Spanish oiler Patiño

Patiño is a replenishment oiler of the Spanish Navy. It was named after the Spanish navy minister José Patiño Rosales, who reorganized the fleet on the orders of Philip V of Spain. The vessel was ordered in 1991 from Navantia and built at their yard in Ferrol, Galicia. The ship entered service with the Spanish Navy in June 1995 and is homeported at Ferrol. Patiño has been deployed with NATO forces around the world, participating in missions in the Kosovo War, the War in Afghanistan along with the European Union's anti-piracy mission to Somalia.

Patiño in 2017
History
Spain
NamePatiño
NamesakeJosé Patiño Rosales
Ordered26 December 1991
BuilderNavantia, Ferrol, Spain
Launched22 June 1994
Commissioned16 June 1995
HomeportFerrol
Identification
StatusActive
General characteristics
TypeReplenishment oiler
Displacement
  • 17,045 long tons (17,319 t) full load
  • 5,762 long tons (5,854 t)
Length166 m (544 ft 7 in)
Beam22 m (72 ft 2 in)
Draught8 m (26 ft 3 in)
Installed power
Propulsion1 × controllable pitch propeller
Speed20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Range13,440 nmi (24,891 km; 15,466 mi) at 20 knots
Complement148, plus 19 air crew, plus 20 extra
Sensors and
processing systems
  • 2 × Decca 2690 navigation radar
  • EID ICCS 3 integrated communications control
Electronic warfare
& decoys		URN-25A TACAN Aldebaran ESM / ECM system
Armament
Aircraft carried2 × SH-3D Sea King or 3 × AB 212
Aviation facilities490 m2 (5,300 sq ft) flight deck and hangar

Overview
Patiño at the Spanish naval base at Ferrol

Design

Patiño is a product of cooperation between the Royal Netherlands Navy and the Spanish Navy. The design of the ship is similar to HNLMS Amsterdam of the Royal Netherlands Navy, the vessels were developed in cooperation.[1] The replenishment oiler was built to merchant ship standards. Patiño is 166 m (544 ft 7 in) long with a beam of 22 m (72 ft 2 in) and a draught of 8 m (26 ft 3 in). The ship has a full load displacement of 17,045 long tons (17,319 t) and is 5,762 long tons (5,854 t) light.[2]

Patiño is fitted with two Navantia / Burmeister & Wain 16V40/45 diesel engines driving a single shaft with a five-bladed controllable-pitch propeller. The engines are rated at 24,000 hp (17,897 kW). This gives the vessel a maximum speed of 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) and a range of 13,450 nautical miles (24,909 km; 15,478 mi) at 20 knots.[2]

The replenishment oiler is fitted with three navigation-surface search and helicopter control radars operating at I-band.[2] The management of the ships communications is made through the Integrated Communications Control System (ICCS 3rd generation) from the Portuguese EID. The countermeasures equipment aboard Patiño include: four Mk 36 SRBOC (super rapid blooming offboard chaff), six-barrelled launchers from Lockheed Martin Sippican for infrared decoys and chaff, distraction and deflection of incoming anti-ship missiles to a range of 4 kilometres (2 nmi); an AN/SLQ-25A Nixie towed torpedo decoy system from Argon ST. The two towed units emit acoustic signals from an onboard transmitter. The vessel is also equipped with an Aldebaran Electronic Support Measures / Electronic Countermeasures (ESM / ECM) system from Spain's Indra Group.[1]

Armament and aircraft

Patiño's weapons system include two Oerlikon 20 mm/90 calibre guns and the vessel is fitted for two Izar FABA Systems Meroka 20 mm/120 calibre close-in weapon system (CIWS).[2][lower-alpha 1] The guns have a rate of fire of 1,440 rounds per minute and range of up to 2,000 metres (2,187 yd). The Meroka CIWS includes an infrared camera and video auto-tracker.[1]

Patiño is designed to carry up to five helicopters. The vessel has a 490 m2 (5,300 sq ft) flight deck and a hangar on the stern of the ship. The replenishment oiler has a normal complement of only three Sikorsky SH-3 Sea Kings with 19 air crew provided.[1] However, the vessel can carry a maximum of two Sea Kings and three AB 212 helicopters at the same time.[2]

Capabilities

The replenishment oiler carries 6,815 long tons (6,924 t) of diesel fuel and has two supply stations, one on each side of the ship for liquids and solids. The ship is also capable of stern refuelling. Patiño carries 1,660 long tons (1,687 t) of aviation fuel and has a 500-long-ton (508 t) capacity for solid stores. The ship has one vertical replenishment supply station and has aircraft maintenance workshops. Patiño is equipped with medical facilities.[2]

Service history

Patiño was ordered from Navantia on 26 December 1991 after this joint Spanish/Dutch design won over the solely Spanish AP 21 design. The vessel was laid down at Navantia's shipyard in Ferrol, Galicia and launched on 22 June 1994.[2][3] Patiño was commissioned into the Spanish Navy on 16 June 1995.[2]

Patiño participated in Operation Sharp Guard, a joint mission between the Western European Union and NATO to support the trade embargo against the former Yugoslavia.[3][4] In 1998, Patiño participated in Operation Allied Action during the Kosovo War.[3] Patiño was also involved in a long series of international naval exercises such as Joint Warrior and Seattle Mariner and has also sailed as part of the NATO Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 (SNMG1) and Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2).[3][5]

Operation Enduring Freedom

In 2002, Patiño and the Spanish frigate Navarra took part in Operation Enduring Freedom. Acting on US intelligence, the Spanish ships intercepted the merchant ship So San on 9 December and boarded it after the captain refused requests to stop. Spanish marines boarded the vessel 960 km (518 nmi) east of the Horn of Africa and discovered 15 Scud missiles and dual-use chemicals hidden beneath sacks of cement. So San had departed North Korea with the weapons bound for Yemen. After Yemeni protest over the seizure of the ship, claiming that the delivery of the weapons was legal under existing law, So San was released and completed its journey.[6][7][8]

Somalia, 2010 to 2015

Patiño was deployed and operates as part of the European Union's Operation Atalanta security mission. The EU force NAVFOR, a multinational mission to protect ships, patrols the region in the shipping route off the coast of Somalia.[9] Patino was the NAVFOR flagship.

On 8 December 2010, Patiño arrived off Somalia and became the flagship of the operation under Rear Admiral Juan Rodriguez on 14 December.[10] Her role as the flagship lasted until 21 January 2011.[11] By the end of November 2011 the vessel returned to the Indian Ocean to take her second tour at Operation Atalanta. As a replenishment ship she supported other vessels of the operation with oil and other supplies and also escorted ships with humanitarian help to Somalia.

Pirate attack
See also: Attack on Spanish oiler Patiño

In the early morning of 12 January 2012, Patiño was attacked by Somali pirates, apparently under the assumption that the ship was just a commercial vessel. The Spanish naval vessel fought off an attack by the pirates. Patiño then sent one of her helicopters to chase the attackers and captured six of them while one was reported killed. Patiño had been escorting a ship carrying food aid to Somalia for the World Food Programme.[12]

Canada, 2016

In 2015 the Canadian and Spanish governments concluded a deal where Patiño and Cantabria would deploy with Canadian naval forces in the Atlantic as their replenishment vessel in 2016. This would be done primarily for training missions. Patiño would be made available to the Royal Canadian Navy from January to March 2016.[13] The ship deployed with the Royal Canadian Navy beginning on 12 February 2016 for two months.[14] The ship returned to Spain on 30 March 2016.[15] Beginning 1 September, Patiño deployed with the Royal Canadian Navy for 79 days, returning to Ferrol on 18 November.[16]

Notes
  1. The 90 calibre denotes the length of the gun. This means that the length of the gun barrel is 90 times the bore diameter.

Citations
  1. "Patino Class". naval-technology.com. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  2. Saunders 2009, p. 755.
  3. "BAC Patiño". Spanish Navy. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  4. Forster & Cimbala 2005, p. 132.
  5. Vellón, Andrés (29 January 2015). "Defensa subraya la capacidad del "Patiño", con base en Ferrol". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  6. Guilfoyle 2009, p. 234.
  7. "N Korea condemns US 'piracy'". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 13 December 2002. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  8. "In pictures: Missile ship seized". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 11 December 2002. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  9. "El BAC Patiño de la Armada navega rumbo a la operación Atlanta en el Índico". infodefensa.com (in Spanish). 11 November 2017. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  10. Navfor (2010-12-09). "EUNAVFOR welcomes the Spanish Combat Replenishment Ship SPS PATINO". Archived from the original on 2011-10-09.
  11. NAVFOR (2011-01-24). "EU NAVFOR thanks SPS PATIÑO after one and a half months of operation". Archived from the original on 2011-02-01. Retrieved 2012-01-12.
  12. "Pirates attack Spanish navy ship off Somalia, prompting gunbattle and helicopter chase". The Washington Post. Associated Press. 12 January 2012.
  13. Pugliese, David (9 December 2015). "Royal Canadian Navy prepares for Spanish supply ship Patiño in late January on east coast". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  14. "Spanish Navy replenishment vessel arriving in Halifax". Chronicle Herald. 11 February 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  15. Pugliese, David (30 March 2016). "Spanish supply ship back home, second ship expected in the fall to support RCN". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  16. Pugliese, David (8 September 2016). "Spanish supply ship back on east coast to help Royal Canadian Navy". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 10 September 2016.

Sources
  • Forster, Peter Kent & Cimbala, Stephen J. (2005). The US, NATO and Military Burden-Sharing. New York City: Frank Cass. ISBN 0-203-00250-4.
  • Guilfoyle, Douglas (2009). Shipping Interdiction and the Law of the Sea. Cambridge, United Kingdom: University of Cambridge Press. ISBN 978-0-521-76019-5.
  • Saunders, Stephen, ed. (2009). Jane's Fighting Ships 2009–2010 (112 ed.). Alexandria, Virginia: Jane's Information Group Inc. ISBN 978-0-7106-2888-6.
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