Turkish naval vessels TCG ISKENDERUN (A1600) and TCG SOKULLU MEHMET PASA (A577) to come to Odessa

Two Turkish naval vessels - the military transport ro-ro ferry TCG ISKENDERUN (A1600), manufactured in Turkey, and the former German Donau (A 69), currently the training and staff vessel, TCG SOKULLU MEHMET PASA (A577) - will come to Odessa on 2013-05-20.

According to the Turkish mass media, both vessels are on the traditional summer march with naval academy students on board. On 2013-05-16 they visited the Turkish Samsun port.

TCG ISKENDERUN (A1600) entered the Black Sea on 2013-05-13:

Picture by Eser Celebiler, Istanbul

In May 2008 TCG ISKENDERUN (A1600) already visited Ukraine, calling in Sevastopol:

Picture by Vitaliy Kostrichenko

In 2011 this vessel participated in the evacuation of Turkish civilians from Libya, while in 2006 – from Beirut in the course of the armed conflicts. In May 2012 it visited Novorossiysk.

TCG ISKANDERUN A-1600 is the civilian ro-ro ferry, transferred to the Turkish Navy in 2002. It is identical to Samsun and Ankara ferries, made in Poland.

Displacement: 10.583 gross tons
Dimensions: 127.5 x 19.5 x 5.4 metres
Speed, Range:15.5 knots
Crew: 129 (11 officer)
Year Built: 1987
Builder: Istanbul Camialtı Shipyard
Capacity: 214 cars.

TCG SOKULLU MEHMET PASA (A577):

Picture by Manuel Hernández Lafuente

Type: supply vessel, Rhein-Klasse staff ship.

Builder: Schlichting, Travemünde, Germany. Year Built: 1960.
Displacement: 2.330 standard, 2.930 full load.
Dimensions: 98,8 x 11,8 x 3,95
Main machinery: Maybach diesels.
Speed: 20.
Crew: 188 (15 officers)

Guns: 2 x Creusot-Loire 100mm/65 Model 1953, 2 x twin Bofors 40mm/70.
Mines: 2 x mine rails ( 70 x mines ).

Transferred to Turkey in 1995. It was the flagship of the NATO anti-mine group in the Mediterranean Sea. Currently it operates as a training vessel.

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