Gulf Of Aden |

Turkish Navy To Lead CTF-151

15 Aug 2015 1 Comment

TCG Gemlik in Çanakkale during 18 March victory celebrations.

Ten days ago, frigate TCG Gemlik left her home port Aksaz Naval Base for a deployment in the Gulf of Aden.

She will escort merchant ships and protect civilian ships from possible pirate attacks. She will act as the flagship of the multinational task force CTF-151 between 27 August and 21 December 2015. During that time a Turkish admiral will be at the helm of the task force CTF-151.

This is the forth time Turkish will command CTF-151. Previously Turkish Navy led the CTF-151:

May – August 2009 by Read Admrial Caner Bener
September – November 2010 by Rear Admiral Sinan Ertuğrul
September – December 2012 by Rear Admiral Oğuz Karaman

TCG Gemlik is not a stranger to the region. This will be her forth deployment to the Gulf of Aden. In her previous deployments she spend a total of 370 days hunting pirates and escorting merchant vessels.

This is the list of 18 previous deployments of Turkish warships to Gulf of Aden to take part in anti piracy operations. The list does not include warship which conducted anti piracy operations when they were in the region but they deployment was not confined to this region.

Number	Name	Start of Deployment	End of Deployment
F-496	TCG Gökova	29.10.2008	06.12.2008
F-491	TCG Giresun	17.02.2009	17.06.2009
F-490	TCG Gaziantep	17.06.2009	06.10.2009
F-495	TCG Gediz	21.06.2009	15.10.2009
F-496	TCG Gökova	16.10.2009	08.02.2010
F-492	TCG Gemlik	08.02.2010	24.04.2010
F-493	TCG Gelibolu	27.02.2010	13.08.2010
F-494	TCG Gökçeada	05.08.2010	22.10.2010
F-490	TCG Gaziantep	22.10.2010	25.01.2011
F-491	TCG Giresun	25.01.2011	15.06.2011
F-495	TCG Gediz	18.09.2011	07.12.2011
F-491	TCG Giresun	28.11.2011	19.06.2012
F-492	TCG Gemlik	07.06.2012	10.12.2012
F-496	TCG Gökova	10.12.2012	15.06.2013
F-497	TCG Göksu	06.06.2013	07.12.2013
F-493	TCG Gelibolu	07.12.2013	14.03.2014
F-494	TCG Gökçeada	10.03.2014	17.06.2014
F-492	TCG Gemlik	31.08.2014	18.12.2014

I wish TCG Gemlik and her crew, calm winds and following seas and good hunting.

Filed under Turkish Navy Tagged with CTF-151, Gulf Of Aden, Piracy, Somalia

TCG Büyükada Evacuates 55 Turkish Citizens From Aden

3 Apr 2015 1 Comment

TCG Büyükada in Aden, embarking the Turkish citizens on board. Photo: Official Turkish Navy photo.

Today, the Milgem class Corvette F-512 TCG Büyükada evacuated 55 Turkish citizens trapped in Yemen.

The corvette was deployed to the Gulf of Aden and was in the region since January. It is the first major operation for TCG Büyükada. This is also the first non combatant evacuation operation for any Milgem class warship.

The ship has more accommodation that its crew but the spare bunks are not enough for 55 civilians. TCG Büyükada will disembark the civilians in Djibouti where a Turkish Airline airplane will bring them home.

This is the official press release:

After the launch of the military operation in Yemen by the coalition forces under the leadership of Saudi Arabia, a meticulous work has been carried on for the evacuation of the Turkish citizens who are in Yemen and requesting their evacuation. During the whole process, ultimate care has been shown not to endanger the safety of our citizens, and a multifaceted approach has been pursued by considering all available options.

In this context, TCG Büyükada Frigate of the Turkish Naval Forces on mission in the adjacent waters completed the evacuation of 55 citizens who were in Aden. Our citizens will be taken firstly to Djibouti, and thence they will be transferred to Turkey by a Turkish Airlines aircraft.

We welcome the safe and sound evacuation of our citizens from Aden thanks to the devoted and skillful efforts of our relevant institutions and the initiated coordination.