FS Aconit (D-609) was a unique frigate built for the French Navy during the Cold War, in commission from 1973 until 1997. She was named after the corvette Aconit which fought in the Free French Naval Forces during World War II. She was initially based at Toulon before transferring to Brest in 1975, having changed her pennant number from F703 to D609 on 1 January 1974.
The ship received several upgrades during her lifetime. In the 1970s she was fitted with the ARBR-16 radar detector and two Syllex chaff launchers. In 1984–85 she underwent a Indisponibilité pour Entretien et Réparations ("Unavailability for Maintenance and Repairs") during which the 305 mm anti-submarine mortar was replaced by eight Exocet MM40 missiles, and the DRBV-13 radar in the radome upgraded to the DRBV-15A.
In 1988 she was re-designated a Type F65 frigate.
Scheduled to be in service until 2004, she was decommissioned on February 27, 1997 as part of a Fleet Reduction Programme. As of 2010 she was laid up at the French Navy "graveyard" at Lanvéoc awaiting demolition. |