PHOTO GALLERY #31: Oak Hill, dock landing ship of the United States Navy

USS Oak Hill moored at Tirpitz quay, Kiel Naval Base

This is the eighth photo gallery from my visit to Kiel in 2018, on the first weekend of the 136th Kiel Week. More galleries will follow from 2018-19 Kiel Weeks. The Kiel Week (German: Kieler Woche) or Kiel Regatta is an annual sailing event in Kiel, the capital of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The first weekend of the Kiel Week, the famous Naval Base of Kiel, opens its gates for just four hours per day, for thousands of tourists who are eager to visit the German Navy warships and dozens of foreign warships which visit the city of Kiel, to honor the Kiel Week. Τhe United States Navy was represented by a number of ships including the USS Oak Hill (LSD-51), a Harpers Ferry-class dock landing ship (LSD). She is named in honor of Oak Hill, the residence of James Monroe, the fifth President of the United States. The Monroe Doctrine was penned at Oak Hill, and subsequently delivered at an 1823 Congressional address which asserted that the Western Hemisphere was never to be colonized again. This doctrine is the inspiration for the Ship’s Motto: Nations’ Protector. Oak Hill is the second ship to honor the residence. Oak Hill was commissioned on 8 June 1996 and is the third vessel in a class of four. She is 186 meters long and has a full displacement around 16,600 tons. Enjoy the photos!

MEKO 200 Frigate Mild-Life Upgrade (MLU) programmes worldwide

Written by D-Mitch

MEKO 200 frigates HMNZS Te Mana, HMAS Parramatta and
HMAS Perth during the International Fleet Review 2013

The MEKO 200 is a frigate (FFG) design by the German shipyard Blohm+Voss as part of the MEKO family of warships. Ten MEKO 200 frigates were built to the Anzac-class design; eight for the Royal Australian Navy (first ship entered service in 1993), and two for the Royal New Zealand Navy (first ship entered service in 1994). Eight MEKO 200TN frigates were acquired by Turkey in three different tracks: four Track I/Yavuz vessels (first ship in 1987), two Track IIA/Barbaros class vessels (first ship in 1997) and two Track IIB/Barbaros (Salihreis subclass) vessels (first ship in 1998). Portugal acquired three MEKO 200PN/Vasco da Gama class (first ship commissioned in 1991) and Greece four MEKO 200HN/Hydra class (first ship commissioned in 1992). Total 25 vessels of seven (7) configurations! This article focuses on the Mild-Life Upgrade (MLU) programmes that are implemented on the MEKO 200 classes worldwide, of which some of them have change completely the appearance of the ships.

The new eyes of the Hellenic Navy and Hellenic Coast Guard: Miltech Hellas TDR-10A and TDR-HR-300

TDR-10A EO-sensor on a Hydra class frigate

This is the last update on the news regarding the equipping of Hellenic Navy warships and Hellenic Coast Guard offshore patrol vessels with new electro-optical (EO) sensors. In the article The new eyes of the Hellenic Navy Fleet: Miltech Hellas TDR-10 and IRB-75, I reported that a sensor designed and produced by the Greek company Miltech Hellas, the TDR-10 model, has equipped three Hellenic Navy gunboats and one frigate while 15 more systems of the advanced model TDR-10A, a completely new system, would equip front line surface combatants of the Greek Fleet that lack such a sensor. The TDR-10A was described in detail in the previous article The new eyes of the Hellenic Navy: Miltech Hellas TDR-10 ADVANCED.