Portuguese Navy frigate NRP Francisco de Almeida (F334) departed its homeport of Lisbon Naval Base on August 6 to join NATO’s standing maritime group 1 (SNMG1).
The former Karel Doorman-class frigate will join units from Canada, Netherlands, Denmark, Spain and Norway for operations in the North and Baltic Sea.
During the frigate’s time with SNMG1, the maritime group will be commanded by Norwegian Navy Commodore Petter Kammerhuber from aboard the flagship of the group, HNoMS Otto Sverdrup.
NRP Francisco de Almeida will be commanded Frigate captain João Pedro Monteiro da Silva who will have a crew of 188 at his disposal, including two boarding teams, a team of divers. The frigate also has an embarked Lynx helicopter on board.
The crew are set to return home on December 6.
NRP Francisco de Almeida is a former Karel Doorman frigate Portugal purchased from the Netherlands. The two countries signed a contract for two frigates in 2006 with former HNLMS Van Nes being renamed to NRP Bartolomeu Dias (F333) and transferred to Portugal in 2009 and former HNLMS Van Galen renamed to NRP Francisco de Almeida (F334) and transferred in 2010.
The 122 meter frigate is armed with the OTO Melara 76 mm gun, MK48 VLS-launched Sea Sparrow missiles, Harpoon anti-ship missiles, MK46 torpedoes and the Dutch Goalkeeper close-in weapon system (CIWS).