Armed by a crew of 90 sailors, these vessels have the reputation of being among the most difficult in bad weather.

Their high windage makes them particularly sensitive to pitch and roll as soon as the sea is formed.

During the Cold War, they were primarily used to patrol the continental shelf of the Atlantic Ocean in search of Soviet Navy submarines.

[2] Their role as patrollers now consists mainly of patrols and assistance missions, as well as participation in UN missions (blockades, flag checks) or similar marine policing tasks (fight against drugs, extraction of nationals, fisheries control, etc.).

The ship was purchased from France in November 2000 and commissioned on 25 July 2002 as TCG Bandırma (F-502) after salvage work was carried out at DCN.