The Esmeraldas-class corvettes are a class of corvette in service with the Ecuadorian Navy, built in Italy by Fincantieri, entering service in the early 1980s.
The vessels were built on the Type 550 corvette design, similar to the and s, built primarily for export.
Six corvettes were ordered by the Ecuadorian Navy from the Italian shipbuilder Cantieri Navali Riuniti (CNR) (now part of Fincantieri) in 1978 or 1979. They were a developed version of CNR's Wadi Mragh missile corvettes built for Libya in the late 1970s, with more powerful engines giving a higher speed and revised armament and equipment.
The ships are 62.3m (204.4feet) long overall and 57.8m (189.6feet) between perpendiculars, with a beam of 9.3m (30.5feet) and a Draft of 2.8m (09.2feet). Displacement is 6850NaN0 full load. Four MTU MA20 V 956 TB 92 diesel engines rated at a total of 24400shp maximum power and 22140shp sustained power drive four propeller shafts, giving a short-term maximum speed of 37kn and a sustained speed of 34kn. The ships have a range of 1200nmi at 31kn, 4000nmi at 18kn and 4400nmi at 14kn. The ships have a crew of 51.
The ships can carry six Exocet MM40 anti-ship missiles in two triple mounts amidships, with a range of 70km (40miles), while a quadruple launcher for the Albatros surface to air missile system, firing the Aspide missile with a range of 13km (08miles) is mounted at the aft end of the ship's superstructure, behind the mast. (No reload missiles are carried). An OTO Melara 76 mm Compact gun is fitted forward and a twin Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft mount is fitted aft. Two triple 324 mm torpedo tubes are fitted, capable of launching Italian Whitehead A244 anti-submarine torpedoes. A helipad is positioned between the Exocet launchers and the Bofors mounts, allowing a Bell 206 helicopter to be operated, although no hangar is provided for the helicopter.
Sensors include a Selenia RAN-10S air/surface search radar, two Selenia Orion 10X fire control radars and a Thomson Sintra Diodon hull-mounted sonar.
| - Esmeraldas class | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Hull number | Shipyard | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Status | |||||
| CM-11 | CNR Muggiano | 27 September 1979 | 1 October 1980 | 7 August 1982 | In service | ||||||
| CM-12 | CNR Ancona | 19 February 1980 | 9 February 1981 | 21 June 1983 | In service | ||||||
| CM-13 | CNR Muggiano | 5 December 1979 | 27 February 1981 | 9 October 1983 | In service | ||||||
| CM-14 | CNR Ancona | 20 March 1980 | 9 February 1981 | 11 December 1983 | In service | ||||||
| CM-15 | CNR Muggiano | 4 December 1980 | 4 July 1981 | 26 May 1984 | In service | ||||||
| CM-16 | CNR Ancona | 24 March 1981 | 27 February 1982 | 26 May 1984 | In service | ||||||
El Oro was badly damaged by a fire on 14 April 1985, and took two years to repair. Two of the ships had their torpedo tubes removed for transfer to the two s purchased from the British Royal Navy in 1991 (BAE Presidente Eloy Alfaro and BAE Morán Valverde). It was planned to upgrade the ships' combat and fire control systems in 1993–1994, but a lack of funds prevented these changes.
Three of the vessels of the class (Los Rios, Manabí and Loja) were refitted to extend their life by Astinave, being re-delivered in 2017–2018. Changes included fitting a locally developed combat management system called Orion.[1]