La Combattante IIa-class fast attack craft

Not to be confused with the generic French-built La Combattante II type fast attack craft..
Plotarchis Vlachavas at Rhodes Harbour
Class overview
BuildersCMN Lurssen
Operators Hellenic Navy
Succeeded byLa Combattante III class
Built1973–1974
In commission1973–present
Completed6
General characteristics
TypeFast attack craft
Displacement
  • 234 tons (standard)
  • 265 tons (full load)
Length47 m (154 ft)
Beam8 m (26 ft)
Draught2.1 m (7 ft)
Installed power
  • 4 × MTU MD 16V 538 TB90
  • 12,000 hp (8,900 kW) (combined)
PropulsionFour shafts
Speed36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph) (maximum)
Range
  • 570 nautical miles (1,060 km; 660 mi) at 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
  • 1,600 nautical miles (3,000 km; 1,800 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement30 (4 officers)
Sensors and
processing systems
  • Thomson-CSF Triton; G-band
  • Thomson-CSF Castor; I/J-band
  • CSEE Panda optical director
Electronic warfare
& decoys		Thomson-CSF DR 2000S
Armament

The La Combattante II type missile boats are two classes of fast attack craft of the Hellenic Navy. The first group of four were ordered by Greece in September 1972 from France.[1] The vessels had no class name but are referred to by type. A second group of six were purchased in the 1990s from Germany, comprising six Type 148 Tiger-class fast attack craft that were being decommissioned.[2] The class was renamed La Combattante IIa, as with the French-made ships. All the ships were under mid-life updates in 1980s. Two vessels in the class, P-74 and P-75, were fitted with RGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles and a new ESM was fitted after transfer.

Ship list

La Combattante II

Built by Constructions Mécaniques de Normandie of Cherbourg to the standard La Combattante II design, though having a smaller gun armament (4x35mmm Oerlikon cannon instead of a single 76mm gun) forward.[1]

Pennant
number 		Name Builder Launched Re-named Status
P56 Navsithoi CMN 1972 renamed Anninos (P14) stricken 2002
P55 Evniki CMN 1972 renamed Arliotis (P15) stricken 2002
P54 Kalypso CMN 1972 renamed Batsis (P17) stricken 2004; sold to the Georgian Navy and renamed Dioskuria. Severely damaged in the 2008 South Ossetia war and afterwards scuttled by the Russians.[3]
P53 Kymothoi CMN 1972 renamed Konidis (P16) stricken 2003

La Combattante IIa

(ex- German Type 148 Tiger-class fast attack craft)

Pennant
number 		Name Former name Commissioned
by Germany 		Commissioned
by Greece 		Status
P 72 Ypoploiarchos Votsis ex-Iltis 8 January 1973 28 April 1995 In service (2018)
P 73 Antiploiarchos Pezopoulos ex-Storch 17 July 1974 1 February 1994 In service (2018)
P 74 Plotarchis Vlachavas ex-Marder 14 June 1973 16 February 1995 Decommissioned in 2011[4]
P 75 Plotarchis Maridakis ex-Häher 12 June 1974 28 April 1994 In service (2018)
P 76 Ypoploiarchos Tournas ex-Leopard 21 August 1973 28 September 2000 Decommissioned in 2011
P 77 Plotarchis Sakipis ex-Jaguar 21 August 1973 28 September 2000 Decommissioned in 2011

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Conway p.72
  2. ^ Janes p.218
  3. ^ "Picture of MFAC Dioskuria in Poti with damage behind the bridge".
  4. ^ "ΠΝ: Υποστολή σημαιών και Δομή Δυνάμεων". June 27, 2011.

References

  • Gardiner, Robert; Chumbley, Stephen Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995 (1995) Naval Institute Press|, Annapolis ISBN 1-55750-132-7
  • Sharp, Richard Jane's Fighting Ships (1991) Jane's Information Group ISBN 978 07106 096 01