:French aviso Second-Maître Le Bihan
{{short description|D'Estienne d'Orves-class aviso of the French Navy}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
| {{Infobox ship begin
}} {{Infobox ship image | Ship image = | Ship image size = | Ship caption = }} {{Infobox ship career | Ship country = France | Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|France|naval}} | Ship name = Second-Maître Le Bihan | Ship namesake = Marcel Pierre Marie Le Bihan | Ship builder = Arsenal de Lorient, Lorient | Ship laid down = 1 November 1976 | Ship launched = 13 August 1977 | Ship sponsor = | Ship commissioned = 7 July 1979 | Ship decommissioned = 2002 | Ship reclassified = | Ship struck = | Ship identification = *Callsign: FABH
| Ship honors = | Ship fate = Sold to Turkey, 2002 }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = title | Ship country = Turkey | Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|Turkey|naval}} | Ship name = Bafra | Ship namesake = Bafra | Ship acquired = 26 June 2002 | Ship commissioned = 24 July 2002 | Ship decommissioned = | Ship identification = *Pennant number: F-505 | Ship reclassified = | Ship homeport = | Ship struck = | Ship status = Active | Ship fate = }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Ship class={{sclass|D'Estienne d'Orves|aviso}} |Ship displacement= * {{convert|1,100|LT|t|order=flip|lk=on|abbr=on}} standard
|Ship length=* {{Convert|80|m|ftin|abbr=on}} oa
|Ship beam={{Convert|10.3|m|ftin|abbr=on}} |Ship draught={{Convert|5.3|m|ftin|abbr=on}} |Ship propulsion=* 2 SEMT Pielstick 12 PC 2 V400 diesel engines
|Ship speed={{convert|23.5|kn|lk=in}} |Ship range={{convert|4500|nmi|lk=in|abbr=on}} at {{convert|15|kn}} |Ship armour= |Ship complement=90 |Ship EW=* 1 ARBR 16 radar interceptor
|Ship armament=* 2 Exocet MM38 SSMs (removed from French ships when reclassified as OPVs){{Cite web|url=https://www.asafrance.fr/item/patrouilleurs-les-avisos-francais-sur-tous-les-fronts.html|title=Patrouilleurs: Les avisos français sur tous les fronts. |trans-title=Patrol ships: French Avisos on all fronts. |language=French |date=26 January 2017 |website=asafrance.fr |access-date=6 June 2020}}
|Ship sensors=* 1 Air/surface DRBV 51A sentry radar
}} |
Second-Maître Le Bihan (F788) is a {{sclass|D'Estienne d'Orves|aviso}} in the French Navy. She was transferred to the Turkish Navy as TCG Bafra (F-505).
Design
{{Main|D'Estienne d'Orves-class aviso}}
Armed by a crew of 90 sailors, these vessels have the reputation of being among the most difficult in bad weather. Their high windage makes them particularly sensitive to pitch and roll as soon as the sea is formed.
Their armament, consequent for a vessel of this tonnage, allows them to manage a large spectrum of missions. During the Cold War, they were primarily used to patrol the continental shelf of the Atlantic Ocean in search of Soviet Navy submarines. Due to the poor performance of the hull sonar, as soon as an echo appeared, the reinforcement of an ASM frigate was necessary to chase it using its towed variable depth sonar.{{Cite web|date=2020-10-23|title=Euronaval: First details of the Patrouilleurs Océanique (PO) platform unveiled|url=https://www.navalnews.com/event-news/euronaval-2020/2020/10/euronaval-first-details-of-the-patrouilleurs-oceanique-po-platform-unveiled/|access-date=2021-09-17|website=Naval News|language=en-US}}
Their role as patrollers now consists mainly of patrols and assistance missions, as well as participation in UN missions (blockades, flag checks) or similar marine policing tasks (fight against drugs, extraction of nationals, fisheries control, etc.). The mer-mer 38 or mer-mer 40 missiles have been landed, but they carry several machine guns and machine guns, more suited to their new missions.
Its construction cost was estimated at 270,000,000 French francs.{{Cite book|title=Quid 1996|publisher=|year=|isbn=2-221-08055-6|pages=2036}}
Construction and career
= Service in the French Navy =
Second-Maître Le Bihan was laid down on 1 November 1976 at Arsenal de Lorient, Lorient, Launched on 13 August 1977, and commissioned on 7 July 1979.
= Service in the Turkish Naval Forces =
The ship was purchased from France in 2002 and acquired, after arriving in Turkey, on 26 June 2002, after salvage work was carried out at DCN. She was later commissioned on 24 July of the same year as TCG Bafra (F-505).
Citations
{{Reflist}}
{{D'Estienne d'Orves class aviso}}
{{Corvettes of the Turkish Navy}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Second-Maître Le Bihan}}
Category:Ships built in Lorient
Category:D'Estienne d'Orves-class avisos
Category:Ships transferred from the French Navy to the Turkish Navy