''Augsburg'' was a of the

German Navy The German Navy (, ) is the navy of Germany and part of the unified ''Bundeswehr'' (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Mari ...

. The vessel was laid down in April 1987 by

Bremer Vulkan Bremer Vulkan AG was a prominent German shipbuilding company located at the Weser river in Bremen-Vegesack. It was founded in 1893 and closed in 1997 because of financial problems and mismanagement. All together Bremer Vulkan built about 1100 s ...

, in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

, Germany and launched on 17 September 1987. The vessel was commissioned on 3 October 1989. The ship has been deployed as part of

Operation Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Operation Enduring Freedom Horn of Africa , partof = War on TerrorOperation Enduring Freedom , image = , caption = French Naval commandos (green) and United S ...

and

Operation Atalanta Operation Atalanta, formally European Union Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia, is a current counter-piracy military operation at sea off the Horn of Africa and in the Western Indian Ocean, that is the first naval operation conducted by the E ...

in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

and

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

and has seen service in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

. The vessel is currently based at

Wilhelmshaven Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelmsha ...

, Germany.

Construction and commissioning

''Augsburg'' was laid in April 1987 at the yards of

and launched on 17 September 1987. After undergoing

trials In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...

''Augsburg'' was commissioned on 3 October 1989. She is currently based at

as part of ''4. Fregattengeschwader'', forming a component of ''

Einsatzflottille 2 ''Einsatzflottille 2'' (EinsFltl 2 or EF 2) is one of the three brigade-level units of the German Navy, in addition to '' Einsatzflottille 1'' and the Naval Air Command. It is based in Wilhelmshaven, Lower Saxony, and is subordinated to Navy Com ...

''. She has the nickname "Wilde 13", a reference to her

pennant number In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number (an internationalisation of ''pendant number'', which it was called before 1948). Historically, naval ships flew a flag that iden ...

, and the German children's story ''Jim Button and the Wild 13'', which was turned into a production by the marionette theatre

Augsburger Puppenkiste The Augsburger Puppenkiste (German for: Augsburg Puppetchest) is a marionette theater in Augsburg, Germany. It is located at the former Heilig-Geist-Spital in the historic center of Augsburg. Since 1948, the "Augsburger Puppenkiste" had been prod ...

Service

After commissioning ''Augsburg'' was initially assigned to ''2. Fregattengeschwader'', being transferred to ''4. Fregattengeschwader'' on 9 January 2006. She has deployed several times as part of

, including service in the

. From 3 April 2013 to 30 August 2013 ''Augsburg'', commanded by ''Fregattenkapitän'' Bernhard Veitl, spent five and a half months supporting

. On 11 February 2014 ''Augsburg'' deployed from Wilhelmshaven with the frigates and , the corvette and the storeship to take part in the navy's annual training and exercises. These concluded at Kiel on 20 June 2014, during which time the ships carried out manoeuvres as far north as the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the most northerly of the five major circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth. Its southern equivalent is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circle marks the southernmost latitude at w ...

and as far south as the Equator, visiting 13 ports in nine countries. On 9 April 2014 ''Augsburg'' was released from the training exercises in order to serve as an escort for the US special purpose vessel in the eastern Mediterranean. ''Cape Ray'' was transporting Syrian chemical weapons for destruction. On 20 November 2015, ''Augsburg'' sailed from Wilhelmshaven with the replenishment ship to take part in

Operation Sophia Operation Sophia, formally European Union Naval Force Mediterranean (EU NAVFOR Med), was a military operation of the European Union that was established as a consequence of the April 2015 Libya migrant shipwrecks with the aim of neutralising estab ...

in the Mediterranean. She was relieved from this duty on 3 December by the

minehunter A minehunter is a naval vessel that seeks, detects, and destroys individual naval mines. Minesweepers, on the other hand, clear mined areas as a whole, without prior detection of mines. A vessel that combines both of these roles is known as a ...

. On 6 December 2015 ''Augsburg'' deployed as an escort for the French aircraft carrier during its operations against the military group

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 ...

. She was released from her escort duties on 11 March, her crew being awarded the French

Overseas Medal The Overseas Medal (french: Médaille d'Outre-Mer) is a commemorative or campaign medal issued to members of the French Armed Forces and other nations in assistance to French troops for participating in operations outside national territory. It rep ...

for their service, and returned to Wilhelmshaven on 24 March. On 30 August 2016 ''Augsburg'' redeployed in the Mediterranean with the ''Charles De Gaulle'' carrier group on anti-ISIL operations. She left the carrier group on 14 November to carry out patrols. She spent four days participating in NATO's maritime surveillance

Operation Sea Guardian Operation Sea Guardian is a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) maritime security operation taking place in the Mediterranean Sea. In July 2016, at the Warsaw Summit, NATO announced the transition of the Article 5 counter-terrorism Operat ...

, before returning to Wilhelmshaven on 25 November 2016. On 17 September 2018 she sailed from Wilhelmshaven to replace the tender in Operation Sophia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Augsburg Bremen-class frigates 1987 ships Ships built in Bremen (state) Frigates of Germany