Belgian minehunter 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	MMSI number: 205207000 Callsign: ORGB
Motto	Luctor et emergo (Latin: "I struggle and emerge")
Status	in active service
General characteristics
Class and 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	1 × 1,370 kW (1,837 hp) Werkspoor RUB 215 V12 diesel engine 2 × 180 kW (241 hp) ACEC active rudders 1 × HOLEC bow propeller
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	2 × rigid-hulled inflatable boats 1 × Atlas Elektronik Seafox remote controlled submersible for mine identification and disposal
Complement	4 officers, 15 non-commissioned officers, 17 sailors
Sensors and processing systems	1 Thales Underwater Systems TSM 2022 Mk III Hull Mounted Sonar 1 SAAB Bofors Double Eagle Mk III Self Propelled Variable Depth Sonar 1 Consilium Selesmar Type T-250/10CM003 Radar
Armament	3 × FN .50 caliber (12.7 mm) machine guns

Bellis (M916) is a Tripartite-class minehunter of the Belgian Naval Component, 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.

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.

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.

Pictures

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  BNS Bellis entering Portsmouth Naval Base, UK, 9 July 2010.