1964 BRAUNSCHWEIG. One of a class of six Type 120 frigates, the first new major warships to be constructed for the German Navy since the Second World War.
THE KLN-CLASS FRIGATES
Until the 1960s, the Federal German Navy, as it then was, operated Second World War-vintage escorts acquired from Britain. These were of limited capability, and by 1955 the Bonn government was planning to launch a class of such ships of its own. The first of six, the KIn, was completed in 1961, and by then the five other members were under construction, all of them by Stlcken of Hamburg. Braunschweig, the last of them, was laid down on 28 July 1960, launched on 3 February 1962 and completed on 16 June 1964. Like many of Germanys redundant warships (and four other members of the class), she was sold to Turkey in 1989, she and Lbeck being cannibalised for spares to keep Emden and Karlsruhe in service.
THE BRAUNSCHWEIGS ARMAMENT
The Klns principal armament was two 55-calibre 100mm (3.9in) dual-purpose guns, mounted in single turrets, one fore and one aft, supplemented by six 40mm Bofors in two twin and two single mounts. Her initial defence against submarines was provided by twin quadruple 375mm (1 4.8in) rocket launchers developed by Bofors and briefly popular during that period; they were later supplemented by four short tubes to launch lightweight 533mm (21 in) anti-submarine torpedoes, which replaced the four conventional tubes of the same calibre originally fitted. They were also equipped to lay mines.
TECHNICAL DATA
Type: Anti-submarine frigate
Machinery: 2-shaft; 4 MAN diesels producing 12,000bhp plus two Brown Boveri gas turbines producing 24,000shp
Dimensions (overall): Length, 109.8m (360. 3ft); beam, 11m (36ft)
Displacement: 2090t standard; 2750t deep load
Drought: 4.6m (15ft)
Complement: 238
