Oste-class fleet service ship
The Type 423 Oste class are purpose built SIGINT/ELINT and reconnaissance ships of the German Navy. Officially designated as fleet service ships, they replaced the Type 422 class.
 A52 Oste in 2006 | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Builders: | Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft, Flensburg |
| Operators: |
 German Navy |
| Preceded by: | Type 422 class |
| In commission: | 1988– |
| Completed: | 3 |
| Active: | 3 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 3,200 tonnes |
| Length: | 83.5 m (273 ft 11 in) |
| Beam: | 14.6 m (47 ft 11 in) |
| Draught: | 4.2 m (13 ft 9 in) |
| Propulsion: | 2 diesel engines, 3,300 kW (4,400 hp) each |
| Speed: | 21 knots (39 km/h) |
| Range: | More than 5,000 nautical miles (9,300 km) |
| Complement: | 36 + up to 40 mission specialists |
| Sensors and processing systems: | ELINT/COMINT sensors |
| Electronic warfare & decoys: | Electronic countermeasures |
| Armament: | None |
Accommodation for the crew was designed to civil standards, and the Oste class offers much more comfort for the crew than other ships in the German Navy.
List of ships
| Ship | Pennant number |
Call sign | Launched | Commissioned |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oste | A52 | DRHH | 30 July 1988 | |
| Oker | A53 | DRHG | 10 November 1988 | |
| Alster | A50 | DRHF | 14 November 1988 | 5 October 1989 |
The ships were built at Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft in Flensburg.
All ships are currently based in Eckernförde and belong to the 1st Ubootgeschwader (1st Submarine Squadron) stationed in Eckernförde. The vessels received the same name and pennant numbers as the three Type 422 class vessels they replaced. To avoid the confusion, the ship names are sometimes suffixed with II.
Oker was reportedly spotted near the Syrian coast in August 2012.[1]
Later seen in Greenwich, UK in February 2017[2]
References
- Notes
- Archived August 19, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
- Bibliography
- "Flottendienstboot OSTE-Klasse" (in German). Deutsche Marine. Retrieved 5 August 2008.