Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Montcalm (D642)

Anti-submarine frigate Montcalm (D642), port of Livorno
The “Montcalm” (D642) is an anti-submarine frigate of the Georges Leygues class (Type F70) of the French Marine Nationale (French Navy). She is actually a destroyer, as the “D” in the pennant number says, but the French refer to this kind of ships as frigates. She was built at the Brest Arsenal between 1975 and 1982.
Anti-submarine frigate Montcalm, port of Livorno
The “Montcalm” is a multi-role ship armed with Exocet and Crotale missiles, suitable for strategic defence and show of force operations. The superstructures of this class of ships are built to resist the blast from a nuclear explosion. The white device resting at the stern is a DUBV 43C towed array sonar.

External links: French frigate Montcalm (D642) - Exocet - Crotale (missile) - Pennant number - Towed array sonar (Wikipedia)

11 comments:

Luis Gomez said...

Wow! These are great VP.

Revrunner said...

Very impressive, but I still think I'll hold out for one of those luxury yachts.

Michelle said...

Nice ship and some nice light in these photos!

Jack said...

You are quite knowledgeable about these vessels. Is this your line of work? Or, do people who live in a port like Livorno just pick it up as part of life? Or is it a particular interest of yours?

Randy said...

Guess you can't take a pleasure cruise in that one.

Gunn said...

Looks similar to what we have had at our harbor the last week.

I too have to say I look forward to see the beauty of Italian design on your luxury yachts....

cieldequimper said...

Named after the man who lost Québec to Wolfe and his life at the Plains of Abraham...

Dina said...

So big and loaded. Yes, it could be impressive in a "show of force operation."
The "able to resist nuclear explosion" is a chilling thought.

Stefan Jansson said...

You know your ships.

VP said...

Jack - Not my line of work, at least not recently, but I have always liked to learn something about the ships that come into our port.
ciel - I was reading a short bio of him, just to know the guy...
Dina - I do not think any type of ship can survive a direct hit.

Taken For Granted said...

Interesting ship. Let's hope the crew trains well and never sees serious action. Thank you for the explanation.