Ford’s Foreign Frigates

Ford here refers to USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), currently operating on her initial voyage ever,  along with foreign naval vessels, somewhere in the western Atlantic.  Here, two of those, frigates, made their way northbound across the Upper Bay shortly after daybreak earlier this week.

Identify the flag on the stern?

HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën (F-802) was the first of a four-vessel class;  others of the class called in the sixth boro here in 2009 and here in 2019.

Following F-802 was an older M-class frigate, HNMLS Van Amstel (F-831), the last remaining HNMLS of that class.  More on that class here.

Might that be one of her own RIBs escorting her in.

 

 

I’d missed the first of those vessels coming in, so later I hiked up to the passenger terminal to get this shot. 

Can you identify this flag?

It’s Danish frigate HDMS Peter Willemoes (F-362).

Namesakes for these three vessels are as follows:    F-802 namesake was the flagship of a Dutch admiral, F-831… a captain, and F-362 … an officer who fell in battle at age 24. An image of De Ruyter’s flagship as rendered by William van de Velde the Younger or Cornelis P. de Mööy can be seen here.

All photos, any errors, WVD.

Unrelated but fascinating:  An earlier HNMLS vessel named De Zeven Provinciën was deliberately bombed by the Dutch themselves to put down a mutiny on board in 1933.  See the story and related thoughts on mutiny here.