Class and type Castle-class corvette Acquired December 2010 In service 2011-Present Weight 1,427 tons Builder Hall, Russell & Company | Name BNS Dhaleshwari Commissioned 5 March 2011 Homeport Chittagong Displacement 1.427 million kg | |
BNS Dhaleshwari is a Castle Class guided missile corvette of the Bangladesh Navy. The ship has served with the Bangladesh Navy since 2011.
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History
BNS Dhaleshwari was laid down by Hall, Russell & Company of Aberdeen, Scotland on 18 October 1979 and launched on 29 October 1980. She was commissioned to the Royal Navy as HMS Leeds Castle on 27 October 1981. She served the Royal Navy from 1981 to 2005, taking part in the Falklands War. The ship was decommissioned on 8 August 2005. In April 2010, she was sold to the Bangladesh Navy.
Career
On 14 May 2010, the ship began a major refit and upgrade to suit the Bangladesh Navy's requirements, which continued until December 2010. On 5 March 2011, the ship was commissioned in the Bangladesh Navy as BNS Dhaleshwari. On her way to Bangladesh, she visited the port of Colombo , Sri Lanka on a goodwill visit from 29 to 31 January 2011.
BNS Dhaleshwari went to Malaysia to join the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition 2011 (LIMA-2011) in November 2011.
In 2013, the ship fired four C-704 anti-ship missiles in a domestic naval exercise with all four of them hitting their target successfully.
She left Bangladesh on 8 May to take part in the International Maritime Defence Exhibition (IMDEX) Asia-2015 held at Singapore from 19 to 21 May 2015.
The ship took part in Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training(CARAT), an annual bilateral exercise with the United States Navy, in 2015.
Armament
The ship carries four C-704 automated anti-ship missiles. Besides these it also has one AK-176 main gun, and two Oerlikon 20 mm auto cannons. It has a flight deck which can accommodate helicopters up to Westland Sea King size.