They are the navy's largest smaller units: although the Braunschweig-class corvettes are almost 90 metres long, they were developed to replace speedboats - but they are significantly more powerful.
First ship christening for Rheinmetall
The "Lübeck" is now the tenth and final ship in the class to be christened. It also marks the completion of the second construction batch of five additional units, which were subsequently ordered in 2016 due to the changed security situation, particularly for use in the Baltic Sea region. The type ship of the class is the "Braunschweig", which entered service in 2008.
The naming ceremony took place in Hamburg at Blohm+Voss in the presence of people from the worlds of politics, business and the Bundeswehr. Huong Nguyen, partner of Lübeck city president Henning Schumann, gave the christening speech. The traditional Blohm+Voss shipyard had only recently been taken over by the Rheinmetall defence group.
Hohe Düne becomes home base
The final outfitting of the corvette and all further work steps up to acceptance and commissioning by the German Navy will now also take place in Hamburg. The "Lübeck" will be stationed at the Hohe Düne base in Rostock-Warnemünde, home to the 1st Corvette Squadron and all ships of the class already in service.
The target published after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2023 stipulates that three corvettes must be available for deployment at all times, while three others are partially operational and three are not operational, for example during a shipyard layover. The total number of ten units ensures this rotation.
Safety as the main task
With its regular crew of 61 soldiers, "Lübeck" is intended for operations in shallow coastal waters. This primarily includes reconnaissance and - in the event of defence - engaging sea targets in the North and Baltic Seas. The security of German waters is the main task.
The main weapon of the "Lübeck" is its RBS 15 Mk3 heavy sea and land-based missiles. The Swedish-German development is primarily intended for use against ships and has a range of more than 200 kilometres. Depending on the sea state, it can fly up to two metres above the sea.
Already the fifth "Lübeck"
The name "Lübeck" has a long tradition in the German naval forces. The new Braunschweig-class corvette is already the fifth ship to be named after the Hanseatic city. Its predecessors were a wheeled corvette of the Imperial Fleet (1844), a small cruiser of the Imperial Navy (1905), a frigate of the German Navy (1963) and another frigate from 1990, which was decommissioned in 2022.
Technical data
- Length: 89,1 m
- Width: 13,3 m
- Displacement: 1.800 t
- Drive: two diesel engines with 10,000 hp each on two propellers
- Maximum speed: more than 26 kn
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Christian Tiedt
Editor Travel
