Spessart (A 1442)

The Spessart is a fuel tanker of the German Navy and belongs to the Rhön class. Your visual identity is "A 1442 " ​​. She was commissioned in Kiel on 5 September 1977 in service and belongs to the stationed in Wilhelmshaven Albatross Squadron. The sister ship of the same class, Rhön is stationed in Wilhelmshaven.

Technical data and tasks

The ship has a full load displacement of 14,169 tons and can run at a speed of 16 knots. The charging capacity is about 11,500 cubic meters. The drive system has an output of 5880 kW or 8000 HP. The crew consists of civilian forces and includes 40 to 42 people.

The ship used to supply warships at sea. It has facilities for Seeversorgung with which they can be handed over during the journey fuel and water.

Use operation Atalanta

In March 2009, the ship had the task of supplying German units as part of Operation Atalanta. To this end, there was an armed escort squad of twelve soldiers on board. On Sunday, March 29, 2009, the ship was attacked in the area from the Gulf of Aden by a seven-member group of pirates from a boat out with handguns. The accompanying command returned the attack with handguns. During the attack, the commander called other ships for help, including the German frigate Rheinland -Pfalz. Furthermore, the American landing ship Boxer, the Spanish frigate Victoria and the Dutch frigate De Zeven Provinciën arrived in the territory of the raid.

All seven pirates were captured by a boarding team from the Rhineland -Palatinate and imprisoned on the frigate.