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Tromp Class AAW Command Frigates

The Tromp class guided missile frigates were the first highly automated all gas turbine propelled vessels in the RNlN and were considered as one of the most advanced designs of the mid-seventees aera. The prominent radome accommodates a for that time state-of-the-art Signaal multi-target 3D radar for long range surveillance and tracking of air targets. The Tromp Class AAW Command Frigates were built to serve as flagships for the RNLN's ASW squadron. These venerable ships had been around since the mid 1970s and remained in service until 2003. Tromp, along with the British Type 42, were among the first guided missle ships built for the singular purpose of AAW.

The Tromp class frigate Tromp was decommissioned on 12 November 1999 after being used as a trial ship for the new SMART-L long-range radar system, and only one unit of the class, De Ruyter, remained in service. The Netherlands Navy decommissioned its flagship Hr Ms De Ruyter (F-806) on 03 October 2003 as the second unit of the De Zeven Provincien class (also De Ruyter) entered service. The De Zeven Provincien Class are to replace the two Tromps, plus the two remaining active Kortenaer Class.

The current RNLN's De Zeven Provinciën class frigate HNLMS Tromp (an Air Defense and Command frigate) should not be mistaken with the former HNLMS Tromp (F801), which was a Tromp class frigate built in the 1970s. The guided missile Frigate HNLMS Tromp (F 801), a "Tromp"-class area-air-defense Frigate, was laid down on August 4, 1971 by the Royal Schelde in Vlissingen and commissioned in October 1975. In 2001, the ship was out of service and being replaced by the ADCF.