Fire in the frigate 'Santa María' of the Spanish Navy at Naval Station Rota

@DefAviation ES 10·08·2022 · 2:31 0

This Friday, at 9:00 p.m. CET, a fire broke out aboard the F-81 "Santa María" frigate, moored at the Rota Naval Base.

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According to reports of Foro Naval and Rota al día, the fire started in one of the ship's two aircraft hangars.

Fortunately, at the time of the fire neither of the two hangars was occupied by any helicopter. The causes of the fire, which would have been extinguished around 11:45 p.m., are unknown at the moment.

Firefighting teams from the Spanish Navy and the US Navy have collaborated in the extinction work. According to Foro Naval, it seems that at the moment there are no injuries. The fire takes place a few weeks before the scheduled date for this frigate to set sail from Rota to join Operation Atalanta, in the waters of the Indian Ocean near the Horn of Africa. The departure of the frigate was scheduled for this Sunday, October 9, but it is almost certain that it will have to be postponed due to the damage caused by the fire.

At the moment, the Navy is still pending to assess the damage that this ship could have suffered. You can follow here any news that arises around this event.

The frigate "Santa María" is the oldest of the Spanish Navy frigates. She was launched on November 21, 1984 and was the first of the current six Spanish Navy frigates belonging to the Santa Maria class, based on the American Oliver Hazard Perry class frigates. Her first mission abroad took place in 1990 during the Gulf War, when she was sent to the Persian Gulf.

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Main photo: Armada / Foro Naval.