The eight F122 Bremen class frigate

Frigate

A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...

s of the German Navy

German Navy

The German Navy is the navy of Germany and is part of the unified Bundeswehr .The German Navy traces its roots back to the Imperial Fleet of the revolutionary era of 1848 – 52 and more directly to the Prussian Navy, which later evolved into the Northern German Federal Navy...

 were commissioned between 1982 and 1990. The design is similar to the Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 Kortenaer class

Kortenaer class frigate

The Kortenaer class was a class of frigates of the Royal Netherlands Navy. They were built to be a general purpose frigate; able to combat all surface, submarine and aircraft targets. Like some of the other frigates of the 1970s and 1980s, they featured a COGOG propulsion system...

 but uses a different hull and propulsion system. The ships were built for anti-submarine warfare

Anti-submarine warfare

Anti-submarine warfare is a branch of naval warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, or other submarines to find, track and deter, damage or destroy enemy submarines....

 as a primary task even though they are not fitted with towed array sonar

Towed array sonar

A towed array sonar is a sonar array that is towed behind a submarine or surface ship. It is basically a long cable, up to 5 km, with hydrophones that is trailed behind the ship when deployed. The hydrophones are placed at specific distances along the cable...

s. They are also suited for anti-aircraft warfare

Anti-aircraft warfare

NATO defines air defence as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action." They include ground and air based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements and passive measures. It may be to protect naval, ground and air forces...

 and anti-surface warfare

Anti-Surface Warfare

Anti-surface warfare is a type of naval warfare directed against surface combatants. More generally, it is any weapons, sensors, or operations intended to attack or limit the effectiveness of an adversary's surface ships....

.

This class of ship was one of the last to be constructed under post-war displacement limitations imposed by the WEU on West Germany

West Germany

West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....

.

The four oldest Bremen class frigates will be replaced by the planned F125 class frigate

F125 class frigate

F125 is the project name for the Type 125 Baden-Württemberg class of frigates, currently in development for the German Navy by ARGE F125, a joint-venture of Thyssen-Krupp and Lürssen...

s, starting probably around 2014. Until then, the Bremen class serves as the backbone of the German Navy.

Employment

During the Cold War period, the ships' main war task was to escort convoy

Convoy

A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...

s for reinforcement and resupply of Allied forces in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

. They frequently took part in NATO Standing Naval Forces. Since 1990, all ships have served in additional supporting missions such as the embargo

Embargo

An embargo is the partial or complete prohibition of commerce and trade with a particular country, in order to isolate it. Embargoes are considered strong diplomatic measures imposed in an effort, by the imposing country, to elicit a given national-interest result from the country on which it is...

 operations against former Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....

 in the Adriatic Sea

Adriatic Sea

The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...

 or Operation Enduring Freedom against the international terrorism

Terrorism

Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...

.

During their lifetime, the ships' equipment has frequently been modernised and a further adaptation of combat systems is foreseen in near future.

The Karlsruhe successfully assisted an Egyptian freighter repel pirates on December 25, 2008 in the Gulf of Aden.

Ships

Pennant Pennant number In the modern Royal Navy, and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth, ships are identified by pennant numbers...	Name	Call sign Call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign is a unique designation for a transmitting station. In North America they are used as names for broadcasting stations...	Laid down	Shipyard	Launched	Delivered	Com- missioned
F207	Bremen	DRAQ	July 9, 1979	Bremer Vulkan Bremer Vulkan Bremer Vulkan AG was a great German shipbuilding company located at the Weser river in Bremen-Vegesack. It was founded in 1893 and closed in 1997 because of financial problems and mismanagement....	September 27, 1979		May 7, 1982
F208	Niedersachsen	DRAR	November 9, 1980	AG Weser AG Weser Aktien-Gesellschaft Weser was one of the great German shipbuilding companies, located at the Weser River in Bremen. Founded in 1873 it was finally closed in 1983. Altogether, AG Weser built about 1400 ships of different types, including many war ships...	June 9, 1980		October 15, 1982
F209	Rheinland-Pfalz	DRAS	September 25, 1979	Blohm & Voss	September 3, 1980		May 9, 1983
F210	Emden	DRAT	June 23, 1979	Nordseewerke Nordseewerke Nordseewerke is a shipbuilding company located in Emden, Germany. The name Nordseewerke means "North Sea shipyard" in German. The shipyard employs some 1,400 people and is the second-largest plant in Emden, following Volkswagen...	December 17, 1980		October 7, 1983
F211	Köln	DRAU	June 16, 1980	Blohm & Voss	May 29, 1981		October 19, 1984
F212	Karlsruhe	DRAV	March 10, 1981	Howaldtswerke Howaldtswerke Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft is a German shipbuilding company, headquartered in Kiel. In 2009 it was the largest shipyard in Germany and has more than 2,400 employees. It has been part of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems owned by ThyssenKrupp, since 2005...	January 8, 1982		April 19, 1984
F213	Augsburg	DRAN	April 4, 1987	Bremer Vulkan	September 17, 1987		October 3, 1989
F214	Lübeck	DRAO	June 1, 1987	Nordseewerke	October 15, 1987		March 19, 1990

All ships are based in Wilhelmshaven

Wilhelmshaven

Wilhelmshaven is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea.-History:...

. Together they form the 4. Fregattengeschwader (4th Frigate Squadron) of the German Navy.

Gallery