Frankenthal-class minehunter

M1064 Grömitz, already equipped with the MLG 27
Class overview
Builders	Lürssen Abeking & Rasmussen Krögerwerft
Operators	German Navy  United Arab Emirates Navy  Turkish Navy  Indonesian Navy
Preceded by	Hameln-class minesweeper
Subclasses	A class Pulau Fani class
In commission	1992–present
Planned	12
Completed	12
Active	10
Retired	2
General characteristics
Type	Minehunter
Displacement	650 t
Length	54.4 m (178 ft)
Beam	9.2 m (30 ft)
Draft	2.6 m (8 ft 6 in)
Propulsion	2 × MTU 16V 538 TB91 diesel-engines, 2040 kW each 2 × electric motors for slow and silent maneuvering 2 × Renk PLS 25 E gearboxes 2 × controllable pitch propellers
Speed	18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Complement	41
Sensors and processing systems	1 × hull mounted DSQS-11A mine hunting sonar DRBN 32 navigation radar
Electronic warfare & decoys	2 × TKWA/MASS (Multi Ammunition Softkill System) decoy launchers (currently under procurement) 2 × Barricade chaff and flare launcher
Armament	1 × Bofors 40 mm/L70 dual-purpose gun (currently upgrading to 1 × MLG 27 27 mm autocannon) 2 FIM-92 Stinger MANPADS surface-to-air missile 2 × Pinguin B3 mine hunting ROVs Mine laying capabilities
Notes	mine diver equipment, decompression chamber crane

The Type 332 Frankenthal-class minehunter is a class of German minehunters. The ships are built of non-magnetic steel. Hull, machinery and superstructure of this class is similar to the original Type 343 Hameln-class minesweeper, but the equipment differs. The class forms the 3 Minesweeper Squadron of German Navy. These function as Mine countermeasures vessels. Two of these vessels contribute to the two Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Groups SNMCG 1 and SNMCG 2.^[1]

Slightly modified Frankenthal-class minehunters are also operated by the Turkish Navy, where they are referred to as the A class. In the beginning of 2019, the Indonesian Navy ordered two minehunters based on a modified Frankenthal class, referred to as Pulau Fani class, with a length of 62 metres.^[2]

All active German ships are currently stationed in Kiel at the Baltic Sea. M1058, M1059, M1062, M1065 and M1069 are part of the 3. Minensuchgeschwader (3. mine sweeper squadron). The others belong to 5. Minensuchgeschwader. M1060 Weiden was sold to United Arab Emirates in 2006. As the German Navy closed the naval base at Olpenitz, all ships were relocated to Kiel and their squadrons incorporated into the Einsatzflottille 1 (Flotilla 1).^[3]

On 21 February 2007, Grömitz ran onto a reef in the Floro fjord while on tour in western Norway and remained stranded in a spectacular way until being salvaged.^[4]

In October 2018, the Iranian-backed Yemeni rebel group Ansar Allah released a video which included images that confirmed it sank one of the UAE Navy's Frankenthal class mine-countermeasures vessels in July 2017 in Al-Mukha. The video identified the vessel as Al-Qasnah and said it was attacked on 29 July 2017, which corresponds to a claim it made at the time that it had attacked an Emirati warship with a "suitable weapon".^[5]

• 
  M1064 Grömitz
• 
  M1063 Bad Bevensen at the Kiel Week 2007
• 
  A Pinguin B3 mine-hunting ROV

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