TCG Bozcaada

Commandant de Pimodan
History
France
Name	Commandant de Pimodan
Namesake	Henri de Pimodan
Laid down	1977
Launched	1978
Identification	F787
Fate	Transfer to the Turkish Navy in 2001
Turkey
Name	Bozcaada
Namesake	Bozcaada
In service	2001
Identification	F-500
Status	Active
General characteristics
Class and type	Burak-class corvette
Displacement	1,100 tonnes
Length	80 m (260 ft)
Beam	10.3 m (34 ft)
Draft	5.3 m (17 ft)
Propulsion	Engines : 2 diesel SEMT Pielstick 12PC2V400 Power: 12,000 shp (8.9 MW) Propellers: 2 4-bladed orientable propellers Electrical power: 840 kW (2 DA x 320 + 1 DA x 200)
Speed	24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph)
Range	4,500 nautical miles (8,330 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement	104 including 10 officers, 46 petty officers, 9 specials, 39 enlisted
Electronic warfare & decoys	1 × Thale DRBV-51A air/surface search radar 1 × Thale DRBC-32E fire control radar 1 × Decca 1226 navigation radar
Armament	2 × Exocet MM38 missiles 1 × 100 mm CADAM turret with Najir fire control system 2 × 20 mm F2 4 × 12.7 mm machine guns 4 × L3 or L5 torpedoes 1 × 375 mm rocket launcher

TCG Bozcaada (F-500) is the lead ship of the six Burak-class ASW corvettes of the Turkish Navy. She was named after Bozcaada Island, which is in the northern part of the Aegean Sea. Bozcaada is an ex-D'Estienne d'Orves-class A69 type aviso.

Service history

The ship was built in 1978 in France and served as Commandant de Pimodan with the identification number F787 in the French Navy. She was transferred to the Turkish Navy in 2001.

On 2 August 2012, she was tasked to escort the Turkish cargo vessel MV Dadalı on the first leg of her voyage to Somalia from Port of Mersin to Suez Port in eastern Mediterranean Sea. The cargo ship carried aid materials dispatched by the Turkish Red Crescent to Somalia, which was drought stricken as a result of the 2011 East Africa drought. Dadalı was escorted following her passage after Suez Canal by TCG Gemlik.