 2000 ships Memorials to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Ships of the Bangladesh Navy

Armament

Career

See also

References and notes

External links