Belgian minehunter Bellis
 Bellis | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Belgium | |
| Name | Bellis |
| Builder | Mercantile-Belyard, Rupelmonde |
| Laid down | 9 February 1984 |
| Launched | 14 February 1986 |
| Christened | 18 September 1986 |
| Commissioned | 13 August 1986 |
| Identification |
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| Motto |
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| Status | in active service |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Class & type | Tripartite-class minehunter |
| Displacement | 560 t (551 long tons) |
| Length | 51.5 m (169 ft 0 in) |
| Beam | 8.96 m (29 ft 5 in) |
| Height | 18.5 m (60 ft 8 in) above waterline |
| Draught | 3.6 m (11 ft 10 in) |
| Propulsion |
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| Speed | 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Range | 3,000 nmi (5,600 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Boats & landing craft carried |
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| Complement | 4 officers, 15 non-commissioned officers, 17 sailors |
| Sensors & processing systems |
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| Armament | 3 × FN .50 caliber (12.7 mm) machine guns |
Bellis (M916) is a Tripartite-class minehunter of the Belgian Navy, launched on 14 February 1986 at the Mercantile-Belyard shipyard in Rupelmonde and christened by Ellen Goffinet-Rosman, the wife of the then Mayor of Arlon, on 18 September 1986. The patronage of Bellis was accepted by the city of Arlon. It was the second of the Belgian Tripartite-class minehunters.[2]
Commissioned on 13 August 1986, the ship participated the rescue of the survivors of ferry MS Herald of Free Enterprise in March 1987 which had capsized outside the port of Zeebrugge.[2]
Bellis was attached to NATO's Mine Countermeasure Force (North) (MCMFORNORTH) in 1987, 1990, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2002 and 2004, and to Mine Countermeasures Force (South) (MCMFORSOUTH) in 1992, 1995, 1997, 1999, and 2003.[2]
In September 2025 Belgium decided that it will donate Bellis to Bulgarian Navy, along with Belgium's three other remaining Tripartite-class minehunters (Crocus, Lobelia, and Primula).[3][4]
Pictures
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BNS Bellis entering Portsmouth Naval Base, UK, 9 July 2010.
References
- ^ "Composante Marine Sujet Caractéristiques du Chasseur de Mines Tripartite (CMT) après modification CUP" (in French). www.mil.be. Retrieved 20 November 2009.
- ^ a b c "Composante Marine Unités M916 Bellis - Mijnenjager (Tripartite) Généralités" (in French). www.mil.be. Retrieved 20 November 2009.
- ^ "Belgium and the Netherlands to transfer 7 MCM vessels to Bulgaria". Naval News. 12 September 2025.
- ^ Jérôme Brahy (15 September 2025). "Belgium donates last four Tripartite-class minehunters to Bulgaria to secure Black Sea naval routes". Army Recognition.
 Belgian Navy | |||||||||||||
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 French Navy Éridan class |
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 Royal Netherlands Navy Alkmaar class | |||||||||||||
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