Photos of the Spanish frigate 'Blas de Lezo' in Norfolk, the world's largest naval base

A frigate is not exactly a small ship, but there are places where it can certainly seem tiny.

Two spectacular photos of United States Marines with a Spanish SH-60F helicopter
Marines shows a Spanish landing on the East Coast of the United States

In recent days, the United States Navy's Second Fleet has published two series of photos (here and here) showing a concentration of more than 30 ships from the United States and allied countries at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, for the multinational exercise Fleetex 250, organized to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the independence of the United States.

In the first series of photos we can see a Spanish "Álvaro de Bazán" class frigate F-100 sailing on June 22 by NAVSTA Norfolk.

The Spanish frigate is the "Blas de Lezo" F-103, the third of its class. As we saw here on June 17, this frigate is part of the Spanish Navy's Expeditionary Combat Group "Despliegue Atlántico 26", which crossed the Atlantic Ocean bound for the United States to participate in the aforementioned exercise. In addition to that frigate, the group also includes the amphibious aircraft carrier "Juan Carlos I" L-61, the amphibious assault ship "Castilla" L-52, the frigate "Reina Sofía" F-84 and the combat supply ship "Patiño" A-14, as well as 700 soldiers and 75 vehicles from the Tercio de Armada (TEAR) and aircraft from the Spanish Navy and Army.

As we saw here seven years ago, NAVSTA Norfolk is the largest naval base in the world. It measures more than 6 kilometers long and has 14 piers with capacity to accommodate 75 ships, including 6 large aircraft carriers (5 of the Nimitz class and the USS Gerald R. Ford, the first of its class). In this photo, we can see the Spanish frigate in the center of the image on the right.

In this photo we can see the frigate "Blas de Lezo" accompanied by two tugboats, also in the central right part of the image.

In these last two photos we can see the F-103 passing by the enormous Norfolk docks. It's a colossal naval base. In Vigo we have a huge civilian port, which occupies a large part of the city's coastline, but this surpasses any comparison.

---

Photos: U.S. 2nd Fleet.