TCG Fatih (F 242)

TCG Fatih (F 242) is a Yavuz-class frigate of the Turkish Navy.

TCG Fatih on 2 June 2014
History
Turkey
Name	Fatih
Namesake	Mehmed the Conqueror
Builder	Gölcük Naval Shipyard, Kocaeli, Turkey
Launched	24 April 1987[1]
Commissioned	12 October 1988[1]
Identification	Pennant number: F 242
Status	Active
General characteristics
Class & type	Yavuz-class frigate
Displacement	3,030 tons full load
Length	110.50 m (362.53 ft)
Beam	13.25 m (43.47 ft)
Draught	3.94 m (12.93 ft)
Installed power	4 MTU 20V 1163 diesel-engines, 30,000 hp (22,000 kW) CODAD
Propulsion	2 shaft, controllable pitch propellers
Speed	27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph)
Range	4,000 nautical miles (7,000 km) at 20 knots (37 km/h)
Complement	180 (29 officers, 151 enlisted)
Sensors & processing systems	Radar TM 1126 AWS-6 HSA D08 HSA STIR 124 Sonar SQS-56,
Electronic warfare & decoys	ARES-2NC ESM, Mk 36 decoy
Armament	2 Mk 141 quad-pack Launcher for 8 × RGM-84 Harpoon 1 MK 21 Guided Missile Launching System for 16 × RIM-7 Sea Sparrow 1 × 5 inch /54 gun 3 × Oerlikon Contraves Sea Zenith 25 mm CIWS gun systems 2 × 3 12.75 in Mk.32 torpedo tubes in triple mountings
Aviation facilities	Hangar and platform for 1 × AB 212 ASW helicopter

Development and design

Main article: Yavuz-class frigate

Yavuz-class frigates were designed in Germany and are part of the MEKO family of modular warships; in this case the MEKO 200 design. An order for ships was signed by the Turkish government in April 1983 for four MEKO frigates. Two ships were built in Germany and two in Turkey with German assistance. They are similar in design to the larger Barbaros-class frigates of the Turkish Navy, which are improved versions of the Yavuz-class frigate.

The Turkish Navy has an ongoing limited modernization project for an electronic warfare suite. The intent is to upgrade the ships with locally-produced ECM, ECCM systems, active decoys, LWRs, IRST, and the necessary user interface systems.

Construction and career

Fatih was launched on 24 April 1987 by Gölcük Naval Shipyard in and commissioned on 12 October 1988.^[1]

On 25 August 2020, the Italian destroyer Luigi Durand de la Penne conducted a maritime exercise in the Eastern Mediterranean with TCG Fatih.^[2]