Westdiep in 1985
History
Belgium
Name	Westdiep
Builder	Cockerill Yards, Hoboken, Antwerp
Laid down	2 September 1974
Launched	8 December 1975
Christened	20 January 1978
Decommissioned	5 October 2007
Homeport	Zeebrugge Naval Base
Motto	"Altum est Regnum Meum"
Fate	Sold to Bulgaria in February 2008
Bulgaria
Name	Gordi
Acquired	February 2009
Status	In service
General characteristics
Class and type	Wielingen-class frigate
Displacement	2,200 tonnes
Length	106.38 m (349.0 ft)
Beam	12.30 m (40.4 ft)
Draught	5.60 m (18.4 ft)
Propulsion	Combined diesel or gas turbine 2 × ABC type DZC diesel engines providing 4,200 hp (3,130 kW) each 1 × Rolls-Royce Olympus T M - 3 B gasturbine providing 27.575 hp (21 kW) 2 inverted screws with variable pitch
Speed	28 knots (52 km/h)
Range	6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km) at 16 knots (30 km/h)
Complement	14 officers, 84 NCOs and 59 sailors
Armament	1 100 mm Creusot-Loire automatic cannon 1 RIM-7 Sea Sparrow launcher with 8 missiles 1 MM-38 Exocet launcher with 4 missiles 1 375mm Bofors depth charge launcher 2 Ecan Type L5 torpedo tubes with 10 torpedoes

Gordi (Bulgarian: Горди, lit. 'Proud') is a Wielingen-class frigate of the Bulgarian Navy with number 43. She was originally commissioned as Westdiep in the Belgian Navy.

Construction and career

F911 Westdiep at Zeebrugge

Westdiep was launched on 8 December 1975 at the Cockerill Yards in Hoboken, and christened by Princess Astrid of Belgium, on 20 January 1978. The patronage of the Westdiep was accepted by the city of Sint-Niklaas. Westdiep was the second ship in the Wielingen class. She had the pennant number F911.

On 5 October 2007 Westdiep, by then the last commissioned frigate of Belgian construction in the Belgian Navy, was withdrawn from service.^[1]

She was sold to the Bulgarian Navy together with her sister, Wielingen. Another sistership, Wandelaar has already been sold to Bulgaria. Westdiep entered service with them under the name Gordi, and with the pennant number 43.

Citations

References

• Silverstone, Paul H. (2007). "Naval Intelligence". Warship International. Vol. 44, no. 1. pp. 9–13. ISSN 0043-0374. JSTOR 44895530.

External links

• Information & pictures of the decommissioning and handover ceremony