The Knud Rasmussen class is a class of offshore patrol vessels operating in the Royal Danish Navy from 2008.[1][2][3][4] Built to replace the Agdlek-class cutters on a one-for-one basis, the Knud Rasmussen-class vessels are significantly larger, enabling patrols further offshore.

The ships' normal tasks include fisheries inspections, environment protection, search and rescue, sovereignty enforcement, icebreaker assignments (Finnish-Swedish ice class 1A Super/Polar Class 6),[5] towage and salvage operations and general assistance to the Danish and Greenland governments (including police tasks). The class has a helicopter deck aft behind the superstructure but lacks an aircraft hangar. However, it can perform Rotors running refueling and can thus increase the endurance and the range of the helicopter. The estimated cost of the third ship as of 2013 was 513 mill Dkr (US$ 81.6 million).

Armament

The standard armament consists of two 12.7-millimetre (0.5 in) heavy machine guns. This is supplemented by the two Stanflex modular mission payload slots (one on the foredeck, the other aft of the superstructure), which can be fitted with a multi-purpose gun, surface-to-air missiles, or ASW torpedoes, along with other non-weapon payloads. Another two container positions are "prepared for" but not installed on the starboard and port sides of the heli deck.

List of ships

Pennant
number 		Name Int'l c/s Shipyard Laid down Launched In service Christened by Decommissioned
P570 Knud Rasmussen OVFG Karstensens Skibsværft 2005-11-21 2006-10-19 2008-02-18 Jóannes ejdesgaard -
P571 Ejnar Mikkelsen OVFH Karstensens Skibsværft 2006-11-10 2007-06-01 2009-01-16 - -
P572 Lauge Koch OVFI Karstensens Skibsværft 2014-05 2017-12-11 - -

References

  1. ^ "Knud Rasmussen commissioned: First new Arctic Offshore Patrol Vessel Commissioned". Royal Danish Navy. 18 February 2008. Archived from the original on 8 February 2009.
  2. ^ "Knud Rasmussen Class (2008-)". Royal Danish Navy. 19 November 2007. Archived from the original on 1 April 2009.
  3. ^ "Second OPV in Skagen: Both new Off Shore Patrol Vessels together for the first time". Royal Danish Navy. 19 November 2007. Archived from the original on 8 February 2009.
  4. ^ "An Overview of Current, On-Going Danish Naval projects 2005-2009 Knud Rasmussen class Ice-Resistant OPV (Offshore Patrol Vessel)". Canadian American Strategic Review. May 2008. Archived from the original on 19 September 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2009.
  5. ^ Braithwaite, RC; Khan, D (2014). "Implications of ice class for an offshore patrol vessel". Journal of Marine Engineering & Technology. 13 (3): 17–27. doi:10.1080/20464177.2014.11658118.

External links