HNLMS Jacob van Heemskerck (F812)
HNLMS Jacob van Heemskerck (F812) was a frigate of the Royal Netherlands Navy and the lead ship of the Jacob van Heemskerck class. It was built by KM de Schelde in Vlissingen. The keel was laid on 21 January 1981, it was launched on 5 November 1983, and it was commissioned on 15 January 1986. The ship was named after Dutch naval hero Jacob van Heemskerck and carried the radio call sign PAVO.
In its Dutch service, the frigate took part in Operation Desert Storm in the early 1990s. In 1996 it sailed to Norway with several other ships. After the September 11 attacks, Jacob van Heemskerck joined Standing Naval Force Atlantic (STANAVFORLANT) and operated in the eastern Mediterranean as part of Operation Direct Endeavour. In 2003 she served for five months as flagship of STANAVFORMED, and in 2004 she served as flagship of STANAVFORLANT for six months.
The ship was decommissioned on 2 December 2004 and sold to the Chilean Navy, where it was renamed Almirante Latorre (radio call sign CCLT). It was commissioned into Chilean service on 16 December 2005 and remained in service until January 2020.
Almirante Latorre was a multi‑purpose frigate equipped with torpedo tubes, Harpoon anti-ship missiles, Standard and Sea Sparrow surface-to-air missiles, and gun systems. As of 2025 there were reports that CNS Almirante Latorre had been decommissioned and sunk as a target.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 00:08 (CET).