Oste-class fleet service ship
The Type 423 Oste class are purpose built signals intelligence (SIGINT/ELINT) and reconnaissance ships of the German Navy.[1] Officially designated as "fleet service ships", they replaced the Type 422 class.
![]() A52 Oste in 2006 | |
Class overview | |
---|---|
Builders | Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft, Flensburg |
Operators | ![]() |
Preceded by | Type 422 class |
In commission | 1988– |
Completed | 3 |
Active | 3 |
General characteristics | |
Displacement | 3,200 tonnes |
Length | 83.5 m (273 ft 11 in) |
Beam | 14.6 m (47 ft 11 in) |
Draught | 4.2 m (13 ft 9 in) |
Propulsion | 2 diesel engines, 3,300 kW (4,400 hp) each |
Speed | 21 knots (39 km/h) |
Range | More than 5,000 nautical miles (9,300 km) |
Complement | 36 + up to 40 mission specialists |
Sensors and processing systems | ELINT/COMINT sensors |
Electronic warfare & decoys | Electronic countermeasures |
Armament | None |
Accommodation for the crew was designed to civil standards, and the Oste class offers much more comfort for the crew than other ships in the German Navy.
List of ships
Ship | Pennant number |
Call sign | Launched | Commissioned |
---|---|---|---|---|
Oste | A52 | DRHH | 30 July 1988 | |
Oker | A53 | DRHG | 10 November 1988 | |
Alster | A50 | DRHF | 14 November 1988 | 5 October 1989 |
The ships were built at Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft in Flensburg.
All ships are currently based in Eckernförde and belong to the 1st Ubootgeschwader (1st Submarine Squadron) stationed in Eckernförde. The vessels received the same name and pennant numbers as the three Type 422 class vessels they replaced. To avoid the confusion, the ship names are sometimes suffixed with II.
Oker (A53) was reportedly spotted near the Syrian coast in August 2012.[2] Later she was seen in Greenwich, UK in February 2017[3]
References
- Notes
- "Oste class". Military Today. Archived from the original on August 20, 2022. Retrieved August 20, 2022.
- "Kein Spionageboot vor Syrien", tagesschau.de (in German), 19 August 2012, archived from the original on August 19, 2012
- "Lookout – Events & Visitors". February 2015.
- Bibliography
- "Flottendienstboot OSTE-Klasse" (in German). Deutsche Marine. Retrieved 5 August 2008.