IRIS Gardouneh
Kaman-Class military watercraft
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
IRIS Gardouneh (Persian: گردونه, lit. 'Roulette') is a Kaman-class fast attack craft in the Southern Fleet of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy.
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Gardouneh in 2001 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Iran | |
| Name | Gardouneh |
| Operator | Islamic Republic of Iran Navy |
| Ordered | 19 February 1974 |
| Builder | Constructions de Mécaniques, Cherbourg |
| Laid down | 18 October 1976 |
| Launched | 23 February 1978 |
| Commissioned | 11 September 1978 |
| Status | In service |
| General characteristics (as built) | |
| Class & type | Kaman-class fast attack craft |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 47 m (154 ft 2 in) |
| Beam | 7.1 m (23 ft 4 in) |
| Draft | 1.9 m (6 ft 3 in) |
| Installed power | 4 × MTU 16V538 TB91 diesels, 14,400 brake horsepower (10.7 MW) |
| Propulsion | 4 × shafts |
| Speed | 36 knots (67 km/h) |
| Range | 2,000 miles (3,200 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h); 700 miles (1,100 km) at 33.7 knots (62.4 km/h) |
| Complement | 30 |
| Armament |
|
| Notes | As reported by Jane's (1979)[1] |
Construction and commissioning
Gardouneh was built by the French company Constructions Mécaniques de Normandie at Cherbourg, as one of the first six contracted on 19 February 1974.[2] Her keel was laid down on 18 October 1976 and on 23 February 1978, she was launched.[2] Gardouneh was commissioned into the fleet on 11 September 1978.[2]
Service history
During Iran-Iraq War, her home port was Bushehr Naval Base.[3] On 28 October 1980, Gardouneh and her sister ships Paykan and Joshan were deployed to attack Iraqi oil facilities at al-Faw, supported by a Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King.[4] The operation was repeated again on October 31 by the same naval group. However, in this operation Iranian vessels were engaged with three Iraqi Osa-class missile boats, that fired Styx missiles at them and drew back with maximum speed.[4] Gardouneh and the two other vessels managed to avoid the missiles but could not retaliate.[4]
