(DEFENCE SECURITY ASIA) — The Greek Navy’s Hydra-class frigate, “Hydra,” was forced to curtail its mission in the Red Sea after crew members described conditions akin to “hell” throughout the operation.
The frigate, participating in the European Union’s “Operation Aspides,” was scheduled to conclude its deployment in July but withdrew a month early in June due to various challenges.
A serious incident occurred on May 19, when a suicide drone launched by the Houthi militia exploded approximately 150 meters from the Greek Hydra-class frigate while it was escorting commercial ships in the Red Sea.
Tragically, the NATO Operations Center in Larissa informed the commander of the Greek frigate about the drone attack by the Houthi group roughly a minute after the explosion, according to reports in the Greek media.
Following this grave incident, ten crew members urgently requested to be repatriated.
The crew of the Greek Navy frigate reported that their warship lacked modern systems to defend against drones.
Moreover, they indicated that the Hydra-class frigate was equipped with an outdated and ineffective “Phalanx” Close-In Weapon System (CIWS)system for addressing threats from suicide drones.
Consequently, the crew had to resort to using their personal weapons systems to shoot down enemy-launched drones to protect their vessel.
There were incidents where crew members mistook stars in the sky for enemy drones, leading them to open fire.
In early January, the Greek government announced it would deploy the Hydra-class frigate to participate in a European Union-managed operation in the Red Sea.
However, Greek media reports revealed that upon hearing of the frigate’s participation in the Red Sea operation, 17 crew members submitted their resignations, unwilling to partake in the mission.
The crew of the Hydra-class frigate reported resigning because they did not want to be involved and collude with the U.S. and U.K. actions of bombing Yemen.
The “Hydra” is one of four Hydra-class frigates developed from the MEKO 200 design, constructed by the German company, Blohm + Voss, with the first vessel delivered to Greece in 1992.
The Hydra-class frigate, with a crew of 205, is capable of speeds up to 30 knots and is armed with land-to-air “ESSM” missiles, torpedoes, and “Harpoon” anti-ship missiles.–DSA