''Leopold I'' (F930) is a of the Marine Component of the

Belgian Armed Forces The Belgian Defense Forces ( nl, Defensie; french: La Défense) is the national military of Belgium. The King of the Belgians is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. The Belgian Armed Forces was established after Belgium became independ ...

. 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 The Royal Netherlands Navy ( nl, Koninklijke Marine, links=no) is the naval force of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. During the 17th century, the navy of the Dutch Republic (1581–1795) was one of the most powerful naval forces in the world an ...

on 22 December 2005.

HNLMS ''Karel Doorman''

HNLMS ''Karel Doorman'' was the first ship of the of multi-purpose

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 ...

s (also known as "M-fregat" class). She was the third ship in the Royal Netherlands Navy to be named after Admiral

Karel Doorman Karel Willem Frederik Marie Doorman (23 April 1889 – 28 February 1942) was a Dutch naval officer who during World War II commanded remnants of the short-lived American-British-Dutch-Australian Command naval strike forces in the Battle ...

, who was killed during the

Battle of the Java Sea The Battle of the Java Sea ( id, Pertempuran Laut Jawa, ja, スラバヤ沖海戦, Surabaya oki kaisen, Surabaya open-sea battle, Javanese : ꦥꦼꦫꦁꦱꦼꦒꦫꦗꦮ, romanized: ''Perang Segara Jawa'') was a decisive naval battle o ...

. 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 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 of ...

, was part of the UN operations in the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...

during the conflicts in the former republics of

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

, as well as various

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

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'' 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 Belgium is a constitutional, hereditary, and popular monarchy. The monarch is titled king or queen of the Belgians ( nl, Koning(in) der Belgen, french: Roi / Reine des Belges}, german: König(in) der Belgier) and serves as the country's h ...

, by

Queen Fabiola of Belgium Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

Zeebrugge Zeebrugge (, from: ''Brugge aan zee'' meaning "Bruges at Sea", french: Zeebruges) is a village on the coast of Belgium and a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. Zeebrugge serves as both the international port of Bruges-Zee ...

Marine Base. The patronage of ''Leopold I'' was accepted by the city of

Nivelles Nivelles (; nl, Nijvel, ; wa, Nivele; vls, Neyvel) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant. The Nivelles municipality includes the former municipalities of Baulers, Bornival, Thines, and Monst ...

. ''Willem van der Zaan'' was commissioned into the Belgian Marine Component as 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 Somali may refer to: Horn of Africa * Somalis, an inhabitant or ethnicity associated with Greater Somali Region ** Proto-Somali, the ancestors of modern Somalis ** Somali culture ** Somali cuisine ** Somali language, a Cushitic language ** Somali, ...

. 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 The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

press release stated that ''Leopold I'' would be part of the task force launching strikes against the

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...

. 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 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a ...

. The sailor had been evacuated via air to Den Helder on 20 March 2020 after he began showing symptoms, and was

quarantined A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have been ...

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

External links

Section of the website of the Belgian Ministry of Defence about the F930 ''Leopold I''

Homepage of ''Hr. Ms. Karel Doorman'' (in Dutch)

some pictures of F930 on Kiel Canal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leopold I (F930) 1988 ships Ships built in the Netherlands Karel Doorman-class frigates Karel Doorman-class frigates of the Belgian Navy Naval ships of Belgium Naval ships involved in the COVID-19 pandemic