TCG Barbaros (F 244)

TCG Barbaros (F 244) is the lead ship of Barbaros-class frigate of the Turkish Navy.

Development and design
Barbaros-class frigates were designed in Germany and are part of the MEKO group of modular warships, in this case the MEKO 200 design. Two ships were built in Germany and two in Turkey with German assistance. They are larger than the previous Yavuz-class frigates and are also faster due to using CODOG machinery rather than pure diesels.

The first two vessels (F 244 and F 245) are defined as the Barbaros class (MEKO 200 TN Track II-A) while the last two vessels (F 246 and F 247) are defined as the Salih Reis class (MEKO 200 TN Track II-B) by the Turkish Navy.

Salih Reis subclass ships are built with 8-cell Mk. 41 VLS and longer than Barbaros class vessels to accommodate 16-cell Mk. 41 VLS upgrade in the future while Barbaros-class vessels built with Mk.29 Sea Sparrow launchers that planned to be replaced by 8-cell Mk. 41 VLS.

Construction and career
Barbaros was launched on 29 September 1993 by Blohm+Voss in Hamburg and commissioned on 23 May 1997.

On 9 March 2019, her crew saluted to the tomb of Barbaros Hayreddin while crossing Bosporus.

On 26 August 2020, TCG Barbaros and TCG Burgazada sailed alongside USS Winston S. Churchill in Eastern Mediterranean Sea. Later that year on 3 October, she underwent alongside USS Roosevelt.