The Type 332 Frankenthal-class minehunter is a class of minehunters of the German Navy. The ships are built of non-magnetic steel. The hull, machinery and superstructure of this class is similar to the original Type 343 , but the equipment differs. The class forms the 3 Minesweeper Squadron of the German Navy. These function as mine countermeasures vessels. Two of these vessels contribute to the two Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Groups SNMCG 1 and SNMCG 2.
Slightly modified Frankenthal-class minehunters are also operated by the Turkish Navy, where they are referred to as the . In the beginning of 2019, the Indonesian Navy ordered two minehunters based on a modified Frankenthal class, referred to as , with a length of .
All active German ships are currently stationed in Kiel at the Baltic Sea. Fulda, Weilheim, Sulzbach-Rosenberg, Dillingen, and Homburg are part of the 3. Minensuchgeschwader (3. mine sweeper squadron). The others belong to 5. Minensuchgeschwader. Weiden was sold to United Arab Emirates in 2006. As the German Navy closed the naval base at Olpenitz, all ships were relocated to Kiel and their squadrons incorporated into the Einsatzflottille 1 (Flotilla 1).
On 21 February 2007, Grömitz ran onto a reef in the Floro fjord while on tour in western Norway and remained stranded in a spectacular way until being salvaged.
In October 2018, the Iranian-backed Yemeni rebel group Ansar Allah released a video which included images that confirmed it sank one of the UAE Navy's Frankenthal class mine-countermeasures vessels in July 2017 in Al-Mukha. The video identified the vessel as Al-Qasnah and said it was attacked on 29 July 2017, which corresponds to a claim it made at the time that it had attacked an Emirati warship with a "suitable weapon".
An act of sabotage was discovered on the minehunter Weilheim when the ship was in the shipyard at Rostock in February 2025. Several cable harnesses were cut with an axe. The Tene shipyard in Rostock regularly maintains warships for the German Navy and the Federal Police.
This incident is part of a hybrid attack on the German Navy involving several acts of sabotage in January and February 2025, including against the corvette and the German frigate . According to the Inspector of the Navy, in addition to sabotage attempts from land and sea, there were cases of intrusions into naval bases and "attempts to make contact" with soldiers in uniform on their way home.
Observers see these cases as Russian intelligence services using "disposable agents".
Equivalent minehunters of the same era