TCG ''Heybeliada'' (F-511) is the lead ship of the ASW

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...

s of the Turkish Navy. ''Heybeliada'' was named after Heybeliada Island, where the

Turkish Naval High School Naval High School ( tr, Deniz Lisesi); known in the Ottoman period as the ''Imperial School of Naval Engineering'' (''Mühendishane-i Bahr-i Hümâyûn'') and later as the ''Imperial Naval School'' (''Mekteb-i Bahriye-i Şahane''); is a Turkish n ...

is located. Heybeliada Island is part of the

Prince Islands The Princes' Islands ( tr, Prens Adaları; the word "princes" is plural, because the name means "Islands of the Princes", el, Πριγκηπονήσια, ''Pringiponisia''), officially just Adalar ( en, Islands); alternatively the Princes' Arch ...

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...

in the Sea of Marmara, to the southeast of

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

. Designed, developed and built by the Tuzla (Istanbul) Naval Shipyard as a part of the MILGEM project, it was laid down on 22 January 2007, launched on 27 September 2008, and commissioned on 27 September 2011.

History

Istanbul Naval Shipyard Command started construction of ''Heybeliada'' on 22 January 2007. Sailed out for initial sea trials in 2008, she was officially commissioned by the Turkish Navy and entered navy service on 27 September 2011. Since her commissioning, her longest voyage has been 2013 Mediterranean cruise. This journey took the vessel to the ports of

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

Tripoli, Libya Tripoli (; ar, طرابلس الغرب, translit= Ṭarābulus al-Gharb , translation=Western Tripoli) is the capital and largest city of Libya, with a population of about 1.1 million people in 2019. It is located in the northwest of Libya o ...

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 ...

La Goulette La Goulette (, it, La Goletta), in Arabic Halq al-Wadi ( '), is a municipality and the port of Tunis, Tunisia. La Goulette is located at around on a sandbar between Lake Tūnis and the Gulf of Tunis. The port, located 12km east of Tunis, is th ...

Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...

, and Durres. Throughout the vagaries of her service career, the vessel has received the moniker the "Ghost of the Seas".

Description

''Heybeliada'' has a

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and Physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

of , is in length, in

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

, and has a draft of . She is powered by two

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

s and a gas turbine, with a power of , driving two

propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

s, and is capable of speeding up to . She has a range of at , and has an endurance of 21 days with logistical support and ten days while operating autonomously. She has a crew of 93, with space for up to 106. ''Heybeliada'' is equipped with GENESIS combat management system that controls search and navigation radars, electronic warfare suits, weapons, countermeasures, communication devices, underwater and onboard sensors. The ship is armed with a single OTO Melara gun, two ASELSAN STAMP guns, eight Harpoon missiles, 21

Rolling Airframe Missile The RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) is a small, lightweight, infrared homing surface-to-air missile in use by the German, Japanese, Greek, Turkish, South Korean, Saudi Arabian, Egyptian, Mexican, UAE, and U.S. Navies. It was origina ...

s and two Mark 32 triple launchers for Mark 46 torpedoes.

Electronic warfare Electronic warfare (EW) is any action involving the use of the electromagnetic spectrum (EM spectrum) or directed energy to control the spectrum, attack an enemy, or impede enemy assaults. The purpose of electronic warfare is to deny the opponen ...

systems include a dedicated EW radar, laser/RF systems, ASW jammers, and an SSTD system. Communication and navigation systems involve satellite communication, X-band, navigation, fire control and LPI radar,

ECDIS An Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS) is a geographic information system used for nautical navigation that complies with International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulations as an alternative to paper nautical charts. IMO re ...

, GPS and LAN infrastructure. The radar suite is the SMART-S Mk2, built by Thales. The ship is fitted with sonar developed by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey. The whole platform is managed by an advanced

integrated platform management system Integration may refer to: Biology *Multisensory integration *Path integration * Pre-integration complex, viral genetic material used to insert a viral genome into a host genome *DNA integration, by means of site-specific recombinase technology, ...

. The ship is capable of carrying Sikorsky S-70 helicopter or unmanned aircraft, along with the associated armaments, 20 tons of JP-5 aircraft fuel, aerial refueling systems and maintenance facilities.

References and notes

External links

Undersecretariat for Defence Industries official websiteTurkish Navy official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heybeliada F-511 Ada-class corvettes of the Turkish Navy Ships built at Istanbul Naval Shipyard 2008 ships