ARV General Salóm (F-25)
# ARV General Salóm (F-25)

ARV General Salóm (F-24) was the fifth ship of the Mariscal Sucre-class frigate of the Venezuelan Navy.

## Development and design

Venezuela ordered six Lupo-class frigates from CNR in 1975 as a replacement for older warships. These units were commissioned between 1980 and 1982. In general terms, their appearance and equipment is similar to those built for Peru, except for some differences in electronics and missiles. The first two ships, ARV Mariscal Sucre (F-21) and ARV Almirante Brión (F-22) were upgraded by Ingalls Shipbuilding over a four years period (1998–2002). The other ships in Venezuelan service were expected to undergo an austere version of this upgrade, but three ships were eventually taken out of service.

## Construction and career

General Salóm was laid down on 7 November 1978 and launched on 13 January 1980 by Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico at Ancona. She was commissioned on 3 April 1982.

On 21 July 1987, she came alongside USS Dwight D. Eisenhower near Caracas, in the Mediterranean Sea.

Over the years she has participated in multiple important naval exercises and has been the flagship of the multinational UNITAS exercise.

With the change of name of the Venezuelan naval force, the unit prefix changed from ARV (Armada de la República de Venezuela) to AB (Armada Bolivariana).

## Gallery

* ARV General Salóm and ARV General Urdaneta on 1 June 1984.
* ARV General Salóm and ARV General Soublette on 1 January 1986.
* ARV General Salóm on 12 July 1987.
* ARV General Salóm and ARV Mariscal Sucre on 12 July 1987.
* ARV General Salóm in dry dock repair on 24 July 2012.
