Baptista de Andrade-class corvette explained

The Baptista de Andrade class are a class of four Portuguese-designed corvettes, built for the Portuguese Navy by BAZAN in Francoist Spain in the 1970s. They are an updated version of the - designed by the Portuguese naval engineer Rogério de Oliveira - with more modern armament and sensors.

Like the João Coutinho ships, the Baptista de Andrade corvettes were intended to operate in the Portuguese overseas territories. Allegedly, the ships would originally be intended to the South African Navy, the delivery being canceled after the Portuguese Carnation Revolution in 1974. After Portugal withdrew from its colonies, the four ships were due to be sold to the Colombian Navy in 1977 but the deal was not completed.

One ship, NRP Oliveira e Carmo, was decommissioned in 1999 and was officially scrapped on 1 November 2007 and later sunk as an artificial reef on 30 October 2012.[1] NRP Afonso Cerqueira was decommissioned on 13 February 2015 and later sunk as an artificial reef off Madeira.[2] Another ship was decommissioned in 2017 and the last one remains in limited service but will be retired and replaced by s.

Ships

Pennant numberNameLaunchedCommissionedStatus
F486Baptista de AndradeMarch 1973November 1974Decommissioned 2017. Sank at moorings between 19 and 23 April 2023. Awaiting scrapping.[3]
F487João RobyJune 1973March 1975In active service[4]
F488Afonso CerqueiraOctober 1973June 1975Decommissioned 2015, sunk as artificial reef in September 2018 in sea of Madeira
F489Oliveira e CarmoFebruary 1974February 1976Decommissioned 1999, scrapped 2007, sunk as artificial reef 2012 in Lagos, Portugal

References

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Sinking Oliveira e Carmo Corvette. Ocean Revival. 29 May 2017.
  2. Web site: Marinha já alienou futuro recife artificial do Cabo Girão. Madeira In and Out. 31 May 2017.
  3. Web site: 2023-09-08 . Marinha afundou três navios no último ano e meio . 2023-12-27 . SIC Notícias . pt.
  4. Web site: NRP João Roby . 2022-10-15 . Marinha . pt-PT.