French frigate De Grasse

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History
France
Name	De Grasse
Namesake	François Joseph Paul de Grasse
Builder	Arsenal de Lorient
Laid down	1972
Launched	30 November 1974
Commissioned	25 October 1975
Decommissioned	5 May 2013
In service	1 October 1977
Homeport	Brest
Identification	D 612
Status	Laid up
General characteristics
Class and type	Tourville-class frigate
Displacement	4580 tonnes (6100 tonnes fully loaded)
Length	152.75 m (501.1 ft)
Beam	15.80 m (51.8 ft)
Draught	6.60 m (21.7 ft)
Installed power	4 multitubular boilers 58,000 hp (43,000 kW)
Propulsion	2 Rateau steam turbines, double reduction Gazoil fuel 2 fixed propellers
Speed	32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph)
Range	1,900 nmi (3,500 km; 2,200 mi) at 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph) 4,500 nmi (8,300 km; 5,200 mi) at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Complement	24 officers 160 non-commissioned officers 115 men
Sensors and processing systems	1 DRBV 51B surface sentry radar 1 DRBV 26A air sentry radar 1 DRBC 32D targeting radar 2 DRBN 34 navigation radars 1 DUBV 23 hull sonar 1 ETBF DSBV 62C sonar 1 DSBX 1 tugged sonar 1 Syva torpedo alert system
Electronic warfare & decoys	1 ARBB 32 jammer 1 ARBR 16 radar interceptor 2 Syllex decoy launchers bubble belt SENIT 3 SEAO/OPSMER HF, UHF, VHF and SHF liaison systems Syracuse 2 Inmarsat Link 11
Armament	Anti-ship; 6 × Exocet MM38 anti-ship missiles Anti-submarine; 2 × L5 torpedo launchers, 10 torpedoes on board (L5 mod 4) Guns; 2 × 100 mm turrets (1968 model) 2 × 20 mm cannons 4 × 12.7 mm machine guns CIWS; 1 × Crotale EDIR CIWS anti-air missiles (8 missiles on launcher, 16 in magazine)
Aircraft carried	2 × Lynx WG13 anti-ship submarine

De Grasse is a

Service history

Between 1994 and 1996, De Grasse and her sister Tourville were refitted with the modern SLAMS anti-submarine system, an active Very Low Frequencies sonar.

In April 2006, De Grasse lost her towed sonar array during an exercise in heavy seas. The incident was reported by the

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  The frigate De Grasse
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  Aft of the frigate De Grasse; the towed sonar is clearly visible
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  The command bridge of De Grasse
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  The frigate De Grasse, harboured in Portsmouth, for the International Festival of the Sea (25 August 2001).

Sources and references

• (in French) Frégate De Grasse, netmarine.net