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HNLMS Willem van der Zaan (F829)

F931 Louise-Marie.jpg
Louise-Marie (F931) in Belgian service
History
Netherlands
Name: Willem van der Zaan
Namesake: Schout-bij-nacht Willem van der Zaan
Builder: , Flushing (Netherlands)
Laid down: 6 November 1985
Launched: 21 January 1989
Commissioned: 28 November 1991
Decommissioned: 25 August 2006
Fate: Sold to Belgium on 22 December 2005
Belgium
Name: Louise-Marie
Namesake: Queen Louise-Marie of Belgium
Christened: 8 April 2008
Acquired: 22 December 2005
Commissioned: 8 April 2008
Homeport: Zeebrugge Naval Base
Status: Active
General characteristics
Class and type: Karel Doorman-class frigate
Displacement: 2,800 tonnes
Length: 122.325 m (401.33 ft)
Beam: 14.37 m (47.1 ft)
Draught: 6.2 m (20 ft)
Speed: 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Complement: 15 officers, 70 NCO's, 60 sailors
Armament:
Aircraft carried: 1 x NH-90 NFH helicopter

Louise-Marie (F931) is a Karel Doorman-class frigate of the Marine Component of the Belgian Armed Forces that was commissioned in 2008. It is the second of the two frigates of this class that were purchased from the Royal Netherlands Navy on 22 December 2005. During its service in the Netherlands, it was known as HNLMS Willem van der Zaan (F829).

HNLMS Willem van der Zaan was rechristened Louise-Marie (F931) on 8 April 2008 in Antwerp by Queen Paola of Belgium. It was named after Louise-Marie, the name of a naval vessel purchased by the Belgian navy in 1840, which in turn was named after Queen Louise-Marie of Belgium, the wife of Leopold I.

Louise-Marie is under command of commander Carl Gillis.

In September 2010, Louise-Marie was reported to be preparing for a second deployment to the Horn of Africa.

On 29 November 2013, the ship arrived in London, UK as part of the preparations for the centenary of the start of World War I delivering soil from 70 World War I battlefields collected by British and Belgian schoolchildren for the Flanders Fields Memorial Garden in London's Wellington Barracks.



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