__NOTOC__ The ''Alvand'' class ( fa, کلاس الوند) or ''Saam'' class ( fa, کلاس سام) was originally a class of four

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 built for the Imperial Iranian Navy. They were renamed after the

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...

, and served in the

Islamic Republic of Iran Navy , ''Daryādelān''"Seahearts" , patron = , motto = fa, راه ما، راه حسین است, ''Rāh-e ma, rāh-e hoseyn ast''"''Our Path, Is Hussain's Path''" , colors = , ...

during Iran-Iraq War. Three still remain in service. A fourth was sunk by the U.S. Navy in 1988.

Development and construction

The ships were built in the United Kingdom by Vosper Ltd and based on their Mark 5 design with the following arms & equipment:Moore, John ''Jane's Fighting Ships, 1974–75'', pub Jane's Publishing Co Ltd, 1975, -page 175. *

ASuW Anti-surface warfare (ASuW or ASUW) is the branch of naval warfare concerned with the suppression of surface combatants. More generally, it is any weapons, sensors, or operations intended to attack or limit the effectiveness of an adversary's s ...

- 1 × quintuple Sea Killer Mk2 surface-to-surface missile * AAW - 1 × triple Sea Cat

surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft syst ...

launcher *

ASW ASW, a three-letter abbreviation, may refer to: * an Associate Clinical Social Worker (ASW) in the state of California * High-temperature insulation wool#alumino silicate wool *Asynchronous SpaceWarp, a framerate smoothing technique used on the Ocul ...

1 × 3 barrelled Anti Submarine Mortar Mark 10 Limbo launcher *Guns - 1 × Mark 8 Mod 0 4.5 inch general purpose & 1 × twin 35mm Oerlikon AA *Electronics - Plessey AWS 1 air surveillance radar with on-mounted

IFF In logic and related fields such as mathematics and philosophy, "if and only if" (shortened as "iff") is a biconditional logical connective between statements, where either both statements are true or both are false. The connective is bicondi ...

; 2 × Contraves Seahunter systems (For use with Sea cat, Sea Killer & the 35mm mount); Decca RDL 1 passive direction finding equipment They were refitted in the UK shortly before the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

History

The ships were originally named after characters from

Ferdowsi Abul-Qâsem Ferdowsi Tusi ( fa, ; 940 – 1019/1025 CE), also Firdawsi or Ferdowsi (), was a Persians, Persian poet and the author of ''Shahnameh'' ("Book of Kings"), which is one of the world's longest epic poetry, epic poems created by a sin ...

's Shahnameh. After the Islamic Revolution they were renamed after mountains in Iran.Military Factory.
/ref> They saw action during the " Tanker War" phase of the Iran–Iraq War and proved effective against Iraqi forces. After one was sunk, and other significant losses taken, during Operation Praying Mantis they saw little further use as the Iranian Navy proved no match for the U.S. Navy.

Upgrades

The Sea Killer missiles were replaced by Chinese made

C-802 The YJ-83 (; NATO reporting name: CSS-N-8 Saccade) is a Chinese subsonic anti-ship cruise missile. It is manufactured by the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation Third Academy.Gromley et al.: page 101 Description The YJ-83 uses mi ...

s in the 1990s. The Sea Cats were replaced by the addition of a AA gun. Two triple torpedo tubes, two mortars and two 0.50 caliber machine guns were also fitted.

Successors

The is a modified Iranian-built version of the ''Alvand'' class, with five either in service or under construction.

Ships in the class

References

External links

Photos of Alvand-class frigates in Operation Praying Mantis

Sources

*https://web.archive.org/web/20160303224923/http://www.iinavy.org/faramarz.htm *http://www.mafhoum.com/press8/237P2.pdf *https://web.archive.org/web/20041222105239/http://www.ii.uj.edu.pl/~artur/enc/F2.htm {{Alvand class frigate Frigate classes Iran–United Kingdom military relations Ship classes of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy