French aviso Drogou

History
France
Name	Drogou
Namesake	François Drogou
Builder	Arsenal de Lorient, Lorient
Laid down	1 October 1973
Launched	30 November 1974
Commissioned	30 September 1976
Decommissioned	2000
Identification	Callsign: FACU Pennant number: F783
Fate	Sold to Turkey, 2000
Turkey
Name	Bodrum
Namesake	Bodrum
Acquired	November 2000
Commissioned	25 July 2002
Decommissioned	2022
Identification	Pennant number: F-501
Status	Retired in 2022[1]
General characteristics
Class and type	D'Estienne d'Orves-class aviso
Displacement	1,100 t (1,100 long tons) standard 1,270 t (1,250 long tons) full load
Length	80 m (262 ft 6 in) oa 76 m (249 ft 4 in) pp
Beam	10.3 m (33 ft 10 in)
Draught	5.3 m (17 ft 5 in)
Propulsion	2 SEMT Pielstick 12 PC 2 V400 diesel engines 8,900 kW (12,000 bhp), 2 shafts
Speed	23.5 knots (43.5 km/h; 27.0 mph)
Range	4,500 nmi (8,300 km; 5,200 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement	90
Sensors and processing systems	1 Air/surface DRBV 51A sentry radar 1 DRBC 32E fire control radar 1 Decca 1226 navigation radar 1 DUBA 25 hull sonar
Electronic warfare & decoys	1 ARBR 16 radar interceptor 2 Dagaie decoy launchers 1 SLQ-25 Nixie countermeasure system
Armament	2 Exocet MM38 SSMs (removed from French ships when reclassified as OPVs)[2] 1 × 100 mm CADAM gun turret with Najir fire control system and CMS LYNCEA 2 × 20 mm modèle F2 guns 4 × 12.7 mm machine guns 4 × L3 or L5 type torpedoes in four fixed catapults (removed from French ships when reclassified as OPVs)[2] 1 × sextuple Bofors 375 mm rocket launcher (removed from French ships when reclassified as OPVs)[2]

Drogou (F 782) is a D'Estienne d'Orves-class aviso in the French Navy. She was transferred to the Turkish Navy as TCG Bodrum (F-501) and decommissioned in 2022.^[3]

Armed by a crew of 90 sailors, these vessels have the reputation of being among the most difficult in bad weather. Their high windage makes them particularly sensitive to pitch and roll as soon as the sea is formed.

Their armament, consequent for a vessel of this tonnage, allows them to manage a large spectrum of missions. During the Cold War, they were primarily used to patrol the continental shelf of the Atlantic Ocean in search of Soviet Navy submarines. Due to the poor performance of the hull sonar, as soon as an echo appeared, the reinforcement of an ASM frigate was necessary to chase it using its towed variable depth sonar.^[4]

Their role as patrollers now consists mainly of patrols and assistance missions, as well as participation in UN missions (blockades, flag checks) or similar marine policing tasks (fight against drugs, extraction of nationals, fisheries control, etc.). The mer-mer 38 or mer-mer 40 missiles have been landed, but they carry several machine guns and machine guns, more suited to their new missions.

Its construction cost was estimated at 270,000,000 French francs.^[5]

Drogou was laid down on 1 October 1973 at Arsenal de Lorient, Lorient. She was launched on 30 November 1974 and commissioned on 30 September 1976.

Turkey purchased the ship from France in November 2000 and commissioned her in the Turkish Navy on 25 July 2002 as TCG Bodrum after an overhaul at Direction des Constructions Navales (DCN).