From what I read in a german forum, they had a stuck round, and while trying to clear the gun, it became unstuck...
Actually no one would have bothered if the gun had not been trained forward.
The round hit the forward capstan, blew a hole in it and shattered on the deck.
Apparently it was a solid training round, not a HE one.
Re towed array and the 122s, these arrays have been planned since ever but were sofar never installed.
But keep in mind german Lynxs have dipping sonar.
First the end of the cold war prevented it, now the idea of developing a german model instead of buying a american one. Now funds are low again and only the 123s and 124s are to get the towed array.
Since the replacement Frigate 125 just went back to the drawing board (Navy was not content with an oversized and overprized gunboat/quasi-LCS with no ASW capability), the 122s will stay longer and might get towed arrays.
I like these ships even if I never served on them. Problem is, when these frigates were designed in the mid 70s, German Navy was still limited to a max displacement of 3000 tons for surface combatants. Thats why they got off a bit on the light side and there have been some structural problems.
Of course the coolest 122 is Emden, which does carry on the traditions of the famous WW1 cruiser.
