Built 1974–1982 Planned 10 | In service 1974–present | |
Name Clase Lazaga
(Lürssen FPB-57) Builders Lürssen-Bremen
Bazán Shipyards (now Navantia ) Operators Spanish Navy
Royal Moroccan Navy
Colombian National Navy | ||
The Lazaga class consists of a series of midsize patrol vessels for coastal and Exclusive Zone patrol, built by the Spanish National Bazán shipyards (now Navantia) for the Spanish Navy and the Moroccan Navy. Two of the spanish units were later transferred to the Colombian Navy.
Contents
Based on the German Type 143 (Lürssen FBP-57) vessels, the hull of the first unit was built in Germany and the rest were built in San Fernando, Cádiz, in a similar way to that of the Barceló-class patrol boat, in 1976–77. A second batch of 4 units was built in 1980-82 for the Moroccan Navy, which were slightly different from the initial units in armament and navigational systems, as they included missile capability (Exocet MM-40), although that was later removed.
Spain
Their early retirement from the Spanish Navy prompted an inquiry in the spanish senate about the reasons for their decommissioning; some of the reasons presented included lack of endurance and lack of a helicopter capability. It seems, however, that the navy was using the ships for roles more complex than those initially designed for. Under its initial German design, the ships were designed for fast attack by the German Navy as fast attack ships using Exocet missiles in the Baltic Sea, allowing for quick return to their bases. In Spain, that was their initial use as well, and they included a modern targeting system Signaal (now Thales) WM-22, similar to that used in the Descubierta-class corvette (WM-25) and in the Santa Maria-class frigate (WM-28). Unfortunately, budgetary restrictions did not allow that plan to be fully completed and they were not fitted with missile capability in the end, which left them stripped of one of their most important capabilities.
The creation of the Maritime service of the Civil Guard (Spanish: Servicio Marítimo de la Guardia Civil) only speedied their demise in the Spanish Navy, since many small and midsize boats were decommissioned from the navy as some of the coast guard functions were transferred to the new service.
Some of their systems, including the Oto Melara 76/62 cannon, the diesel engines and the surface search radar were dismounted and used as spare parts for the Descubierta class corvettes which shared those systems.
Morocco
Some of the systems, including the 76/62 Oto melara cannons, their targeting systems were ceded to the Moroccan Navy. In 2008, two of the Moroccan vessels were upgraded in Cartagena, Spain for an estimated amount of US$ 10 million
Colombia
Two of these boats were transferred to the Colombian Navy in 1997, where they served until 2009 when they were finally disposed of and sunk as part of the "Pelícano II" training exercises.