Absalon And Esbern Snare. The Danish Navy’s Support Ships Of The Absalon Class

Absalon and Esbern Snare

The Danish Navy’s Absalon Class Support Ships

Søren Nørby & Tom Wismann

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Colophon

Front page: Absalon at sea (2007).

Version: This book was published in Danish in 2016 by Steel & Stone Publishing (ISBN: 978-87-998235-2-9). This version was updated and translated in 2017.

ISBN: 9788793560017

Credits: If not explicitly otherwise stated, illustrations are from the Danish Defence’s archive, www.forsvarsgalleriet.dk

Errors and omissions: If readers of this e-book discover errors or omissions, the authors would be grateful to be notified. We can be reached at noerby@gmail.com

© 2016, 2017 Søren Nørby & Tom Wismann. Smashwords Edition.

About the authors:

Søren Nørby (b. 1976). Naval historian. For full bio, see www.noerby.net.

Tom Wismann (b. 1954). Naval engineer and naval historian. For full bio, see www.flaadensskibe.dk.

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Table of contents

PREFACE

AUTHORS’ PREFACE

THE DANISH NAVY - FROM COLD WAR TERRITORIAL DEFENSE TO GLOBAL REACH

FROM IDEA TO REALITY - DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF THE ABSALON CLASS

HULL, MACHINERY, WEAPON SYSTEMS AND SENSORS

A WORKPLACE AT SEA

FROM THE SHIPYARD IN ODENSE TO THE COAST OF AFRICA

THE FRIGATES OF THE IVER HUITFELDT CLASS – THE SUPPORT SHIPS’ BIG BROTHERS

EPILOGUE

ABSALON CLASS: TECHNICAL DATA

HERALDRY

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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PREFACE

The two Command and Support Ships Absalon and Esbern Snare are a picture of the new Danish navy that has seen the light during the first years of the 21st century. Together with the three frigates of Iver Huitfeldt-class, the two ships are the backbone of the Navy that will serve Denmark and our allies for many years to come, both in Danish waters and far from our home shores.

This book describes the journey of a warship from being an idea on a drawing board to the day it enters its proper element for the first time – this journey is seldom straightforward and often filled with unexpected challenges. Due to excellent preparatory work and a great team effort from everyone involved, the construction of the Absalon and Esbern Snare proved possible, and their design in several areas has since even surpassed the Navy's expectations.

I had the great honor and pleasure of being appointed as the first commanding officer of the Absalon and was tasked with both the ship's operational running-in and subsequent first deployment in the important fight against the piracy at the Horn of Africa. The two ships therefore hold an important place in both my heart and naval career, where my time as commanding officer of Absalon in many ways was a high point in my career.

In this well-illustrated book, which shows the ships both during their construction phase and in operational service, the authors expertly explain the often complicated technical aspects. The book is therefore intended not only for people already acquainted with the Navy’s way of life – rather it is for everyone interested in the Danish Navy's recent history and in the life on board a Danish warship as of the year 2016.

I bid the reader welcome aboard.

Happy reading.

Frank Trojahn, Rear Admiral, Commanding officer of Absalon 2007-2008,

Chief of the Danish Naval Staff 2014 – present.

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AUTHORS’ PREFACE

The two Command and Support Ships Absalon and Esbern Snare are a picture of the new Danish navy that emerged after the Cold War. During the 1990s, the existential threat from the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact, which for over 50 years had tied down the Danish Navy in a defensive role centered around the western Baltic Sea, dissipated and made possible a new activist Danish foreign policy.

The Danish Navy was at the forefront of this new foreign policy and was soon operating in both the Persian Gulf, the Adriatic and the Mediterranean. The operations here showed that the shift from the Baltic to the large oceans far from Denmark demanded new and larger ships, and in 1999, the Danish Navy managed to get the political support and funding for two ships tailored for operations far from home waters. Thanks to thorough preparation at the Danish Naval Material Command, the path from the drawing board to launch was short, and the result far exceeded the Navy's expectations for the new ships.

Writing about warships still in active service presents certain challenges, meaning that this book is based entirely on open sources from newspapers, magazines, the Internet or material collected through interviews with a number of the people who helped transform Absalon and Esbern Snare from being mere concepts into actual naval ships on active duty on the world’s oceans.

We would like to thank all those who have helped us with this book. It would be too extensive to thank you all by name, but without your help, the book would not have been written. Any errors are, however, our responsibility alone.

Søren Nørby and Tom Wismann, Copenhagen 2016.

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The corvette Olfert Fischer in the Suez Canal on its way to the Persian Gulf in 1990. An iconic photograph that clearer than anything illustrates the Navy’s changed circumstances after the end of the Cold War. The Navy’s successful participation in the UN operation in 1990-1991 plays a central role in the service’s self-understanding, which signifies that the success paved the way for the activist Danish foreign policy, which became a reality after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Since then, the Olfert Fischer's deployments in international and multinational operations have become a core element in the Danish Navy's tasks, and participation in international operations is now part of the Navy's everyday operations.

THE DANISH NAVY - FROM COLD WAR TERRITORIAL DEFENSE TO GLOBAL REACH

Few events in recent history have been more important for the Danish Defence than the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989. With the fall of the Wall and subsequent collapse of the Warsaw Pact in 1991, the military threat that for more than 50 years had locked the Danish Defence into a strategy centered around the defense of the western part of the Baltic Sea disappeared.

Since the events of 1989, many things have changed in the Danish Defence and not least in the Danish Navy. Gone are the anti-invasion defenses and with them virtually all the vessels that during the Cold War were designed with the main objective of defending Denmark and its NATO allies against an attack from the Soviet Union and its allies in the Warsaw Pact.

The change began in 1990 when the Danish parliament on the initiative of then Foreign Minister Uffe Ellemann-Jensen decided to place the corvette Olfert Fischer at the disposal of the UN embargo-operation against Iraq after its occupation of neighboring Kuwait. It was the first time since 1864 that a Danish naval vessel took part in a war.

For the Navy, the deployment of the Olfert Fischer was a huge challenge. The corvette was built for operations in Danish waters and the Baltic Sea, and Olfert Fischer was now to be part of a multinational operation thousands of kilometers from home waters and its domestic support structure. The ship managed, however, to execute the tasks assigned to it to everyone's satisfaction, a feat made possible thanks to a great effort from all parts of the Danish fleet and also thanks to the Norwegian Navy, which made the coastguard vessel Andenes available as a support ship for Olfert Fischer. The deployment lasted 368 days and showed that the Danish Navy could operate far from Denmark, and as such paved the way for the Navy's participation in an activist Danish foreign and security policy.

The basic idea behind the activist foreign policy is that Denmark is affected by the globalized world. If Denmark wants to maintain peace and stability in Europe, it may then be necessary to intervene in conflicts far from the Danish territory. For the Navy, there is furthermore the fact that approx. 10% of the world's goods are transported on Danish-controlled ships. A security challenge such as piracy off the Horn of Africa can therefore have a direct impact on the Danish economy, despite the fact that it takes place thousands of kilometers away from Denmark.

The tasks around Greenland and the Faroe Islands take up about 50% of the Navy's resources. The fact that the polar ice packs are melting due to climate change means that the Arctic region in recent years has come into focus. The Navy has therefore been given the funds to replace three older inspection cutters and patrol vessel with two new and larger vessels. The Danish Navy thus today operates of four large ocean patrol vessels of the Thetis-class and two (with a third under construction) smaller patrol vessels of the Knud Rasmussen-class around Greenland and the Faroe Islands - a very small number of ships given the size of the area. The three new vessels are named after the famous Danish polar researchers, here the Ejnar Mikkelsen. The patrol vessels have a displacement of 2,050 tons and are so automated that they can operate with a crew of only 19 men. (J. Engbjerg)

When the Enemy Disappears

The fall of the Berlin Wall gave the Danish government and the Danish Defence an ability to operate more freely than had been possible since, perhaps, the early 1700s. The disappearance of the major threat from the Warsaw Pact meant a fundamental change of the basic conditions of the Danish Defence. During the Cold War the Danish Defence had almost solely looked to the east and had been prepared for a war that could have meant the end of Denmark as a state. A war between