The ''Fridtjof Nansen''-class frigates are a

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

of frigates that are the main surface combatant units of the

Royal Norwegian Navy The Royal Norwegian Navy ( no, Sjøforsvaret, , Sea defence) is the branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces responsible for naval operations of Norway. , the Royal Norwegian Navy consists of approximately 3,700 personnel (9,450 in mobilized state, ...

. The ships are named after famous

Norwegian explorers Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including th ...

, with the lead ship of the class bearing the name of Fridtjof Nansen, the Norwegian scientist, explorer and humanitarian. Five ships were ordered from Spanish shipbuilder Bazan (now

Navantia Navantia is a Spanish state-owned shipbuilding company, which offers its services to both military and civil sectors. It is the fifth-largest shipbuilder in Europe and the ninth-largest in the world with shipyards around the globe. The heir to t ...

). The total projected cost for all five ships in 2009 was (about USD ). As of November 2018, four are in active service and one has sunk and was subsequently scrapped.

Design

The frigates were originally intended as a replacement for the aging s, with a primary focus on

anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are t ...

(ASW). Eventually, the need for a robust anti-aircraft defense as well as the possibility of incorporating the

Naval Strike Missile The Naval Strike Missile (NSM) is an anti-ship and land-attack missile developed by the Norwegian company Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace (KDA). The original Norwegian name was Nytt sjømålsmissil (literally ''New sea target missile'', indicatin ...

surface-to-surface missile A surface-to-surface missile (SSM) or ground-to-ground missile (GGM) is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea and strike targets on land or at sea. They may be fired from hand-held or vehicle mounted devices, from fixed ins ...

produced by Norwegian company

Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace is one of three business units of Kongsberg Gruppen (KONGSBERG) of Norway and the supplier of defence and space related systems and products, mainly anti-ship missiles, military communications, and command and weapon ...

led to a more multi-role design. The selection of Navantia as prime contractor led to the design being very similar to the

Spanish Navy The Spanish Navy or officially, the Armada, is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation, ...

's s, including the incorporation of Lockheed Martin's

AEGIS combat system The Aegis Combat System is an American integrated naval weapons system developed by the Missile and Surface Radar Division of RCA, and it is now produced by Lockheed Martin. Initially used by the United States Navy, Aegis is now used also by ...

Improvements

The ''Fridtjof Nansen''-class frigates are larger, and have more personnel and equipment than the ''Oslo''-class frigates. Compared to the ''Oslo''-class vessels, the new vessels are 35 meters longer, nine meters taller and two meters deeper below water. They are also five meters broader and have three times the water displacement of the old ships. The frigates operated six NFH

NH90 The NHIndustries NH90 is a medium-sized, twin-engine, multi-role military helicopter. It was developed in response to NATO requirements for a battlefield helicopter which would also be capable of being operated in naval environments. The NH90 ...

helicopters, with the role as an extended "arm" of the frigates' ASW and ASuW capabilities but these will be taken out of services (2022) and returned to NH Industries.

Service history

On 26 February 2009, the Norwegian government decided to deploy ''Fridtjof Nansen'' to the Gulf of Aden, thereby participating in the ongoing

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 Eu ...

, the European Union's counter-piracy campaign in

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

. ''Fridtjof Nansen'' joined the campaign in August 2009. ''Fridtjof Nansen''s engagement in Operation Atalanta was carried out without a permanently stationed helicopter. Mainly due to delays in delivery of the new NH-90, the ship was equipped with two fast RHIBs for its onboard contingent of maritime

special operations forces Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

(

Marinejegerkommandoen ''Marinejegerkommandoen'' (MJK) ( en, Naval Special Operations Command) is the maritime/naval special warfare unit of the Norwegian Armed Forces and was established in 1953. The MJK is under the command of the Norwegian Special Operations Com ...

). In November 2009 she became involved in a firefight with suspected pirates after being attacked while inspecting a fishing vessel. In December 2013 HNoMS ''Helge Ingstad'' and the Danish support ship were sent to the Syrian port of Latakia to escort the Norwegian registered

RoRo Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using ...

cargo ship and the Danish cargo ship , which transported Syrian chemical weapons to Italy where they were handed over to a

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 ...

ship for destruction in international waters. On 8 November 2018, while returning from participation in Exercise ''Trident Juncture'', ''Helge Ingstad'' was involved in a collision with a Maltese-registered

oil tanker An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk transport of oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined cru ...

, ''Sola TS'', that severely damaged the frigate and caused a severe list that placed it in serious danger of sinking in spite of its position. The frigate was successfully beached to prevent it sinking and allow the crew to be evacuated. In the early hours of 13 November the vessel partially sank with only smaller sections of the superstructure remaining above water. The vessel was recovered but with the cost of repair prohibitive it has been decommissioned and was scrapped.

Ships in class

The ships are named after explorers Fridtjof Nansen,

Roald Amundsen Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen (, ; ; 16 July 1872 – ) was a Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He was a key figure of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Born in Borge, Østfold, Norway, Amundsen beg ...

Otto Sverdrup Otto Neumann Knoph Sverdrup (31 October 1854, in Bindal, Helgeland – 26 November 1930) was a Norwegian sailor and Arctic explorer. Early and personal life He was born in Bindal as a son of farmer Ulrik Frederik Suhm Sverdrup (1833–1914) ...

Helge Ingstad Helge Marcus Ingstad (30 December 1899 – 29 March 2001) was a Norwegian explorer. In 1960, after mapping some Norse settlements, Ingstad and his wife archaeologist Anne Stine Ingstad found remnants of a Viking settlement in L'Anse aux Meadow ...

and

Thor Heyerdahl Thor Heyerdahl KStJ (; 6 October 1914 – 18 April 2002) was a Norwegian adventurer and ethnographer with a background in zoology, botany and geography. Heyerdahl is notable for his ''Kon-Tiki'' expedition in 1947, in which he sailed 8,000& ...

Images

File:KNM Fridtjof Nansen-2006-06-01-side.jpg, View of the lead ship of the class, ''Fridtjof Nansen'' File:KNM Fridtjof Nansen 02.JPG, Close-up of superstructure of ''Fridtjof Nansen'' File:Nansen-oto75mm-2006-07-03.jpg, The OTO Breda 76 mm gun. Note the low-RCS design of both the gun house and the exposed part of the barbette. File:KNM Otto Sverdrup in Trondheim.jpg, ''Otto Sverdrup'' leaving Trondheim, Norway, November 2009. File:KNM Otto Sverdrup-2009-04-10-Haakonsvern.jpg, ''Otto Sverdrup'' at Haakonsvern Naval Base. File:KNM Roald Amundsen (F311) underway in the Atlantic Ocean on 16 February 2018 (180216-N-GC347-175).JPG, ''Roald Amundsen''. File:KNM Helge Ingstad.jpg, ''Helge Ingstad'' File:Nor F314.jpg, ''Thor Heyerdahl'' File:HNoMS Otto Sverdrup at South Quay, London.jpg, ''Otto Sverdrup'' moored at South Quay in London, December 2017

Notes

References

External links

Official Royal Norwegian Navy website on the class

Official Royal Norwegian Navy website on the class

Lockheedmartin:Spy-1F makes waves during debut, makes the furthest ESSM intercept ever, outstanding sea skimmer detection

Norway order Sting Ray mod 1 torpedo for frigates

Sea Protector remote weapon systems ordered (march 2009) for Nansen frigates

Norway ordering the AN/SSQ-62E DICASS sonobuoy acoustic emissions detection system (Jan 2010)

http://www.defpro.com/news/details/18513/ - Reutech radar installed aboard Norwegian frigate (Oct 2010)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fridtjof Nansen Class Frigate Frigates of Norway Frigate Frigate classes