FGS Rottweil, German Navy’s former Frankenthal-class minehunter which now serves as a diver support vessel, wrapped up her deployment to NATO’s Standing Mine Counter Measures Group 2 (SNMCMG 2) and is on her way home.
Rottweil is expected to enter her homeport at navy base Kiel on June 30 after five months of operations in the Mediterranean Sea.
Setting sail on January 2017, Rottweil visited ports in Italy, France, Greece, Romania, Ukraine, Malta and Turkey covering 15,000 nautical miles.
On her mission, Rottweil deployed the embarked Seefuchs ROV 44 times detecting and destroying two World War One mines.
Rottweil was initially a standard Frankenthal-class minehunter commissioned in July 1993. However, 14 years later, between 2007 and 2008, Rottweil was modified for diver support operations at German Peene-Werft.
The vessel was fitted with a recompression chamber and a diving platform and is now capable of supporting 15 divers and their associated equipment.