On 25th January 2012, Turkish Parliament accepted a submitted motion to extend the presence of Turkish Navy in Gulf Of Aden for one year. In 2009, Turkish Parliament gave the government the power to send units from Turkish Navy to Gulf Of Aden and adjacent waters, in order to participate the multinational efforts of anti-piracy. The duration of... Continue Reading →
Turkey Assumes Command Of NATO’s Counter Piracy Task Force
On 7th December 2011, Turkey took the command of the NATO's Anti Piracy Task Force TF-508 with a ceremony in Djibouti. Prior to this change of command NATO's other permanent naval task force SNMG-1 was making up the TF-508. For the next six months the ships of SNMG-2 will be the anti piracy task force. Currently SNMG-2... Continue Reading →
SNMG-2 Is Heading To Djibouti
According to NATO, SNMG-2 has passed through the Suez Canal some time between December 2nd and today and the task force consisting of Turkish flagship F-491 TCG Giresun and Italian frigate F-571 ITS Grecale is sailing to Djibouti to join Task Force 508. TCG GIRESUN, the new flagship of Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 recently... Continue Reading →
NATO Announces Flagship Handover In SNMG2 (UPDATED)
According to a short news release published at NATO's Allied Maritime Command Naples web site, F-491 TCG Giresun replaces F-245 TCG Oruçreis as the flagship of SNMG-2. Commander Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 has moved to a new flagship. Since 17 June 2011, TCG ORUCREIS has hosted Rear Admiral (LH) Sinan Azmi TOSUN, Turkish Navy,... Continue Reading →
SNMG-2 Gets A New Flagship
Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2) gets a new flagship in December. According to Turkish Navy, the current Flagship F-245 TCG Oruçreis will be relieved by the frigate F-491 TCG Giresun. Since June 2011 Turkish Navy is in command of SNMG-2 and MEKO 200 Track II class, TCG Oruçreis is the flagship. The reason behind this change... Continue Reading →
SNMCMG-2 Is In Patras For An Exercise With Greek Navy
Tomorrow NATO's SNMCMG-2 will start a 3 day visit in Patras, Greece. SNMCMG-2 is currently led by Captain Abdulhamit Şener of Turkish Navy. Last month the task force made a visit to Spit, Croatia. Following their departure from Split, the ships of SNMCMG-2, led by the flagship A-579 TCG Cezayirli Gazi Hasanpaşa, conducted underway exercises with... Continue Reading →
Ten Years Of Operation Active Endeavour
In the wake of the 11th September 2001 terrorist attacks on WTC, NATO implemented Article 5 of the Washington Treaty. One of the actions taken in this regard was the starting of Operation Active Endeavour (OAE) in Eastern Mediterranean. The aim of OAE is to control the shipping through the Mediterranean basin by hailing ships or by boarding them so that the... Continue Reading →
TCG Oruçreis, The Only Ship In NATO’s SNMG-2, Takes Part in Exercise Joint Warrior
In July I posted the above photo of the Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 and asked if this was the lamest NATO fleet ever? The answer was "No" as at that time SNMG-1 was made of only one Italian destroyer. Today SNMG-1 has 4 ships. In the mean time, the SNMG-2 has indeed become the lamest NATO fleet.... Continue Reading →
Both Turkey And Israel Are Taking Part In DANEX / Northern Coasts 2011 Naval Exercise
This is going to be one of the largest NATO naval exercises out side of the Mediterranean. The exercise Northern Coasts (NoCo) was first held in 2007. The aim of the exercise is to prepare participants for potential NATO operations. This year the exercise Northern Coasts is combined with exercise Danex. Consequently, there are also references to current, real... Continue Reading →
TCG Oruçreis Will Take Part In DANEX / Northern Coasts 2011 Naval Exercise
The Turkish frigate F-245 TCG Oruçreis will take part in the DANEX Northern Coasts 2011 naval exercise as the flagship of the NATO's Standing Maritime Group-2. This is one of the largest exercise to be conducted in Denmark, will start on 12th September 2011 and will last till 23rd September. Over 50 warships of different types from... Continue Reading →
