Rommel (D 187)

Rommel
Overview
Type	destroyer
Shipyard	Bath Iron Works , Maine
Order	April 1, 1965
Keel laying	22nd August 1967
Launch	1st February 1969
Namesake	Field Marshal Erwin Rommel
Commissioning	May 2nd 1970
Decommissioning	June 30, 1999
home port	Kiel
Whereabouts	Scrapped in Aliağa in 2004
Technical specifications
please refer	Class 103 / 103A / 103B

The guided missile destroyer Rommel was a warship of the German Navy and was put into service as the third and last unit of class 103 (Lütjens class). The destroyer was named after Field Marshal Erwin Rommel (1891–1944).

history

The keel was laid for the missiles - destroyer DDG 30 as a modified type of the American Charles F. Adams class took place on August 22, 1967 in Bath at the Bath Iron Works .

In the presence of then Defense Minister Gerhard Schröder , the destroyer was launched on February 1, 1969, after it had previously been christened Rommel by Rommel's widow, Lucie Maria Rommel. After the Rommel was completed, it was moved to Boston , where it was handed over to the German Navy on May 2, 1970, and then put into service by frigate captain Klaus-Karl Stange for the 1st destroyer squadron in Kiel .

coat of arms

When it was commissioned, the destroyer Rommel was assigned the identifier D 187 and the radio call sign DBYD . On December 1, 1981, the radio call sign was changed to DRAG .

From August 1979 to April 1980 there was a modernization to class 103A . The conversion and equipment for the class 103B destroyer took place from April 1985 to March 1986. In early 1996 the RAM starters came on board.

Calls

The destroyer was in the service of the German Navy for more than 30 years and took part in numerous exercises within the framework of NATO , including regularly as part of the permanent NATO mission in the Atlantic ( STANAVFORLANT ). From April 19 to August 24, 1992 and from May 16 to September 29, 1993, the ship was part of the Standing Naval Force Mediterranean .

The drum part from 12 to 16 October 1989 Germany's first naval unit for 77 years, which started off a Soviet / Russian port. Together with the supply company Coburg and the frigate Lower Saxony , the destroyer called at the naval base in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg again).

Whereabouts

The Rommel was taken out of service on September 30, 1998 after, among other things, the operating license for the boiler system had expired. From November 24th to December 4th, 1998, weapons and other equipment were dismantled in the Kiel Naval Arsenal . The destroyer was transferred on April 26, 1999, through the Kiel Canal , from Kiel to Wilhelmshaven in the local naval arsenal and decommissioned there on June 30, 1999. The ship ultimately served as a spare parts store for the two sister ships still in service.

After the Rommel was sold for 600,000 euros to the company Eisen & Metall in Hamburg for demolition via VEBEG , it began its last journey to Aliağa in Turkey on October 8, 2004, towed by the tug Thomas de Gauwdief .

Sister ships

• Destroyer Lütjens (D 185) , in service from August 11, 1967 to December 18, 2003.
• Destroyer Mölders (D 186) , in service from April 13, 1968 to May 28, 2003.

Commanders

Rommel during shipyard test drives in March 1970.

Commanders
from	to	Rank	Surname
05/02/1970	12/13/1972	Sea captain	Klaus-Karl Stange
December 04, 1972	March 31, 1976	Sea captain	Klaus Rehder
04/01/1976	06/28/1979	Sea captain	Hans-Jürgen Schäfer
06/29/1979	01/08/1981	Sea captain	Rolf Martens
01/09/1981	09/27/1982	Sea captain	Wilhelm Reiss
09/27/1982	03/30/1984	Sea captain	Jörk-Eckardt Reschke
03/30/1984	08/14/1984	Corvette Captain	Hans-Christian Rips (m. D. W. d. G. b.) [A]
08/14/1984	05/12/1986	Frigate captain	Klaus-Peter Scholz
05/12/1986	03/25/1988	Frigate captain	Frank Ropers
03/25/1988	05/30/1990	Frigate captain	Christoph Diehl
05/30/1990	October 19, 1993	Frigate captain	Hans-Jochen Witthauer
October 19, 1993	09/29/1995	Frigate captain	Baron Georg von Maltzan
09/29/1995	09/30/1997	Frigate captain	Markus Krause-Traudes
09/30/1997	06/30/1999	Frigate captain	Rainer Endres

^[a] charged with carrying out the business

References

literature

• Wolfgang Harnack: The destroyer flotilla of the German Navy from 1958 until today . Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft, Hamburg 2001, ISBN 3-7822-0816-1
• Gerhard Koop / Siegfried Breyer: The ships, vehicles and planes of the German Navy 1956 until today . Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-7637-5950-6 .

Web links

Commons : Rommel (D 187)  - Collection of pictures

• Page of the "Bordgemeinschaft D187"
• Site of a former crew member of the destroyer "Rommel"

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Dieter E. Kilian: Elite in the penumbra . Generals and admirals of the Bundeswehr. 1st edition. Osning Verlag, Bielefeld 2005, ISBN 3-9806268-3-0 , p. 213 .
2. ↑ The ship. In: The websites of Bordgemeinschaft D 187. Archived from the original on March 3, 2014 ; Retrieved on February 27, 2014 (with photo of the decommissioning and removal from Blaue Jungs 3/99). 
3. ↑ Pictures from the demolition in Aliağa