Iranian frigate ''Alvand'' ( fa, الوند) is a frigate of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy and the

lead ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very complex and may ...

of her class. She was launched in 1968. The ship was originally called ''Saam'', lead ship of the ''Saam'' class (which is named after

Sām Sām ( fa, سام), also (sam) transliterated Saam, is a mythical hero of ancient Persia, and an important character in the Shahnameh epic. He was the son of Nariman, grandson of Garshasp and father to Zāl. He was Iran's champion during the rul ...

, a mythical hero of ancient

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, and an important character in the

Shahnameh The ''Shahnameh'' or ''Shahnama'' ( fa, شاهنامه, Šāhnāme, lit=The Book of Kings, ) is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c. 977 and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50 ...

). After the Islamic Revolution the class was renamed to ''Alvand'' class, after the

Alvand Alvand is a subrange of the Zagros Mountains in western Iran located south of the city of Hamadan in Hamadan Province. Its summit has an elevation of . The main body of the Alvand range extends for about 50 km from east to west, while t ...

mountain-chain and so this ship, being the lead ship was renamed ''Alvand''.

History

Her delivery was delayed because the weapon control system was not prepared on time. She completed her refit on 15 May 1977 at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

. It joined the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates si ...

's 'Bridges of Friendship', held in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...

on 17 February 2001 to celebrate

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

's 50th anniversary as republic where in 60 Indian vessels and 24 foreign vessels (including ''Alvand'') participated. ''Alvand'' appeared to be in good state despite being thirty years old. In 2010 it participated in the 60th anniversary of the

Sri Lanka Navy ta, இலங்கை கடற்படை , image = Sri Lanka Naval Seal.png , image_size = 180px , caption = Emblem of Sri Lanka Navy , dates = , c ...

. ''Alvand'' entered the Suez Canal on 22 February 2011, with the supply vessel , on a deployment reported to be a training mission to Latakia, Syria. In October 2016, ''Alvand'' and ''Buseshr'' were deployed to the Gulf of Aden, off Yemen. The ship was modernized in 2021.

References

External links

'AP Video'
Alvand-class frigates Ships built in Southampton 1968 ships Frigates of Iran Iran–Iraq War naval ships of Iran Frigates of the Cold War {{mil-ship-stub

History

See also

References

External links