After a four-month deployment, frigate ‘Cristóbal Colón’ returns home.

In the early morning of today, December 16, frigate ‘Cristóbal Colón’ (F-105) docked at the Ferrol Arsenal after her integration into NATO's Standing Maritime Group Number 2 (SNMG-2).

The ‘Cristóbal Colón’ set sail on August 22 from the port of Souda (Greece), where she relieved her sister ship ‘Almirante Juan de Borbón’. During these months in the Mediterranean Sea, the warship contributed to deterrence and maritime security through NATO’s Operation ‘Sea Guardian’, participating in many international exercises with allied and NATO countries.

In this deployment, the ship has sailed more than 19,000 nautical miles, made naval presence with port calls in Greece, Italy and Croatia, and received the visit of the Spanish Minister of Defense and the Spanish Ambassadors to Greece and Croatia.

During her multiple patrols, the frigate monitored more than 5,000 ships, contributing to the knowledge and awareness of the Alliance's maritime domain. Her embarked air unit, an SH-60B helicopter took part in 50 air operations in surface and underwater surveillance missions. In addition, with the capabilities of her state-of-the-art Combat System and the SPY-1D (V) multifunction radar, the F-105 led air defense missions in the different international exercises.

SNMG-2 is a permanent NATO maritime group comprising naval and air units from the various allies. Its mission is to provide NATO with a rapid reaction force in a naval scenario. The Spanish Navy has been present in these naval groups for more than thirty years.