''Hessen'' is a ''Sachsen''-class

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

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 ...

Construction and commissioning

Built by

Nordseewerke Nordseewerke Emden GmbH (sometimes abbreviated NSWE, in English: North Sea Company) was a shipbuilding company, located in the Emden Harbor of the north German city of Emden. Founded in 1903, shipbuilding ended in 2010, and the company was taken ...

Emden Emden () is an independent city and seaport in Lower Saxony in the northwest of Germany, on the river Ems. It is the main city of the region of East Frisia and, in 2011, had a total population of 51,528. History The exact founding date of E ...

, ''Hessen'' was the third and final ship of the ''Sachsen'' class to be launched and then commissioned into the German Navy. She is 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 ...

with the other ships of the ''Sachsen'' class as part of ''2. Fregattengeschwader'', which itself forms part of the '' Einsatzflottille 2''.

Service

Shortly after her commissioning in 2006, ''Hessen'' was deployed with other ships of the German Navy to guard the

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; nds, label=Low German, Mękel(n)borg ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin ...

coastline during the 33rd G8 summit in 2007, which was being held in the region. In 2008 she was part of the Maritime Task Force deployed in support of the

United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon ( ar, قوة الأمم المتحدة المؤقتة في لبنان, he, כוח האו"ם הזמני בלבנון), or UNIFIL ( ar, يونيفيل, he, יוניפי״ל), is a UN peacekeeping m ...

. In late 2009 ''Hessen'' was involved in a

Composite Training Unit Exercise COMPTUEX, or Composite Training Unit Exercise, is a rehearsal each US Navy Carrier Strike Group performs before departing for deployment. Each ship and aircraft in the battle group trains in its specialty; COMPTUEX brings ships together to project ...

off the east coast of the US, in company with the . In March the following year she was part of the combat group. In June the ''Hessen'' transited the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...

with the US force and deployed with the

US Fifth Fleet The Fifth Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It has been responsible for naval forces in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and parts of the Indian Ocean since 1995 after a 48-year hiatus. It shares a commander and headq ...

. From January to June 2013 ''Hessen'' was part of

Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 Standing NATO Maritime Group One (SNMG1) is one of NATO's standing naval maritime immediate reaction forces. SNMG1 consists of four to six destroyers and frigates. Its role is to provide NATO with an immediate operational response capability. Hi ...

, as the

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

of Flotilla Admiral Georg von Maltzan. She also participated in

Operation Active Endeavour Operation Active Endeavour was a maritime operation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It operated in the Mediterranean Sea and was designed to prevent the movement of terrorists or weapons of mass destruction. It had collateral benefit ...

during this period. From December 2013 to April 2014, ''Hessen'' was deployed with EUNAVFOR in

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 ...

, tackling

piracy off the coast of Somalia Piracy off the coast of Somalia occurs in the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel and Somali Sea, in Somali territorial waters and other surrounding areas and has a long and troubled history with different perspectives from different communities. I ...

. From May to June 2015, ''Hessen'' deployed in the Mediterranean alongside the replenishment ship ''Berlin''. Together the two vessels saved several hundred migrants from shipwrecks and other incidents. In 2017 ''Hessen'' was responsible for securing the airspace at the G20 summit in Hamburg. On 28 January 2018 ''Hessen'' arrived at

Naval Station Norfolk Naval Station Norfolk is a United States Navy base in Norfolk, Virginia, that is the headquarters and home port of the U.S. Navy's Fleet Forces Command. The installation occupies about of waterfront space and of pier and wharf space of the Hamp ...

. She and the Norwegian frigate HNoMS ''Roald Amundsen'' took part in Composite Training Unit Exercises with the aircraft carrier USS ''Harry S. Truman'', after which ''Hessen'' accompanied the combat group on the first half of its deployment to the Mediterranean. In October 2022, ''Hessen'' was assigned to the

Carrier Strike Group A carrier strike group (CSG) is a type of carrier battle group of the United States Navy. It is an operational formation composed of roughly 7,500 personnel, usually an aircraft carrier, at least one cruiser, a destroyer squadron of at least tw ...

of the aircraft carrier for the carrier's maiden deployment. In 2023, "Hessen" took part in the UK NATO exercise "Joint Warrior 23-2", which started from King George V dock, Glasgow.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hessen Sachsen-class frigates 2003 ships Ships built in Emden Frigates of Germany