French aviso Lieutenant de vaisseau Le Hénaff

Lieutenant de vaisseau Le Hénaff
History
France
Name	Lieutenant de vaisseau Le Hénaff
Namesake	Yves Le Hénaff
Builder	Arsenal de Lorient, Lorient
Laid down	March 1977
Launched	16 September 1978
Commissioned	13 February 1980
Decommissioned	31 July 2020
Identification	Callsign: FALF Pennant number: F789
Status	Decommissioned
General characteristics
Class and type	D'Estienne d'Orves-class aviso
Displacement	1,100  t (1,100 long tons) standard 1,270 t (1,250 long tons) full load
Length	80 m (262 ft 6 in) oa 76 m (249 ft 4 in) pp
Beam	10.3 m (33 ft 10 in)
Draught	5.3 m (17 ft 5 in)
Propulsion	2 SEMT Pielstick 12 PC 2 V400 diesel engines 8,900  kW (12,000  bhp), 2 shafts
Speed	23.5 knots (43.5 km/h; 27.0 mph)
Range	4,500  nmi (8,300 km; 5,200 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement	90
Sensors and processing systems	1 Air/surface DRBV 51A sentry radar 1 DRBC 32E fire control radar 1 Decca 1226 navigation radar 1 DUBA 25 hull sonar
Electronic warfare & decoys	1 ARBR 16 radar interceptor 2 Dagaie decoy launchers 1 SLQ-25 Nixie countermeasure system
Armament	2 Exocet MM38 SSMs (removed from French ships when reclassified as OPVs) [1] 1 × 100 mm CADAM gun turret with Najir fire control system and CMS LYNCEA 2 × 20 mm modèle F2 guns 4 × 12.7 mm machine guns 4 × L3 or L5 type torpedoes in four fixed catapults (removed from French ships when reclassified as OPVs) [1] 1 × sextuple Bofors 375 mm rocket launcher (removed from French ships when reclassified as OPVs) [1]

Lieutenant de vaisseau Le Hénaff (F789) is a D'Estienne d'Orves-class aviso in the French Navy.

Design

Main article: D'Estienne d'Orves-class aviso

Armed by a crew of 90 sailors, these vessels have the reputation of being among the most difficult in bad weather. Their high windage makes them particularly sensitive to pitch and roll as soon as the sea is formed.

Their armament, consequent for a vessel of this tonnage, allows them to manage a large spectrum of missions. During the Cold War, they were primarily used to patrol the continental shelf of the Atlantic Ocean in search of Soviet Navy submarines. Due to the poor performance of the hull sonar, as soon as an echo appeared, the reinforcement of an ASM frigate was necessary to chase it using its towed variable depth sonar. ^[2]

Their role as patrollers now consists mainly of patrols and assistance missions, as well as participation in UN missions (blockades, flag checks) or similar marine policing tasks (fight against drugs, extraction of nationals, fisheries control, etc.). The mer-mer 38 or mer-mer 40 missiles have been landed, but they carry several machine guns and machine guns, more suited to their new missions.

Its construction cost was estimated at 270,000,000 French francs. ^[3]

Construction and career

Lieutenant de vaisseau Le Hénaff was laid down in March 1977 at Arsenal de Lorient, Lorient. Launched on 16 September 1978 and commissioned on 13 February 1980.

On 5 March 2019, the ship left Brest with her 100 crew members for the Gulf of Guinea. There she will relieve the amphibious assault ship Mistral as part of the Corymbe 146 mission. ^[4]

She was decommissioned on 31 July 2020. ^[5]

Citations

1. "Patrouilleurs: Les avisos français sur tous les fronts" [Patrol ships: French Avisos on all fronts.]. asafrance.fr (in French). 26 January 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
2. "Euronaval: First details of the Patrouilleurs Océanique (PO) platform unveiled". Naval News. 23 October 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
3. Quid 1996. p. 2036. ISBN   2-221-08055-6.
4. "Brest. Mardi, le patrouilleur Le Hénaff est parti rejoindre la 146e mission Corymbe". draguignan.maville.com (in French). Retrieved 17 September 2021.
5. Groizeleau, Vincent (24 August 2020). "Le Lieutenant de Vaisseau Le Henaff retiré du service" [Lieutenant de Vaisseau Le Henaff retired from service]. Mer et Marine (in French). Retrieved 20 November 2020.