Dogan, Ruzgar and Yildiz class fast attack craft of the Turkish Navy

Written by D-Mitch

P340 Dogan, Dogan class

The Turkish Navy nowadays (2015) has a fleet of 19  Fast Attack Craft (FAC), separated into four classes, the Kilic, Dogan, Ruzgar and Yildiz class. The last three and older classes are of same design and they are sharing similar technical characteristics and equipment among them. The boats were all manufactured in Turkey with the exception of the Dogan. The newest Kilic class will be analyzed in another article. The Dogan class is the oldest of the three classes as the boats have been built in the period 1976 to 1980. The vessels have a full displacement of 440 tons, a length of 58 meters and a very high speed of 38 knots. The vessels of Ruzgar class were built in the period 1984-1988 and they have a slightly shorter length (57 meters) and a displacement of 410tons. Sometimes the boats of Ruzgar class are considered as a sub-class of Dogan class or even belonging in the Dogan class. The reduced weight of Ruzgar class gives them also a greater speed of 41 (!) knots. The vessels of Yildiz class were built in the period 1994-1995 and they have similar features as those of Dogan class. The crew in the classes consists of around 40-45 people including 6 officers.

Hercules, the multi-purpose rapid transport ship of the Argentine Navy

Written by armored_diplomacy 
Images and infographics by D-Mitch

ARA Hercules, the last of the Type 42 class destroyers in a new role

Few ships have had such a controversial and debatable life as the Argentine Type 42 destroyers. Her story goes back to 1970, when a contract with the British firm Vickers was signed to build two units of the state-of-the art of that time Type 42 destroyers for area air-defense role, as a replacement for obsolete assets used by the Argentine Navy (Armada de la República Argentina or Armada Argentina), as well as for providing air defense for the navy´s flagship, the carrier ARA 25 de Mayo. Originally classified as "Frigate", to avoid the British cutbacks Defence Review 1967/8, and suggested as a lower cost alternative to Type 82 heavy destroyer/cruiser, the Type 42s were high technology vessels, specially designed for the AAW. The contract specified the construction of one unit at the Vickers Shipbuilding yard in Barrow-in-Furness, United Kingdom and the other in Argentina at Rio Santiago Shipyard, thanks to a technology transfer agreement. The unit to be built in the United Kingdom would be named D-1 Hercules, after a historical Argentine ship commanded by Admiral Guillermo Brown from the XIX century. The ship was completed on May 10, 1976 and she was entered in service in Argentine Navy on September 19, 1977. The second unit would be named D-2 Santísima Trinidad, and it would have a short operational life (commissioned July 1981 and decommissioned in 1989), being even damaged during its construction in 1973 by a terrorist attack.

Roussen class fast attack craft of the Hellenic Navy

Written by D-Mitch

FACM of Roussen class in service with Hellenic Navy.
Photo: Hellenic Navy

The purchase agreement of the first three fast attack craft (FACs) of the Roussen class (Ρουσσέν) was signed in January 2000, and the construction took place at Eleusis Shipyards, while the Vosper Thornycroft (now BAE Systems Maritime) provided the necessary planning, logistics and equipment for the vessels. In August 2003 a contract was awarded for further two ships, Grigoropoulos and Ritsos, to be built by Elefsis. Ritsos was launched in October 2006 while the vessel was commissioned recently in 2015. A contract from the Hellenic Navy (Πολεμικό Ναυτικό) for an additional two vessels, to bring the total to seven, was placed in September 2008. The design is based on the smaller class of vessels of the Vita type serving in the Navy of Qatar and that’s why the class is named also Super Vita. The hull is made of steel while the superstructure is made of aluminum while the whole design has incorporated features for reduction of radar cross section. The first ship of the class was launched in November 2002 while three more vessels were launched the next three years. The sixth boat of the class has been reported to be named Karathanasis and it is expected to be delivered in 2017-18 while the seventh boat, Vlahakos, approximately that period as well. The class is named after its lead ship in honor of Second Mate Nikolaos Roussen, a distinguished World War II submarine officer. Roussen fought bravely during the war but he found death in April 1944 after being mortally wounded during a naval mutiny while he was leading a naval detachment to recapture corvette Apostolis.