| Gepard-class fast attack craft | |
|---|---|
 S79 Wiesel | |
| Class overview | |
| Operators: |
 German Navy |
| Preceded by: | Type 143 Albatros class |
| In service: | 1982–present |
| In commission: | 1982–present |
| Building: | 10 |
| Planned: | 10 |
| Completed: | 10 |
| Active: | 8 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Fast Attack Craft |
| Displacement: | 390 t (380 long tons; 430 short tons) |
| Length: | 57.6 m (189 ft) |
| Beam: | 7.8 m (25 ft 7 in) |
| Draught: | 2.6 m (8 ft 6 in) |
| Propulsion: | 4 × diesel engines, totalling 13,235 kW (17,748 hp) |
| Speed: | 40 knots (74 km/h; 46 mph) |
| Complement: | 5 officers, 31 enlisted |
| Electronic warfare & decoys: |
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| Armament: |
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The Type 143A Gepard class is Germany's last class of missile bearing fast attack craft (German language: Schnellboot) and the only one still in service with the German Navy since 1990.
It is an evolution of the Albatros-class fast attack craft, the main difference is the replacement of the second 76mm-gun by the RAM system. It is planned that Gepard class vessels will gradually be supplemented by Braunschweig-class corvettes and to be replaced by a new class of corvettes in the 2020s.
The ships in class are named after small, predatory animals: cheetah, puma, stoat, mink, sable, ferret, badger, ocelot, weasel and hyena.
List of ships[]
| NATO pennant number |
Name | Call sign |
Commissioned | Decommissioned |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P6121 | S 71 Gepard | DRCE | December 7, 1982 | |
| P6122 | S 72 Puma | DRCF | February 17, 1983 | |
| P6123 | S 73 Hermelin | DRCG | April 28, 1983 | |
| P6124 | S 74 Nerz | DRCH | July 14, 1983 | March 31, 2012 |
| P6125 | S 75 Zobel | DRCI | September 28, 1983 | |
| P6126 | S 76 Frettchen | DRCJ | December 16, 1983 | |
| P6127 | S 77 Dachs | DRCK | March 22, 1984 | March 31, 2012 |
| P6128 | S 78 Ozelot | DRCL | May 25, 1984 | |
| P6129 | S 79 Wiesel | DRCM | July 12, 1984 | |
| P6130 | S 80 Hyäne | DRCN | November 13, 1984 |
In 2012, Germany delivered two of its decommissioned Gepard class FACs, S74 Nerz and S77 Dachs to the Ghana Navy.[1]
Gallery[]
References[]
- "Schnellboot GEPARD-Klasse" (in German). German Navy. http://www.marine.de/portal/a/marine/!ut/p/c4/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP3I5EyrpHK93MQivfLEtLTUvNI8vez8orLUkpJUvfTUgsSiFP2CbEdFAF1MBSk!/. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
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References[]
The original article can be found at Gepard-class fast attack craft and the edit history here.