''Schleswig-Holstein'' is a ''Brandenburg''-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.

Construction and commissioning

''Schleswig-Holstein'' and the three other frigates of the ''Brandenburg'' class were designed as replacements for the ''Hamburg''-class

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

s. She was laid in 1993 at the yards of Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft, Kiel and launched in June 1994. After undergoing trials, she was commissioned on 24 November 1995, and assigned to ''6. Fregattengeschwader''. After the naval structure was reorganised, ''Schleswig-Holstein'' was assigned to ''2. Fregattengeschwader'', based at Wilhelmshaven.

Service

''Schleswig-Holstein'' was deployed as part of the Maritime Task Force of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon between September and December 2009, serving 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 the taskforce commander, Flotilla Admiral . On 19 May 2010 she replaced the frigate ''Emden'' on deployment with Operation Atalanta off the

Horn of Africa The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...

. She spent 124 days with the taskforce there, and together with the EUNAVFOR flagship ''De Grasse'', was involved in escorting ships from the World Food Program and the African Union Mission in Somalia. ''Schleswig-Holstein'' was replaced in this task by the frigate ''Köln'' in September 2010. From June to December 2014 ''Schleswig-Holstein'' deployed on behalf of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, escorting the across the Mediterranean, replacing the previous escort, the frigate ''Augsburg''. The ''Cape Ray'' was carrying out the destruction of Syrian chemical weapons. On the completion of this mission ''Schleswig-Holstein'' then deployed on the Cougar 2014 exercises in the Mediterranean and Persian Gulf, in which she escorted a British amphibious combat group consisting of , , RFA ''Lyme Bay'' and RFA ''Wave Knight''. From June to November 2015 ''Schleswig-Holstein'' was deployed with the EU Navfor Med mission in the Mediterranean, assisting in rescuing migrants from shipwrecks and other dangerous situations. On 22 July she rescued 111 people. On 24 August a pregnant Somali woman rescued from a refugee boat by gave birth to a child aboard the ship, the first to ever be born aboard a ship of the German Navy. At the suggestion of the attending medical personnel, the child was named Sophia. This was a name associated with German naval ships named ''Schleswig-Holstein'', as the earlier destroyer ''Schleswig-Holstein'' had used the

radio call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...

"Sophie X". This was itself a reference to the early battleship , which had been dedicated to

Princess Louise Sophie of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg , house = Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg , father =Frederick VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein , mother = Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg , birth_date = , birth_place =Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein , death_date ...

, as have later ships of the name. EUNAVFORMED was subsequently renamed "Operation Sophia", after the baby born aboard ''Schleswig-Holstein''. After participating in the rescue of a total of 4,224 shipwrecked refugees ''Schleswig-Holstein'' returned to her home port of Wilhelmshaven on 9 November 2015.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schleswig-Holstein Brandenburg-class frigates 1994 ships Ships built in Kiel Frigates of Germany