La Combattante III-class fast attack craft


The La Combattante III type missile boats of the Hellenic Navy are a class of four fast attack craft ordered by Greece in September 1974 from France. The vessels had no class name but are referred to by type. They are similar to the La Combattante IIa-class fast attack craft already in service, but are larger and armed with torpedoes. A second group of six were ordered in 1978, to be built under license in Greece and use Penguin Mk 2 Mod 3 missiles. Since 2019, all the ships of the class use Harpoon anti-ship missiles.

Ships

The ships of this class have been named after officers of the Hellenic Navy killed during World War II. They are:
Pennant
number
Greek
name
Transliterated
name
NamesakeBuilderLaunchedCommissionedStatus
P 20 Αντιπλοίαρχος ΛάσκοςAntiploiarchos LaskosCommander Vasileios Laskos, captain of the submarine, killed when the ship was sunk by the Germans on 14 September 1943Constructions mécaniques de Normandie20 April 1977Active
P 21 Πλωτάρχης ΜπλέσσαςPlotarchis BlessasLieutenant Commander Georgios Blessas, captain of the destroyer, killed when the ship was sunk by the Germans on 26 September 1943Constructions mécaniques de Normandie7 July 1977Active
P 22 Υποπλοίαρχος ΜυκόνιοςYpoploiarchos MykoniosLieutenant Sofoklis Mykonios, 2nd officer of the submarine, killed when the ship was sunk by the Germans on 14 September 1943Constructions mécaniques de Normandie10 February 1978Active
P 23 Υποπλοίαρχος ΤρουπάκηςYpoploiarchos TroupakisLieutenant Stefanos Troupakis, 3rd officer of the submarine, killed when the ship was sunk by the Germans on 14 September 1943Constructions mécaniques de Normandie8 November 1977Active

La Combattante IIIb

The La Combattante IIIb type missile boats of the Hellenic Navy are a class of six fast attack craft built in Greece to a French design. The vessels had no class name but are referred to by type.
They are a similar but newer design than the Greek La Combattante III-class fast attack craft, with the main difference that they use Kongsberg Penguin Mk 2 Mod 3 missiles. The six ships were built at Hellenic Shipyards. Kostakos sank after collision with a ferry in November 1996.

Ships

The ships of this class have been named after junior officers of the Hellenic Navy killed during World War II. They are:
Pennant
number
Greek
name
Transliterated
name
NamesakeBuilderLaunchedCommissionedStatus
P 24Σημαιοφόρος ΚαβαλούδηςSimaioforos KavaloudisTorpedo Ensign Minas Kavaloudis, crew member of the submarine, killed when the ship was sunk by the Germans on 14 September 1943Hellenic Shipyards14 July 1980Active
P 25Υποπλοίαρχος ΚωστάκοςYpoploiarchos KostakosLieutenant Ioannis Kostakos, crew member of the submarine, killed in a Luftwaffe attack in Malta on 27 February 1942Hellenic Shipyards9 September 1980Lost in collision with the passenger ship Samaina, 6 November 1996
P 26Υποπλοίαρχος ΝτεγιάννηςYpoploiarchos DegiannisLieutenant Ilias Degiannis, Resistance leader during World War II, executed by the Germans on 18 June 1943Hellenic Shipyards11 December 1980Active
P 27Σημαιοφόρος ΞένοςSimaioforos XenosMachinist Ensign Konstantinos Xenos, crew member of the submarine, killed when the ship was sunk by the Germans on 14 September 1943Hellenic Shipyards31 March 1981Active
P 28Σημαιοφόρος ΣιμιτζόπουλοςSimaioforos SimitzopoulosEnsign Nikolaos Simitzopoulos, crew member of the destroyer, killed when the ship was sunk by the Germans on 26 September 1943Hellenic Shipyards30 June 1981Active
P 29Σημαιοφόρος ΣταράκηςSimaioforos StarakisMachinist Ensign Vasileios Starakis, crew member of the submarine, killed when the ship was sunk by the Germans on 16 November 1942Hellenic Shipyards12 October 1981Active

Mid-life modernization

In 2003 the Hellenic Navy decided to modernize the Fast Attack Craft Missile Class La Combattante III and La Combattante IIIb. For the four Combattante III fast attack craft, Thales Nederland delivered the TACTICOS combat management system which includes four multifunctional operator consoles, one surveillance radar, one fire control tracking system, one electro-optical tracking and fire control system, an integrated low probability of interception radar, two target designation sights and a tactical data link. The weapon suite of the Combattantes III remained unchanged. Thales was responsible for the integration of these existing guns, surface-to-surface missiles and torpedo system. The modernization project was completed in 2010.
After the completion of the modernization program, Hellenic Navy substituted all the existing anti-ship missiles with Harpoon missiles.

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