Kondor I-class

Summary

Description

The Kondor class minesweepers, with a NATO designation "Kondor," comprise a series developed by the German Democratic Republic. Among the variants were the prototype unit (Project 89.0), Project 89.1 (Kondor I), and Project 89.2 (Kondor II).

Kondor I was used by the German Coast Guard before being transferred to Cape Verde in 1998, where it was renamed Vigilante (P 521) and is still operational. Estonia received two Kondor I ships, Komet and Meteor, which were renamed Vambola and Sulev in 1994. Sulev was scrapped in 2000, while Vambola is awaiting the same fate.

Indonesia operates nine Kondor II vessels, adopted around 1994, which are still active. Latvia, having received two Kondor IIs in 1992, named them Viesturs and Imanta, and used them as minehunters until their decommission in 2008. Malta acquired three Kondor I ships in the '90s, which served until 2004. Later, two of them were sunk as dive sites, the P29 off Ċirkewwa in 2007 and P31 off Comino in 2009. The third, P30, was last reported laid up at a repair yard in 2013.

The Tunisian Navy utilized five Kondor Is as patrol craft, with only one still in service as of the late '90s. Uruguay named the four Kondor II vessels it acquired as Temerario, Valiente, Fortuna, and Audaz on October 11, 1991. In 2000, Valiente was destroyed in a collision, leading to casualties, and Fortuna was later scrapped, while the remaining two continue in active service.

Technical specifications