The Belgian government decided on 22 December 1970 to order four new frigates, which would be built by Belgian shipyards. These ships would replace the old escort ships of the Algerine class. The last of these left service in 1969.
Project studies had already begun in 1964 with the advice of the Dutch Navy and continued in 1971 in cooperation with the two Belgian shipyards, Boelwerf, at Temse, and Cockerill, at Hoboken, Antwerp. The construction of the ships began in 1974. The four ships, Wielingen, Westdiep, Wandelaar and Westhinder, were commissioned in the following years.
The fourth frigate, Westhinder, was decommissioned in 1993 according to the reforms of Defence Minister Leo Delcroix. She had previously been damaged during an anti-submarine exercise off the coast of Norway. The third ship, Wandelaar, followed in 2004 and was sold to the Bulgarian Navy the same year. Wielingen and Westdiep were sold to Bulgaria in 2008.
| General characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Class and type: | Wielingen Class |
| Type: | Guided missile frigate (FFG) |
| Displacement: | 2,200 tons |
| Length: | 106.38 metres |
| Beam: | 12.3 metres |
| Draught: | 5.6 metres |
| Propulsion: | Combined Diesel or Gas Turbine (CODOG): 2 ABC type DZC Diesel engines of 4200hp + 1 Rolls Royce Olympus TM – 3B Gas turbine of 27.575hp |
| Speed: | 28kn |
| Complement: | 159 |
| Sensors and processing systems: | 1 Kelvin-Hugues type 1007/Scout navigation radar 1 Hollandse Signaal Apparaten DA-05 surveillance radar 1 Hollandse Signaal Apparaten WM-25 targeting radar 2 EOMS IR/Video optical targeting cameras 1 AN/SQS-510 sonar |
| Armament: | 1 100 mm Creusot-Loire automatic cannon 1 RIM-7 Sea Sparrow launcher with 8 missiles 1 MM-38 Exocet launcher with 4 missiles 1 375mm Bofors depth charge launcher 2 Ecan Type l5 torpedo tubes with 10 torpedoes |
