France's ears in the Baltic Sea

A few hundred metres past each other

Russian corvette "Stoikiy". Photo: Michael Nitz

When the Russian corvette RFS "Stoikiy" (Steregushchiy class) "turned" into the Langelandbelt on Friday last week (we reported) after passing Fehmarn to the north-west, the French reconnaissance vessel FS "Dupuy de Lome" (A 759), which was travelling in the opposite direction, had a convenient "found meal". The two ships met at the southern end of the island of Langeland at a distance of a few hundred metres. The modern reconnaissance platform, which was commissioned by the German Navy in 2006 and is 101 metres long and displaces 3,600 tonnes, only had to activate its sensors and hope to pick up as many emissions of any kind as possible from the corvette coming from Baltiysk.

Inconspicuous, no AIS, all white and without hull number

FS "Dupuy de Lome" Photo: Michael Nitz

The fact that the FS "Dupuy de Lome" is operating in the Baltic Sea is a very rare occurrence. Until now, reconnaissance work at sea has mainly been the responsibility of the navies of the Baltic Sea neighbours Germany, Poland and Sweden, which are equipped with reconnaissance units. The French special ship, which is stationed in Brest, will be used to gather information and conduct reconnaissance of current Russian manoeuvre activities in the Baltic Sea. Sea trials of new-build submarines, corvettes, offshore patrol vessels and speedboats of the Russian Navy will also be the target of reconnaissance. The FS "Dupuy de Lome", operated by a regular crew of 30 and up to 80 embarked specialists, is operated by the Marine Nationale - but is deployed on behalf of the military intelligence service Direction du Renseignement Militaire (DRM - Directorate of Military Intelligence). According to the fleet manual Jane's Fighting Ships, the ship has two crews and is available for 350 days a year. Remarkable!

FD boat "Oker" Photo: Bw

After arriving in the direction of the Central Baltic Sea, outsiders could only guess which sea area the ship, equipped with state-of-the-art COMINT and ELINT equipment, had entered until images from Finnish webcams circulated on the Internet showing the FS "Dupuy de Lome" arriving in Helsinki on 20 May 2025. Two weeks earlier, the German Navy's fleet service boat FGS "Oker" had moored at the same berth in Helsinki.

Text: Michael Nitz

Photos: Michael Nitz © Naval Press Service