EML Wambola (M311) | |
History | |
---|---|
Germany | |
Name | Cuxhaven |
Operator | German Navy |
Builder | Burmeister-Werft Bremen-Burg, Germany |
Launched | 11 March 1959 |
Commissioned | 1959 |
Decommissioned | 8 February 2000 |
Fate | Sold to Estonia |
Estonia | |
Name | Wambola |
Operator | Estonian Navy |
Acquired | February 2000 |
Decommissioned | 26 March 2009 |
Motto | Ad unquem |
Fate | Restaurant ship |
Badge | |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Lindau-class minehunter |
Displacement | 495 tons full |
Length | 47.1 m |
Beam | 8.3 m |
Draught | 3.7 m |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 16.5 knots |
Range | 1,360 km (730 nmi; 850 mi) |
Complement | 6 officers, 31 sailors |
Crew | 37 |
Sensors and processing systems | |
Armament |
|
Notes |
|
EML Wambola (M311) is a Lindau-class minehunter of the Estonian Navy Mineships Division, formerly the German warship Cuxhaven. The commanding officer of the vessel is Captain Jaanus Antson. The minehunter Wambola is the first vessel of the Estonian Navy Mineships Division and also the first modernized Lindau-class minehunter. A black keel on a silver background with a golden battle-axe is on the coat of arms of the vessel. The battle-axe is a weapon used by the ancient Estonians which also symbolizes their fighting spirit and strength. The ships motto is the Latin "Ad unquem" which is in English "Onto the nail head". The coat of arms was designed by Priit Herodes. In 2000 a cooperation contract was signed between the Pärnu city council and the minehunter Wambola which gave the vessel a right to wear the Pärnu town coat of arms and to introduce the city in all foreign harbors across the world.
EML Wambola (M311) was built in West Germany, in a Burmester shipyard in Bremen. The vessel was launched on 11 March 1959 and she entered service in the same year. The ship's name comes from the city of Cuxhaven in Germany. Originally Cuxhaven was a minesweeper but was transformed into a minehunter in late 1970s. The German Navy decommissioned Cuxhaven and one of her twin sisters Lindau on 9 October 2003 and gave the vessels to the Estonian Navy to operate. On the ceremony the vessel received an Estonian name Wambola. [1] Estonian Navy decommissioned Wambola on 26 March 2009.
She has since been converted into a floating bar and restaurant in Tallinn Harbor. [2]
The Sandown class is a class of fifteen minehunters built primarily for the Royal Navy by Vosper Thornycroft. The Sandown class also serve with the Royal Saudi Navy, the Estonian Navy, and the Ukrainian Navy. The first vessel was commissioned into Royal Navy service on 9 June 1989 and all the British ships were named after coastal towns and cities. Although the class had a primary mine countermeasures role, they have had a secondary role as offshore patrol vessels. As of early 2024, only one vessel of the class remains in active service with the Royal Navy.
The Belgian Navy, officially the Naval Component of the Belgian Armed Forces, is the naval service of Belgium.
The Estonian Navy are the unified naval forces among the Estonian Defence Forces.
Type 320 Lindau-class minehunters was a class of German coastal minehunters built as part of the first FRG naval program. The ships were made from non-metallic components and built by Burmester Bremen. None of these ships now remain in service with the German Navy. Several went into service with the Estonian and Lithuanian Navy, as well as the Latvian Naval Forces. Flensburg and Weilheim became museum pieces.
HMS Shoreham was a Sandown-class minehunter of the British Royal Navy. She was the fifth vessel to bear the name. From 2018 to 2021, Shoreham was deployed at UKNSF Bahrain together with three other mine countermeasures ships as part of 9 Mine Countermeasures Squadron on Operation Kipion. In 2022 she was decommissioned and was transferred to Ukraine.
HMSInverness(M102) was a Sandown-class minehunter of the Royal Navy. She was decommissioned by the Royal Navy in 2005, and in 2008 became EMLSakala(M314) of the Estonian Navy.
EMLAdmiral Pitka (A230) was a Beskytteren-class ocean patrol vessel and former flagship of the Estonian Navy, belonging to the Mineships Division. She was named after Estonian Admiral Johan Pitka.
EML Admiral Cowan (M313) is a Sandown-class minehunter. Formerly HMS Sandown, lead ship of her class of the Royal Navy, she is now an Estonian Navy ship. Renamed EML Admiral Cowan, she is the flagship of the Estonian Navy and part of the Estonian Navy's mine sweeping flotilla. Admiral Cowan is the lead vessel of the Estonian Navy Mineships Division and also the first of the three modernised Sandown class minehunters received.
EML Sulev (M312) was a Lindau-class minehunter of the Estonian Navy Mineships Division.
The Estonian Mineships Division was the main Estonian Naval Unit and the part of Estonian Navy. The top priority for the Navy is the development of a mine countermeasures capability, as that is also one of the Navy's peacetime responsibilities: during World War I and II more than 80,000 sea mines were laid in the Baltic Sea. Since 1995 a number of mine clearance operations have been carried out in Estonian waters in close co-operation with other navies of the Baltic Sea region in order to find and dispose of ordnance and contribute to safe seagoing. Estonian MCM vessels also participate in NATO naval exercises.
EML Tasuja (A432) was a Lindormen-class diving vessel built in 1977. She served in the Danish Navy as KDM Lindormen until 2004. Handed over to the Estonian Navy, she was commissioned as EML Tasuja in the Mineships Division until 2016.
EMLKalev (M414) was a Frauenlob-class minesweeper of the Estonian Navy, which belonged to the Mineships Division.
EMLVaindlo (M416) was a Frauenlob-class minelayer of the Estonian Navy and belonged into the Estonian Navy Mineships Division.
EML Olev (M415) is a Frauenlob-class minelayer of the Estonian Navy Mineships Division.
M311 or M-311 may refer to:
EML Ugandi is a Sandown-class minehunter commissioned by the Estonian Navy in 2009. Ugandi is a former British Royal Navy vessel HMS Bridport built by Woolston Yard of Southampton-based shipbuilders Vosper Thornycroft.
EML Wambola (A433) is a Lindormen-class minelayer built in 1977. As KDM Lossen, she served in the Danish Navy until 2006. Sold to the Estonian Maritime Academy as a maritime training vessel, she was renamed MS Kristiina. In 2009, she was handed over to the Estonian Navy as a command and support vessel and renamed Wambola.
The Lindormen class is a class of two minelayers built for the Royal Danish Navy to replace the Lougen-class minelayers that dated from World War II. The Lindormen class was designed to lay controlled controlled minefields in the Baltic Sea during the Cold War as part of NATO's defence plan for the region. They were taken out of service by the Danish in 2004, put up for sale in 2005 and transferred to Estonia in 2006.
Three ships of the Estonian Navy have been named Wambola: