The La Combattante III type patrol boat was a type of fast attack craft built in France for export during the late 1970s and 1980s. The design was a modification of the successful La Combattante II type fast attack craft. Nineteen ships of the design were built in various classes for several navies around the world.
Development
In 1975 Constructions Mécaniques de Normandie (CMN) modified the La Combattante II design, adding nine metres to the length to improve seaworthiness and give more internal space; this gave a displacement of 359 tons and an overall length of 56 metres, though the armament remained the same. This design was designated La Combattante III.
Between 1972 and 1990 a further 19 were built for the navies of Greece, Tunisia, Qatar, and Nigeria. In addition were built for Israel (the Sa'ar 4 class), five in France and the remainder under licence in Israel. The Israelis also built, or assisted in building, nine vessels for South Africa, at the time under embargo for its Apartheid policy.[1]
Ship list
Between 1975 and 1990 nineteen vessels were built for the navies of Greece, Nigeria, Qatar and Tunisia.
In 1974 the Hellenic Navy ordered four vessels to be built by Constructions Mécaniques de Normandie (CMN), referred to as the Greek La Combattante IIIa class, and in 1978 a further six vessels to be built under licence in Greece (the La Combattante IIIb class); These were to the same design, but were armed with the Norwegian PenguinSurface-to-surface missile (SSM) instead of the French Exocet.[2][3]
La Combattante IIIa
Pennant number
Name
Launched
Status
P20
Antiploiarchos Laskos
20 April 1977
Active
P21
Plotarchis Blessas
7 July 1977
Active
P22
Ypoploiarchos Mykonios
10 February 1978
Active
P23
Ypoploiarchos Troupakis
8 November 1977
Active
La Combattante IIIb
Pennant number
Name
Launched
Status
P24
Simaioforos Kavaloudis
14 July 1980
Active
P25
Ypoploiarchos Kostakos
9 September 1980
Accidental loss, November 1996
P26
Ypoploiarchos Degiannis
11 December 1980
Active
P27
Simaioforos Xenos
31 March 1981
Active
P28
Simaioforos Simitzopoulos
30 June 1981
Active
P29
Simaioforos Starakis
12 October 1981
Active
Nigeria
In November 1977 the Nigerian Navy ordered three vessels from CMN to the modified La Combattante IIIB design. This was slightly larger and faster than the standard La Combattante III design, but with a reduced armament. These were known as the Siri class.[4][5]
Siri class
Pennant number
Name
Launched
Status
P181
Siri
3 June 1980
.
P182
Ayah
10 November 1980
.
P183
Ekun
11 February 1981
.
Qatar
In October 1980 the Qatari Emiri Navy ordered three vessels form CMN to the modified La Combattante IIIM design. This was slightly smaller than the standard La Combattante III design, with a reduced armament, but superior performance and electronics.[6][7]
La Combattante III (Qatari Emiri Navy)
Pennant number
Name
Commissioned
Status
Q 01
Dansah
10 November 1982
Active
Q 02
Al Gharijah
10 February 1983
Active
Q 03
R'Biva
11 May 1983
Active
Tunisia
In June 1981 the Tunisian Navy ordered three vessels from CMN, also to the modified La Combattante IIIM design.[8][9]
