Yesterday, after the command handover ceremony in Gölcük Naval Base, the 5 ships participating to this activation of the BlackSeaFor sailed away to their next port of call Trabzon, Istanbul. In order to this they had to pass through Bosphorus, where I was expecting them, as you can see from the photos above.
All warships of the 11th Chinese naval escort task force of the Navy of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) are all present and accounted for. The activities of the destroyer Quingdao 113 and the frigate Yantai 538 were easier to follow and to report. But the replenishment tanker Weishan Hu 877 was unaccounted for since... Continue Reading →
I love how it feels when the things turn out more or less as the way you have planned. Since I first heard yesterday, that two PLAN warships passed through the Dardanelles and are heading for the Black Sea I was thinking in my head How I could intercept them at a suitable point in Istanbul with a good... Continue Reading →
Although Istanbul is on a very busy maritime city, we seldom witness so many naval action in one day and see so many different warships from different countries at the same time. There were three frigates of NATO's SNMG-2, five coast guard vessels from five Black Sea nations, one Japanese coast guard training ship plus various Turkish naval and coast guard vessels. It... Continue Reading →
On 30th May 2012, the Russian Kashin class destroyer Smetlivy returned from her deployment in the Eastern Mediterranean. She was send to the region to show Russian support to the Syrian regime and to show flag. As this photo shows there was less smoke on the water this time.
The NATO Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 consisting of F-805 HNLMS Eversten and FGS F-208 Rheinland Pfalz has left Istanbul on 25 May 2012. They will stop at Aksaz Naval Base in Marmaris, before heading to Gulf of Aden to continue NATO's anti piracy operation, Operation Ocean Shield. But as the photo above show we... Continue Reading →
I am posting a few more photos from F-805 HNLMS Evertsen. I must confess that I am very impressed with the cleanliness of her lines. she is the one of the few ships that I have ever seen that has such an uncluttered superstructure. As the flagship of SNMG-1 she will sail to Gulf Of... Continue Reading →
As I have reported earlier, the ships of the BlackSeafor fleet visited Istanbul between 20 and 23 April 2012. They were open to the public and I took the opportunity to visit them all. It was an interesting experience for me as I was able to compare different ships build by very different construction standards... Continue Reading →
Saturday, 7th April 2012 was a busy day at Bosphorus. First the Rhein class tender A-579 TCG Cezayirli Hasan Paşa and two mine hunters plus one veteran mine sweeper made northbound passage through the Strait for their deployment to the Deniz Yıldızı 2012 naval exercise. M-269 TCG Anamur was build in Turkey. She is one of... Continue Reading →
The Kashin class Russian destroyer Smetlivy passed through Bosphorus this morning. According to news on Turkish media she is on her way to Syrian port Tartus. The large anti-submarine ship (I guess this means destroyer in Russian) Smetlivy was laid in 1966 and commissioned in 1969. She is the sole remaining Kashin class destroyer and... Continue Reading →
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