Crocus

The M917 Crocus is a minehunter of the Belgian Navy of the Belgian armed forces. The ship belongs to the Tripartite-class, also known as the Flower-class in Belgium. The term Tripartite refers to the cooperation of three countries in this acquisition: Belgium, France and the Netherlands.

A minehunter is a ship designed for the detection and destruction of marine mines. The search for mines is done through sonar. The mines are destroyed with a blasting charge. This explosive charge is placed by divers or an underwater robot.

This ship was commissioned in 1987. Its godmother town is Genk in the province of Limburg. In 1987, the vessel participated in the rescue of the Herald of Free Enterprise. In 2005, he participated with many other European minehunters in the operation "Open Spirit" in which mines and other explosives left over during the First and Second World Wars were removed from the Baltic Sea.

Nowadays, the same three countries are again cooperating in a program to modernize and replace their minehunter fleet.