As reported earlier last week we had an unusual guest. The Russian Dergach class air cushion corvette 615 RFS Bora made her maiden foreign visit to Istanbul during the IDEF 2013 defense exhibition. I don't know if the ship has received any visitors, as she was docked almost 30 kilometers (18 miles) away from the exhibition center. I was... Continue Reading →
After visiting Novorossiysk and Varna, the French destroyer D-615 FS Jean Bart arrived for a 3 day visit. FS jean Bart is very similar in operational capabilities with her 40 SM-1 MR surface to air missiles fired by the Mk-13 launcher and Smart Mk2 3D radar to the Turkish Navy Gabya class frigates. She looks old and... Continue Reading →
On 23 April 2013 I have sighted the 4 boat of the Tuzla class patrol boats P-1204 TCG Tarsus. She was returning from sea trial. It is interesting to note that while she is manned by naval personnel and under the command of an officer she returned to the builder's yard. The ASW rocket launcher at... Continue Reading →
The Egyptian replenishment tanker A-230 Shalatein is in Istanbul for an official visit for an undisclosed duration.
After the ending of the largest(!) naval exercise of recent history Russian units started to return to their home ports. Today two large landing ships, Alligator class large landing ship 150 Saratov and Ropucha class large landing ship 151 Azov passed through the Bosphorus on their way back to home. Later during the day the... Continue Reading →
On 26 December 2012, in the early morning hours, one Turkish Type 209/1400 class submarine sailed through Bosphorus to Marmara Sea. Since Turkish Navy stopped painting the pennant numbers of the submarines, it is impossible to identify each individual submarine anymore. While this new painting scheme helps the submarines to blend and prevents IR/FLIR/LLTV using... Continue Reading →
Today is the 89th anniversary of the Turkish Republic. It is a custom of Turkish Navy to send a couple of warships to port cities and open them for public visiting. This year F-240 TCG Yavuz and F-496 TCG Gökova are in Istanbul. TCG Yavuz and TCG Gökova weren't the only ships opened to the public. Below is... Continue Reading →
During the Dimdex 2012 maritime defence exhibition in Qatar, it was announced that the Turkish shipyard Yonca Onuk has signed a contract with Qatar Armed Forces. According to the contract Turkish shipyard is building 3 MRTP 16 class interceptors and 3 MRTP 34 class fast patrol boats for the Qatar Naval Forces. This is the... Continue Reading →
It was like a scene from the old cold war comedy "The Russians are coming, the Russians are coming". You don't see an active duty Russian submarine passing through your neighborhood everyday. So it was a big day for me. The Kilo class Russian diesel - electric submarine Alrosa came from the Marmara Sea and passed by... Continue Reading →
On 30th August 2012 for the Victory Day celebrations two warships F-245 TCG Oruçreis and F-511 TCG Heybeliada made a port visit in Istanbul. Both ships were open to the public and I had the opportunity and privilege to visit the first ship of the Milgem class corvettes, TCG Heybeliada. The visitors were not allowed... Continue Reading →
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