French frigate Nivôse (F732)

Frigate Nivôse
History
France
Name:	Nivôse
Namesake:	Month of Nivôse
Ordered:	1989
Builder:	Chantiers de l'Atlantique
Laid down:	16 January 1991
Launched:	11 August 1991
Commissioned:	15 October 1992
Homeport:	Port des Galets, La Réunion
General characteristics
Class and type:	Floréal-class frigate
Displacement:	2,600 tonnes 2,950 tonnes (full load)
Length:	93.5 m (307 ft)
Beam:	14 m (46 ft)
Draught:	4.4 m (14 ft)
Propulsion:	Engines : 4 diesel SEMT Pielstick 6PA6 L280 Auxiliaries : 1 Ulstein 200 kW beam propulsor (?) Propellers : 2 variable pace "Lips" Propulsive power : 8800 hp (6470 kW) Electric Plant : 3 Baudouin 12P15 2SR diesel alternators and 3 Alsthom AA 49L9 alternators Electric Power : 3 × 590 kW
Speed:	20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Range:	10,000 nautical miles (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) 13,000 nautical miles (24,000 km; 15,000 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Boats & landing craft carried:	ETN 90 (Embarcation de Transport en Nombre) Zodiac Hurricane 530 OB with two Yamaha 2T 140 CV VETOL engines One 10-seat zodiac
Complement:	11 officers 36 non-commissioned officers 42 enlisted (11 personnel for the helicopter)
Sensors and processing systems:	Radar: DRBV-21C (Mars) air sentry radar Racal Decca RM1290 navigation radar Racal Decca RM1290 landing radar Navigation Microcin type intertial navigation system Ben LMN4 loch Furuno depth measure system Navstar GPS system Taiyo gonio VHF radio
Electronic warfare & decoys:	ARBG-1A Saïgon 2 Dagaie decoy systems
Armament:	2 Exocet MM38 missile launchers 1 × 100 mm CADAM turret with Najir fire control system 2 × 20 mm modèle F2 guns
Aircraft carried:	1 Panther helicopter

Nivôse is a light surveillance frigate ("frégate de surveillance") of the French Marine Nationale. She is the third ship of the Floréal class, and the fourth French vessel named after the fourth month of the Republican Calendar.

In October 2001, she was deployed in the Persian Gulf as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.

In late 2008, under frigate captain Jean-Marc Le Quilliec,Nivôse was deployed as part of a European Union expeditionary force, Operation Atalanta, in the Gulf of Aden to fight piracy off Somalia.

On 12 April 2009, Nivôse relieved her sister ship Floréal as part of European Union Naval Force Somalia – Operation ATALANTA. On 3 May 2009, 900 kilometres (560 mi) off Somalia, the crew managed to lure pirates to attack the ship by sailing into the sun to avoid being identified and mistaken for a merchantman; as the pirate closed in, she turned about and launched her on-boarded helicopter and fast outboard vessels. Eleven pirates were captured.

From 5 to 7 March 2010, joining mission forces from France, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain and Sweden, Nivôse secured its "biggest seizure" so far in the vital shipping lane, with 35 pirates arrested and four mother ships seized in three days off Somalia.

Nivôse at Fremantle, Western Australia.

Nivôse departing Cape Town, South Africa

Sailors at the rail of Nivôse

Stern of Nivôse showing her Panther helicopter

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Wikipedia