HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën (F802)

History
Netherlands
Name	De Zeven Provinciën
Namesake	De Zeven Provinciën
Builder	Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding
Laid down	1 September 1998
Launched	8 April 2000
Commissioned	26 April 2002
Identification	MMSI number: 244911000 Callsign: PAEQ
Status	In active service
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	De Zeven Provinciën-class frigate
Displacement	6,050 tonnes (full load)
Length	144.24 m (473 ft 3 in)
Beam	18.8 m (61 ft 8 in)
Draft	5.18 m (17 ft 0 in)
Propulsion	Combined diesel or gas 2 × Wärtsilä 16 V26 marine diesel engines, 5.1 MW (6,800 hp) each 2 × Rolls-Royce Marine Spey SM 1C gas turbines, 19.5 MW (26,100 hp) each 2 × propeller shafts, 5-bladed controllable pitch propellers
Speed	30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Complement	174 (202 incl. command staff)
Sensors and processing systems	Thales Nederland SMART-L long-range air and surface surveillance radar Thales Nederland APAR air and surface search, tracking and guidance radar (I band) DECCA NAV navigation radar Thales Nederland Scout (Low-probability-of-intercept) surface search/navigation radar Thales Nederland Sirius IRST long-range infrared surveillance and tracking system Thales Nederland Mirador optical surveillance and tracking system Atlas Elektronik DSQS-24C hull-mounted sonar MK XII IFF system
Electronic warfare & decoys	Thales Sabre ECM suite
Armament	Guns: 1 × Oto Melara 127 mm/54 dual-purpose gun 2–4 × Browning M2 12.7 mm machine guns 4–6 × FN MAG 7.62 mm machine guns 1–2 × Goalkeeper CIWS Missiles: 40-cell Mk 41 vertical launching system 32 × SM-2 IIIA surface-to-air missiles 32 × Evolved SeaSparrow missiles (quad-packed) 8 × Harpoon anti-ship missiles 2 × twin Mk 32 Mod 9 torpedo launchers with Mk 46 Mod 5 torpedoes
Aircraft carried	1 × NH90 NFH helicopter

HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën (F802) is the first ship of the De Zeven Provinciën-class air defence and command frigates in service with the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN). There are three other ships in this class, HNLMS Tromp, HNLMS De Ruyter, and HNLMS Evertsen. De Zeven Provinciën is the eighth ship in the Royal Netherlands Navy to carry this name. The name refers to the original seven Dutch provinces which together formed the Union of Utrecht.

She was built by Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding (formerly the Koninklijke Schelde Groep) in Vlissingen. Her design incorporates stealth technology, as well as advanced radars of Dutch design such as SMART-L and APAR.

As of December 2009, Commander Hugo L.J. Ammerlaan is De Zeven Provinciën's commanding officer.^[1]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2022)

On 21 March 2006, the container ship MV Hyundai Fortune suffered a major explosion and massive fire in the aft on-deck container stacks. When efforts to control the fire failed, the crew abandoned ship and were picked up by De Zeven Provinciën.^[2]

On 4 April 2006, De Zeven Provinciën along with the destroyer USS Roosevelt responded to MV Dong Won which reported that it had come under rocket attack off the coast of Somalia. However, the pirates had already hijacked the vessel and reached Somali territorial waters after threatening the captured crew. De Zeven Provinciën and Roosevelt continued to monitor the situation.^[3]

On 29 March 2009, as De Zeven Provinciën was part of Operation Atalanta, the German Navy tanker Spessart was attacked by 7-man pirate boat. Spessart had a 12-man security detail which exchanged fire with the pirates which repelled the attack. De Zeven Provinciën along with the German frigate Rheinland-Pfalz, Greek frigate Psara, Spanish frigate Victoria, and USS Boxer intervened. The pirates were later captured after a chase lasting a few hours.^[4][5]

De Zeven Provinciën provided security during the 2014 Nuclear Security Summit.^[6] That same year the ship also took part in exercises and performed tests in relation to its weapon systems.^[7]

De Zeven Provinciën participated in Exercise Formidable Shield 2021. During the exercise, she fired two RIM-162 ESSM^[8] and assisted USS Paul Ignatius in intercepting a ballistic missile using its SMART-L radar.^[9]

Between March–July 2022, De Zeven Provinciën was part of Standing NATO Maritime Group 1. She had port calls in Tallinn and Devonport.^[10][11]

On 9 October 2022, De Zeven Provinciën along with HNLMS Van Amstel deployed to conduct drills with the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford.^[12]

De Zeven Provinciën carries the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) and the SM-2 Block IIIA missile systems. The primary sensor used to guide these missile systems is APAR.

In November 2003, approximately 200 nautical miles (370 km; 230 mi) from the Azores, De Zeven Provinciën conducted her first live firings of these missile systems. The firings involved a single ESSM and a single SM-2. These firings were particularly significant in that they were the first ever live firings involving a full-size ship-borne Active Electronically Scanned Array (i.e., APAR) guiding missiles using the Interrupted Continuous Wave Illumination (ICWI) technique in an operational environment.^[13] As related by Jane's Navy International:

During the tracking and missile-firing tests, target profiles were provided by Greek-built EADS/3Sigma Iris PVK medium-range subsonic target drones. [...] According to the RNLN, ... "APAR immediately acquired the missile and maintained track until destruction". [...] These ground-breaking tests represented the world's first live verification of the ICWI technique.^[14]

Further live firings were performed by De Zeven Provinciën in March 2005, again in the Atlantic Ocean approximately 180 nautical miles (330 km; 210 mi) west of the Azores.^[14] The tests involved three live-firing events including firing a single SM-2 at an Iris target drone at long range, a single ESSM at an Iris target drone, and a two-salvo launch (with one salvo comprising two SM-2s and the other comprising two ESSMs) against two incoming Iris target drones.^[14] The long-range SM-2 engagement apparently resulted in an intercept at a range of greater than 100 km (62 mi) from the ship, with a missile-target miss distance of 8 feet (2.4 m) (the warhead's proximity fuze having been disabled for the purposes of the test).^[14]

On 24 October 2015 De Zeven Provinciën performed maritime integrated air and missile defense during a At Sea Demonstration (ASD).^[15]

In May, 2021 during At Sea Demonstration/Formidable Shield 2021 De Zeven Provinciën detected and tracked a ballistic missile with SMART-L radar and relayed the target information to USS Paul Ignatius. The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer intercepted and destroyed the ballistic missile with SM-3 surface-to-air missile.^[16] During the exercise it also performed a Plot Level Data Exchange and Fusion (PLDEF) with the French frigate Forbin.^[17]

• 
  De Zeven Provinciën at the North Sea during the 2014 Nuclear Security Summit
• 
  De Zeven Provinciën helps Hyundai Fortune on 3 March 2006.
• 
  De Zeven Provinciën fires an SM-2
• 
  De Zeven Provinciën crossing the Thames Barrier in London

Wikimedia Commons has media related to F802 Zr.Ms. De Zeven Provinciën (ship, 2002).

• "De Zeven Provincien Class (LCF), Netherlands". naval-technology.com.
• "APAR shines again in live firing tests". Thales Nederland. 26 April 2005. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011.