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By A. D. Baker III, Editor, Combat Fleets of the World
On 1 June 1992, the U.S. Navy transferred the 2,248-ton full load former ocean surveillance ship USNS Adventurous (T-AGOS-13) here to the Atlantic Marine Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Norfolk, Virginia. NOAA will receive seven of the Stalwart (T-AGOS-l)-class ships for conversion to research vessels. The removal of the winch and cable stowage for the AN/UQQ-2 SurTass towed linear passive hydrophone arrays and the associated processing equipment and the AN/WSC-6 satellite data relay system allows ample space for scientific gear. The ships are relatively silent-running, are equipped with a passive tank stabilization system, and have an endurance of about three months.lt is hoped that they will retain their Navy names, which connote virtue and dedication.
The first of a quartet of the ubiquitous German Meko-200 frigates to be built for the Greek Navy, the Hydra (above), goes through sea trials here •n June 1992. The ship was launched by Blohm & Voss at Hamburg on 25 June, just more than six months after beel-laying, which shows how fast sbips designed to incorporate the Meko modular equipment fit concept can be constructed. Three sisters, the Spetsai, Psara, and Salamis, are being constructed by Hellenic Shipyard, ^baramunga, Greece, where progress ,s said to be much slower than with
the prototype. Similar ships are operated by or under construction for Turkey (four delivered, two improved versions building), Portugal (three delivered), New Zealand (two on order from Australia), and Australia (eight on order).
In July 1992, the German Government announced one of the largest mass sales of warships in modern times, the transfer of no fewer than 39 former East German combatants—including the Parchim-I-class corvette Liibz pictured here—to Indonesia. Unlike other foreign transfers of former Volksmarine combatants, the 16,908- ton Parchim-Is are to be handed over fully armed, while nine Kondor-II- class fast-patrol minesweepers, a
dozen 1,744- ton Frosch-I- class landing ships, and two Frosch-II-class amphibious warfare support ships will be stripped of most military equipment before delivery. Acquisition of the relatively new corvettes (completed between 1979 and 1985) will relieve the Indonesian Navy of its probably overly ambitious plan to construct 24 frigates in-country. The mine-sweepers will help fill a major gap, while the amphibious ships will support logistics.
l>rWee<lings / October 1992