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French frigate La Motte-Picquet

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For other ships with the same name, see French ship La Motte-Picquet.

La Motte-Picquet was a F70 type anti-submarine frigate of the French Navy. She was the fourth French vessel named after the 18th Century admiral count Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte. As of January 2012 she was serving in the Persian Gulf. The ship was decommissioned in October 2020.[3]

La Motte-Picquet
History
France
NameLa Motte-Picquet
NamesakeToussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte
BuilderBrest arsenal
Laid down12 February 1982
Launched6 February 1985
Commissioned18 February 1988
Decommissioned13 October 2020[1]
StatusRetired
General characteristics
Class and typeGeorges Leygues-class frigate
Displacement
  • 3,550 t (3,494 long tons)
  • 4,500 t (4,429 long tons) full load
Length139 m (456 ft 0 in)
Beam14 m (45 ft 11 in)
Height39.36 m (129 ft 2 in)
Draught5.8 m (19 ft 0 in)
Propulsion
Speed
  • 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph) on gas turbines
  • 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph) on diesels
Range
  • 1,000 nmi (1,900 km; 1,200 mi) at 30 kn (56 km/h; 35 mph) on gas turbines
  • 10,000 nmi (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph) on diesels
Complement
  • 20 officers
  • 120 non-commissioned officers
  • 95 men
Sensors and
processing systems
  • Detection:
  • 1 Air/surface sentry radar DRBV51C
  • 1 Air sentry radar DRBV 26
  • 1 Fire control radar DRBC 32E
  • 2 Navigation radar KH 1007
  • 1 Hull sonar DUBV 23
  • 1 Towed sonar DUBV 43C
  • Tactical information:
  • SENIT 4
  • SEAO/OPSMER
Electronic warfare
& decoys
  • 2 Radar interceptors ARBR 16
  • 2 × Syllex chaff launchers
Armament
  • Anti-air:
  • 1 × Crotale EDIR system - 8 missiles on launcher + 18 stored
  • 2 × Simbad systems - 2 × 2 Mistral missiles
  • 1 × CADAM 100 mm main gun
  • 2 × 20 mm guns
  • 4 × 12.7 mm machine guns
  • Anti-surface:
  • 4 × Exocet MM38 missiles (subsequently converted to MM40 Block 2 SSM)[2]
  • Anti-submarine:
  • 10 × L5 Mod4 torpedoes
  • 2 × L5 torpedo launchers
Aircraft carried
  • 2 × Lynx WG13 Mk.4 helicopters, each with:
  • 1 × DUAV4 sonar
  • Rheseda system for transmission of acoustic data
  • 12 × Mark 46 torpedoes

Service history

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On 22 August 2007, she took custody of the Danish freighter Danica White which had been captured by pirates on 3 June.

2011/12 tour

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She left Brest on 9 November 2011 for active duty in the Indian Ocean and was refuelled by the US replenishment ship USNS Patuxent on 10 January 2012.[4] On 22 January she passed through the Straits of Hormuz with the British frigate HMS Argyll and a US battlegroup centred on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln.[5]

Opération Chammal

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In November 2015, a French Navy press release stated that La Motte-Picquet will be part of the Charles de Gaulle task force launching strikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant starting January 2016.[6]

Tracking Russian warships

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In March 2016, La Motte-Picquet shadowed the Russian destroyer Vice-Admiral Kulakov, an oiler and a tugboat as it passed near French waters.[7]

British-French CJEF

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In April 2016, La Motte-Picquet was part of the Anglo-French CJEF exercise.[8]

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  •  
    The F70 type frigates are equipped with a Variable Depth Sonar type DUBV43 or DUBV43C.
  •  
    Operational Center of La Motte-Picquet (7 February 2001).
  •  
    Gunnery crew of La Motte-Picquet, in front of the Crotale anti-air missile launcher
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    Shooting exercises with an ANF1, from the bridge.
  •  
    WEAPONS crew of La Motte-Picquet.
  •  
    Patch of La Motte Picquet.
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    La Motte-Picquet in Cobh, Ireland, 12 June 2014.
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    La Motte-Picquet in Cobh, Ireland, 12 June 2014.

References

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  1. ^ "La Motte-Picquet : Dernière cérémonie des couleurs à Brest". 15 October 2020.
  2. ^ "Georges Leygues class anti-submarine destroyer Type F70 ASM ASW Anti-submarine Frigates Frégates anti-sous-marines FASM D640 D641 D642 D643 D644 D645 D646 DUBV-43 DSBV-61 Marine Nationale French Navy DCNS datasheet pictures photos video specifications".
  3. ^ "La Motte-Picquet : Dernière cérémonie des couleurs à Brest". 15 October 2020.
  4. ^ "Un pétrolier américain ravitaille la frégate La Motte-Picquet". French Ministry of Defence. 11 January 2012.
  5. ^ Stringer, David (24 January 2012). "UK could send more navy assets to Strait of Hormuz". Associated Press.[dead link‍]
  6. ^ "Mission Arromanches 2 : Déploiment du GAN en Méditerranée orientale et dans l'Océan Indien". colsbleus.fr (in French). 18 November 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  7. ^ "HMS Somerset's tsar turn as she spends Easter monitoring Russian task group". Royal Navy. 30 March 2016. Archived from the original on 10 April 2016. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  8. ^ "UK and France launch rapid deployment exercise". Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom). 10 April 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
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