Gelibolu: Turkish frigate ferries Egyptians to Alex.

Frigate "Gelibolu" is transferring 81 Egyptians who had already left Tripoli. "Gelibou" arrived in Alexandria February 7.
Former USS Reid (FFG-30), Oliver Hazard Perry class guided-missile frigate recommissioned by Turkey G class TCG Gelibolu (F 493). They can accommodate S-70B Seahawk helicopters. The G class (Turkish: Gabya sınıfı fırkateyn(ler)) is one of the frigate classes of the Turkish Navy. They are extensively modernized versions of ex-Oliver Hazard Perry class guided-missile frigates. The "short hull" ex-Perry class frigates that are currently being operated by the Turkish Navy were modified with the ASIST landing platform system at the Istanbul Naval Shipyard, so that they can accommodate the S-70B Seahawk helicopter.
TCG Gelibolu (F-493)
Class overview
Name: G class
Operators: Turkish Navy
Completed: 8
Active: 8
General characteristics
Type: Frigate
Displacement: 4,100 long tons (4,166 t) full load
Length: 135.6 m (444 ft 11 in)
Beam: 13.7 m (44 ft 11 in)
Draught: 6.7 m (22 ft 0 in)
Propulsion: 2 × GE LM 2500 gas turbines, 41,000 hp (31 MW)
1 propeller and 2 × bow thrusters
Speed: 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Range: 5,000 nmi (9,300 km) at 18 kn (33 km/h)
Complement: 222 (19 officers, 203 men)
Armament: • 1 × Oto Melara 76mm DP gun
• 8 × Harpoon SSM
• 32 × SM-1 MR SAM
• 32 × ESSM launched from Mk-41 VLS (4 ESSM missiles per MK-41 cell through the use of MK25 Quadpack canisters, total of 8 cells)[1]
Aircraft carried: 1 × S-70B Seahawk or AB-212 (ASW/ASuW/EW)

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Frigia: Turkey G class TCG Gelibolu on patrol

Former USS Reid (FFG-30), Oliver Hazard Perry class guided-missile frigate recommissioned by Turkey G class TCG Gelibolu (F 493). They can accommodate S-70B Seahawk helicopters. Commandos aboard Turkey's TCG Gelibolu stopped a pirate vessel on April 18 as it sailed off the Seychelles on a route being used by a Turkish freighter heading to Mombassa, Kenya.

The commandos captured the pirates, destroyed their two skiffs and confiscated other pirate material. Malta flagged Turkish owned (Garanti Finansal Kiralama) cargo ship MV Frigia was hijacked near the Seychelles on March 23.

Frigia: bomb-making nitrates closely monitored

Class: Oliver Hazard Perry USS John A. Moore (FFG19) recommissioned in the Turkish Navy as TCG Gediz (F-495)













The hijacking of the Frigia is potentially more complicated. It is unclear if its cargo of fertilizer is nitrate-based, which could be used for bomb-making in Somalia.
Naval warships generally monitor such hijacked ships very closely and it is difficult to unload cargo without proper port facilities. Using fertilizer to make bombs also requires some expertise and the Somali Islamists have not used such bombs before.

Ayhan Ugurlubay, a spokesman for the Turkey-based Karya shipping company, said officials received a distress signal from the Frigia early Tuesday but have had no contact with the ship since then.

The ship was carrying fertilizer from Israel and was heading for Thailand, he said. The ship had 19 Turks and two Ukrainians on board.

“We carried out all the required procedures. The ship sailed through the dangerous zone in a convoy, escorted by [Turkish navy frigates] the Gediz and Gelibolu,” he told Turkey’s state-run Anatolia news agency.

“The incident occurred one and a half days after it left the naval convoy ... It is the first time that a ship has been kidnapped so far away,” he said.