''Meteoro'' (P-41) is the lead ship of the ''Meteoro'' class, a new kind of

offshore patrol vessel A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval ship, naval vessel generally designed for Coastal defence and fortification, coastal defence, Border control, border security, or law ...

created for 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, ...

and called BAMs.

Operational history

Construction began on October 4, 2007 with the cutting of the first sheet and the

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

was placed on the stand on March 13, 2009 in the shipyard of San Fernando. She was launched on Friday, October 16, 2009, sponsored by

Minister of Economy A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

Elena Salgado Elena Salgado Méndez () (born 12 May 1949 in Ourense, Galicia, Spain) is a Spanish politician of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Spain and held several ministerial portfolios during her politi ...

, with the anecdote that the ship slid down the stage 11 minutes before the scheduled time, when the ceremony had just begun.
On Friday, January 28, 2011, she successfully completed her sea trials in the Bay of Cadiz waters, prior to its delivery to the Navy, completing her last tests in July 2011. While carrying out minor repairs at the San Fernando shipyard , a soldier was found dead inside of the ship with a shot in the head. She was handed to the navy at the base of Rota in the presence of

Defense Minister A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

Carme Chacón Carme Maria Chacón Piqueras (; March 13, 1971April 9, 2017) was a Spanish lawyer, lecturer and politician who was minister of Defence from 2008 to 2011 in the cabinet led by Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. Member of Sp ...

on July 28, 2011. Under the command of Captain David Fernández-Portal Díaz del Rio, on August 22, she arrived in the military arsenal of

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife), the most populous city in the auton ...

, where she remained until September 5, when she returned to the peninsula to begin the certification of her Equipment and systems. In October 2011, she traveled to Cartagena for evaluation and training of the crew, then going to

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...

, arriving on November 4, where the

Prince of Asturias Prince or Princess of Asturias ( es, link=no, Príncipe/Princesa de Asturias; ast, Príncipe d'Asturies) is the main substantive title used by the heir apparent or heir presumptive to the monarchy of Spain, throne of Spain. According to the Sp ...

attended the next day At the exit of the

Volvo Ocean Race The Ocean Race is a yacht race around the world, held every three or four years since 1973. Originally named the Whitbread Round the World Race after its initiating sponsor, British brewing company Whitbread, in 2001 it became the Volvo Ocean Rac ...

, indicated by means of a cannon salvo of the Meteoro, after which she went to the city, to participate in the events of 50th edition of the Nautical Week of Barcelona. After finalizing the Nautical Week of Barcelona, went to the Naval Military School of Marín, where she arrived on 23 November to carry out various tests there, and to sail from there the next day. She finished her cruise of resistance by the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea on 19 December 2011, when she arrived at her base in the Arsenal of Las Palmas, after having touched, in addition to the ports already mentioned,

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

Vigo Vigo ( , , , ) is a city and Municipalities in Spain, municipality in the province of Pontevedra, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Penins ...

Palma de Mallorca Palma (; ; also known as ''Palma de Mallorca'', officially between 1983–88, 2006–08, and 2012–16) is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is situate ...

Mahón Mahón (), officially Maó (), and also written as Mahon or Port Mahon in English, is the capital and second largest city of Menorca. The city is located on the eastern coast of the island, which is part of the archipelago and autonomous communi ...

And

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

, where she was visited by 40 officers of the

Algerian Navy , image = Algerian Naval badge.svg , image_size = 220px , caption = Algerian Naval badge , dates = 1516–18271963–present , country ...

. On June 7, she returned to her base in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria after completing a period of operational qualifications and training, now being considered as fully operational. On July 17, 2013, she sailed from her base in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria to join

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 ...

to fight piracy in the

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 ...

, replacing ''Numancia'', in an expected deployment of four months. Between December 1 and 3, she was relieved in

Djibouti Djibouti, ar, جيبوتي ', french: link=no, Djibouti, so, Jabuuti officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red ...

by ''Tornado'', to begin her return journey to Spain, and arrive at her base in Las Palmas on December 22, 2013 On March 20, 2014, while participating in a routine exercise of cargo hoisting some 23 miles southwest of

Fuerteventura Fuerteventura () is one of the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean, part of the North Africa region, and politically part of Spain. It is located away from the northwestern coast of Africa. The island was declared a biosphere reserve by UNES ...

, a Super-Puma helicopter of the Air Rescue Service of the

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

802 squadron crashed in the middle of an exercise. ''Meteoro'' was able to rescue one of the 5 crew members of the aircraft. On April 21, 2014, she participated in search and rescue tasks, participating in the company Phoenix International and the bodies of two of her crew, as well as the Transfer of the aforementioned mortal remains to the Arsenal of Las Palmas. In April 2015 she participated in the cleaning of oil spills in the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

, caused by the sinking of the Russian fishing vessel ''Oleg Naydenov''. During the night of 16 to 17 of May, 2015 she participated in the arrest of a former fishing vessel, which carried 1800 kg of cocaine on board. In August 2015 she joined the twenty-first rotation of the Atalanta anti-piracy operation in Indian waters. At the end of November, she set out on a return trip to Spain, calling at the ports of

Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam (; from ar, دَار السَّلَام, Dâr es-Selâm, lit=Abode of Peace) or commonly known as Dar, is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over s ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

(South Africa) and

Luanda Luanda () is the capital and largest city in Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Angola's administrative centre, its chief seaport ...

(Angola). In January 2022, amid the Russo-Ukrainian crisis, the Meteoro was deployed in the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

to reinforce

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

forces along with the frigate Blas de Lezo (F103).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meteoro (P-41), Spanish patrol vessel Patrol vessels of the Spanish Navy Buque de Acción Marítima Ships built in Spain 2009 ships