1985 CASSARD. Originally there were to have been four frigates of this class, but the second pair was cancelled. Optimised for protection against air attack, they were also able to operate in the anti-ship ping and anti-submarine roles, thanks to a very comprehensive mix of weapons and sensors.
VERSATILE SHIPS
Originally classed by the French as a corvette (but by NATO as a destroyer), the Cassard was re-designated a frigate in the month prior to her launch. Constructed at the Lorient Naval Dockyard, she was laid down in September 1982 and launched on 6 February 1985, but not completed until the end of July, 1988. This lengthy second stage of production was brought about by reflection on the changing nature of the classs role and consequent changes to her weapons and equipment inventory; the second 100mm gun which was to have been sited on the quarterdeck aft being deleted and replaced by a hangar for a Lynx helicopter.
COMMON HULL
The Cassards shared a hull with the anti-submarine destroyers of the Georges Leygues class, and were to have been virtual copies of those ships, but her designers came to believe that the heat of the latters Rolls-Royce Olympus gas-turbine engines would interfere in some way with the large arrays of the air defence radar installation they were to carry, and diesel engines were substituted instead. Above decks, too, there was to be very little similarity between the two classes, and much of the Cassards super structure was fabricated in aluminium to save topside weight.
TECHNICAL DATA
Type: Guided-missile frigate
Machinery: 2 shafts driven by four SEMT-Pielstick diesels giving a total of 42,300bhp
Dimensions (overall): Length, 139.1 m (456ft); beam, 14m (46ft)
Displacement: 3900t standard, 4500t full load
Draught: 5.6m (1 8ft)
Complement: 225
