French frigate Commandant Rivière

Commandant Rivière (F 733) was a Commandant Rivière-class frigate of French Navy.

Commandant Rivière awaiting scrap on 12 July 2007
History
France
Name	Commandant Rivière
Namesake	Henri Rivière
Builder	Arsenal de Lorient, Lorient
Laid down	April 1957
Launched	11 October 1958
Commissioned	4 December 1962
Decommissioned	1992
Identification	Pennant number: F 733
Fate	Scrapped at Ghent, 2015
General characteristics
Class & type	Commandant Rivière-class frigate
Displacement	1,750 tons standard, 2,230 tons full load
Length	98.0 m (321 ft 6 in) oa 103.0 m (337 ft 11 in) pp
Beam	11.5 m (37 ft 9 in)
Draught	4.3 m (14 ft 1 in)
Propulsion	2 shafts (4 × SEMT-Pielstick 12-cylinder diesel engines) 16,000 bhp (12,000 kW)
Speed	25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph)
Range	7,500 nmi (13,900 km; 8,600 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Boats & landing craft carried	2 × LCP landing craft
Complement	166
Sensors & processing systems	DRBV22A air search radar DRBC32C fire control radar DUBA3 sonar SQS17 sonar
Armament	(Early service) 3 × 100 mm (4 in) guns 2 × 30 mm guns 1 × 305 mm (12 in) anti-submarine mortar 6 × 550 mm (22 in) torpedo tubes (6 L5 torpedoes) (Late Service) 2 × 100 mm (4 in) guns 4 × MM38 Exocet missiles 2 × 30 mm guns 1 × 305 mm (12 in) anti-submarine mortar 6 × 550 mm (22 in) torpedo tubes (6 L5 torpedoes)

Development and design

Main article: Commandant Rivière-class frigate

The main gun armament of the Commandant Rivière class consisted of three of the new French 100 mm (4 in) guns, with a single turret located forward and two turrets aft.^[1][2] These water-cooled automatic dual-purpose guns could fire a 13.5 kg (30 lb) shell at an effective range of 12,000 m (39,000 ft) against surface targets and 6,000 m (20,000 ft) against aircraft at a rate of 60 rounds per minute.^[3] A quadruple 305 mm anti-submarine mortar was fitted in 'B' position, aft of the forward gun and in front of the ship's superstructure,^[1] capable of firing a 230 kg (510 lb) depth charge to 3,000 m (9,800 ft) or in the shore bombardment role, a 100 kg (220 lb) projectile to 6,000 m (20,000 ft).^[4] Two triple torpedo tubes were fitted for anti-submarine torpedoes, while the ship's armament was completed by two 30 mm Hotchkiss HS-30 cannon.^[1] The ships had accommodation for an 80-man commando detachment with two fast landing boats, each capable of landing 25 men.^[5]

Construction and career

Commandant Rivière was laid down in April 1957 and launched on 11 October 1958 at Arsenal de Lorient in Lorient. The vessel was commissioned on 4 December 1962.

In 1984–1985, Commandant Rivière was converted to a sonar-trials ship. The ship's armament was replaced by a single 40 mm Bofors gun and two 12.7 mm machine guns, while the ship's stern was rebuilt to accommodate a hoist for a variable depth sonar, which was used to test various active and passive towed array sonars.^[5][6]

She served as a breakwater in Saint-Mandrier from 1993 to 2009 after decommissioning in 1992. She awaited dismantling in Toulon from 2009 to 2014 and dismantled in Ghent in 2015.