French frigate Nivôse (F732)

The Nivôse is a light surveillance frigate ("frégate de surveillance") of the French Marine Nationale. She is the third ship of the, and the fourth French vessel named after the 4th month of the Republican Calendar.

Deployments
In October 2001, she was deployed in the Persian Gulf as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. In late 2008, under frigate captain Jean-Marc Le Quilliec, Nivôse was deployed as part of a European Union expeditionary force, Operation Atalanta, in the Gulf of Aden to fight piracy off Somalia.
 * 2001
 * 2008
 * 2009 On 15 April 2009, she captured eleven pirates 900 km East of Mombasa, and thwarted an attack on the Liberian-registered merchantman Safmarine Asia.

On 12 April 2009, Nivôse relieved her sister-ship Floréal as part of European Union Naval Force Somalia – Operation ATALANTA. On 3 May 2009, 900 km off Somalia, the crew managed to lure pirates to attack the ship by sailing into the sun to avoid being identified and mistaken for a merchantman; as the pirate closed in, she turned about and launched her on-boarded helicopter and fast outboard vessels. Eleven pirates were captured. From 5 to 7 March 2010, joining mission forces from France, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain and Sweden, Nivôse secured its "biggest seizure" so far in the vital shipping lane, with 35 pirates arrested and four mother ships seized in three days off Somalia.
 * 2010

Sources and references

 * Frégate de surveillance Nivôse, netmarine.net