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IRIN Alvand (F-71)

1971 COLD WAR MODERN NAVY

History

The Iranian ship IRIN Alvand (F-71) is a corvette, originally built in the UK of the Vosper Mark V class. Built by Vosper Thornycroft, she was officially launched in 1968 and commissioned in 1971.

She became the capital ship of her Quadruple-class, three of which are currently known to serve in the Iranian Navy. She was originally named "Sam," and all four ships were named after a collection of Persian poetry, but after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, were named after Iranian mountains. As for the Navy warship frigate, she is relatively small, with a default displacement of about 1100 tons.

The Iranian Navy is better equipped to patrol "brown water" areas or protect coastal areas of interest, while still deploying it in "blue water" missions around the Persian Gulf.

The set of four ships was originally called Saam (DE-12), Zaal (DE-14), Rostam (DE-16) and Faramarz (DE-18). Vosper Thornycroft was in charge of Saam and Faramarz, while Vickers was in charge of building Alborz and Sabalan. The group later became Alvand (F-71), Alborz (F-72), Sabalan (F-73) and Sahand (F-74).

The last three ships were launched in 1969.

At the time of construction, the Alvand was equipped with a Vickers 4.5" (114 mm) Mark 8 main gun in the bow. The gun has a rate of fire of 25 rounds per minute and a range of up to 12 nautical miles (22 km).

For close-range air defense, the ship is equipped with 1 x Oerlikon 35mm/90 anti-aircraft (AA) mount and 2 x individually mounted Oerlikon 20mm GAM-B01AA guns. For close coastal shelling there are 2 x 81mm mortars. 2 x 12.7 mm (0.50 caliber) heavy Browning machine guns provide additional close-range defense. In the anti-submarine warfare (ASW) role, she was armed with a "Limbo" Mk 10 mortar and two triple 12.75" torpedo tubes - one to port and the other to starboard. The main The anti-ship weapon was the "Sea Killer" (ASM) anti-ship missile, while the main air defense system was the "Sea Cat".

However, these missile systems were eventually replaced and upgraded by 4? Chinese C802 (YJ-2) series cruise missiles. Upgrades The latter class became part of an internal push by the Iranian navy to help control waters around its Gulf region.

During the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, Iran faced a nearby US Navy presence in the Persian Gulf. The United States is in the region to protect the interests of its neighbors and has begun providing armed escorts for the Kuwaiti tankers. In 1988, an Iranian mine exploded on the destroyer USS Roberts, blasting a 15-foot hole in her hull. The USS Roberts was rescued by her crew and returned to the United States for repairs.

However, the United States fought back in Operation Mantis and sank the Sahand with two Grumman A-6E Intruder laser-guided bombs (LGBs), cluster bombs and Harpoon anti-ship missiles, making them caught fire and eventually forced their ammunition depot to explode. The ship sank southwest of Larak Island in the Persian Gulf.

The Alvand was sent to Sri Lanka in 2010 to "raise the flag" and lead members of the Islamic Republic to an anti-piracy conference - which was also attended by US officials. On February 22, 2011, the Alvand sailed through the Suez Canal to Syria with the supply ship Khaarg (431) as regional unrest spread from Tunisia to Egypt.

The 33,000-ton supply ship has a crew of 250 and can transport three helicopters. The passage through the English Channel is the first time the Iranian navy has been allowed to cross the Suez River since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

The permission to enter Mediterranean waters naturally worries nearby Israel, as the Israeli government sees the current turmoil in the Middle East and Iran's audacity to push its ships into new waters as a high threat to Israel.