HDMS Esbern Snare (F342)

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For other ships with the same name, see HDMS Esbern Snare.
Esbern Snare BALTOPS 2010c cropped.JPG
HDMS Esbern Snare in Gdynia Harbour
History
Denmark
NameEsbern Snare
OrderedNovember 2001
BuilderOdense Staalskibsværft
Yard number192
Laid downJune 2004
Launched18 April 2005
Commissioned2007
HomeportFrederikshavn
Identification
StatusIn active service
General characteristics
Class and type Absalon-class Frigate
Displacement6,300 tonnes
Length137.6 m (451 ft 5 in)
Beam19.5 m (64 ft 0 in)
Draft6.3 m (20 ft 8 in)
Propulsion
  • 2 × MTU 8000 M70 diesel engines;
  • Two shafts
  • 22,300 bhp (16.4 MW)
Speed>24 kn (44 km/h)
Range9,000 nmi (17,000 km) at 15 kn (28 km/h)
Boats & landing
craft carried
Complement169
Sensors and
processing systems
  • Thales SMART-S Mk2 3D volume search radar
  • Terma C-Flex Command & Control C4I System
  • Terma Scanter 6002 surface search and helo radar
  • Atlas ASO 94 sonar
  • 4 Saab CEROS 200 fire control radars
  • ES-3701 Tactical Radar Electronic Support Measures (ESM)
Electronic warfare
& decoys
  • 4 × 12-barrelled Terma DL-12T 130 mm decoy launchers
  • 2 × 6-barrelled Terma DL-6T 130 mm decoy launchers
  • Seagnat Mark 36 SRBOC
Armament
Aircraft carried2 × EH-101
Aviation facilitiesAft helicopter deck and hangars

HDMS Esbern Snare (F342) is an Absalon-class frigate[1][2] and is, along with her sister ship, the HDMS Absalon, amongst the largest combat vessels currently commissioned in the Royal Danish Navy.

Esbern Snare is part of the first stage of a strategic realignment within the Royal Danish Navy, which is transitioning to focus on international operations, in which Absalon-class vessels will form the backbone. The ship is designed for command, support and anti-submarine roles, with a large ro-ro deck, and is complemented by the Iver Huitfeldt-class frigates.[citation needed]

Operations[]

Esbern Snare was involved in the Beluga Nomination Incident, when she and a Seychelles Coast Guard patrol boat engaged in a failed rescue operation which left four or five Somali pirates and civilians dead.[3] Later she captured a mother ship on 12 February 2011, capturing sixteen pirates and their weapons, as well as freeing two hostages held by the pirates.[4] While patrolling on 12 May 2011 she encountered the pirated dhow NN Iran and attacked her, killing four pirates and wounding ten. Sixteen Iranian hostages were rescued and 24 pirates captured, but the dhow was in a sinking condition and had to be abandoned.[citation needed]

In December 2013 HDMS Esbern Snare and the Norwegian Fridtjof Nansen-class frigate HNoMS Helge Ingstad were sent to the Syrian port of Latakia to escort the Norwegian-registered RoRo cargo ship MV Taiko and the Danish cargo ship Ark Futura, which were scheduled to transport Syrian chemical weapons to Italy, where the weapons were to be handed over to a United States Navy ship for destruction in international waters.[5][6]

Gulf of Guinea anti pirate operations[]

On 25 May 2021, the Danish Parliament approved plans to send HDMS Esbern Snare to boost maritime security in one of the world's top piracy hotspots - the Gulf of Guinea.[7]

The warship deployed to the Gulf of Guinea and began patrolling 6 November 2021.[8]

Two weeks and three days into the deployment to the gulf on 25 November 2021, the MH-60 Seahawk helicopter operating from the frigate detected a fast-moving motorboat with eight suspected pirates aboard and equipped with ladders which are commonly used during piracy. The frigate called upon the suspected pirates to stop for inspection, which was ignored after which warning shots were fired. The then pirates opened fire on soldiers from the Frogman Corps, a Danish navy special forces formation. The special forces responded by returning fire, killing four suspected pirates and wounding a fifth suspected pirate aboard the motorboat which later sank. The Danish defence minister Trine Bramsen expressed regret at the loss of life and relief that none of the frigate's crew were harmed. According to Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen the citizenship of those killed was unclear and that the frigate provided medical treatment to the wounded individual and the remaining three were taking into custody.[9][8]

HDMS Esbern Snare during BALTOPS 20

References[]

  1. ^ [1] Archived June 7, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ [2] Archived September 15, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "Entführtes deutsches Schiff: Tödliches Feuergefecht um gekaperte "Beluga Nomination"". Spiegel.de. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  4. ^ "Nato seizes 'pirate mother ship' off Somalia". BBC News Online. 13 February 2011. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
  5. ^ ""Helge Ingstad" i posisjon utenfor Syria". Bergens Tidende. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  6. ^ "Syria: Denmark and Norway offer to transport chemical weapons". Regjeringen.no. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  7. ^ "Gulf of Guinea". Forsvaret.dk. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  8. ^ a b "Fire dræbt efter ildkamp med Frømandskorpset". DR (in Danish). 2021-11-25. Retrieved 2021-11-27.
  9. ^ "Danish frigate kills four pirates in Gulf of Guinea". Reuters. 25 November 2021.

External links[]


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