Belgium: Wielingen-class ASW frigate
The 'Wielingen' class were the first frigates to be built and designed in Belgium, and are the largest ships in the Belgian navy. They are equipped with weapons and sensors from France, Sweden, Canada, the USA and the Netherlands. For surface action they have Exocet missiles and for air defense a Creusot-Loire dual-purpose 100 mm gun and Sea Sparrow SAMS. For ASW they have American Mk46 torpedoes and Bofors anti-submarine rockets. The 'Wielingen' class carries a heavy, well-balance armament in a compact hull. Of the original four ships built, only three remain in service.
On 22 December 1970, the Belgian government decided that the Navy could proceed to order 4 escort vessels from Belgian yards to replace the 6 old "Algerine" type escorts. The last of which was scrapped in 1969. Plans were already drawn up in 1964, with the "Koninklijke Marine" (Nl) providing technical support and advice. From 1971 this work was continued in cooperation with the two national shipyards Boel (Temse) and Cockerill (Antwerp). This would lead to the eventual building orders, and the first ship was laid down on March 5th 1974.
A contest was organized, and a reserve officer of the Navy provided the winning answer. "WESTDIEP" and "WIELINGEN" are 2 navigationable passages off the Flemish Banks, "WANDELAAR" on the other hand is a large sandbank off the Belgian coast.
The complement consists of 14 officers, 84 NCO's and 59 sailors, and is divided in 3 departments: Internal Service, Operations and Technical.
Missions include defense of the merchant navy by escorting convoys and conducting anti-submarine operations, self-defense against surface ships, and self-defense against aircraft.
The ships were victims of defense cuttings and were sold to Bulgaria, except for Wandelaar which was damaged in a 1993 exercise and written off and sold for scrap.
