HDMS Absalon (L16)

Absalon in 2013
History
Denmark
Name:	Absalon
Namesake:	Absalon
Ordered:	November 2001
Builder:	Odense Staalskibsværft
Laid down:	November 2003
Launched:	30 January 2005
Commissioned:	2007
Homeport:	Frederikshavn
Identification:	Call sign OUFA IMO number: 9284441 MMSI number: 220189000
Status:	in active service
General characteristics
Class and type:	Absalon-class support ship
Displacement:	6,300 tonnes
Length:	137.6 m (451 ft 5 in)
Beam:	19.5 m (64 ft 0 in)
Draft:	6.3 m (20 ft 8 in)
Propulsion:	2 × MTU 8000 M70 diesel engines; two shafts 22,300 bhp (16.6 MW)
Speed:	24 knots (44 km/h)
Range:	9,000 nmi (17,000 km) at 15 kn (28 km/h)
Boats & landing craft carried:	2 × SB90E LCP 2 × RHIBs
Complement:	169
Sensors and processing systems:	Thales SMART-S Mk2 3D volume search radar Terma Scanter 2001 surface search 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:	1 × 5 inch (127 mm)/54 Mark 45 mod 4 gun 7 × 12.7 mm heavy machine gun 3 × VLS with up to 36 RIM-162 ESSM/RIM-7 Sea Sparrow (Mk 56/Mk 48 VLS) 8-16 × Harpoon Block II SSM 2 × Oerlikon Millennium 35 mm Naval Revolver Gun Systems CIWS MU90 Impact ASW torpedoes 4 × Stinger Point-defence SAM
Aircraft carried:	2 × EH-101 or 2 × Westland Lynx
Aviation facilities:	Aft helicopter deck and hangars

HDMS Absalon (L16) and her sister ship Esbern Snare are the two biggest ships ever to serve in the Royal Danish Navy (RDN), and are the two members of the Absalon class. The two ships in the Absalon class, named after Danish archbishop and statesman Absalon, received full operational status in 2007.

The ships are the first in a series of RDN vessels tasked with carrying out new types of missions, and are to form the backbone of the international operations that the RDN is increasingly focusing on.

The Absalon-class ships are primarily designed for command and support roles, with a large ro-ro deck, while the following three frigates of the Iver Huitfeldt class will be equipped for a combat role and potentially equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles, a first for the Danish Navy. Although similar to the Absalon-class vessels, the frigates will not have a large ro-ro deck. the frigates received full operational status in 2010 and 2011, replacing the Niels Juel-class corvettes.

Absalon is one of a number of vessels to have been filmed by documentary makers to appear on the Mighty Ships TV programme, detailing the capabilities and stories of the ship and crew.

Starting in 2008, HDMS Absalon participated in the UN-led counter-piracy mission off Somalia and the east coast of Africa, acting as flagship to the Danish Task Group which led Task Force 150. In September 2008, as part of the task force, Absalon was involved in the capture of 10 pirates, who were eventually set free. On 3 December 2008, after the mandate had been extended,Absalon rescued a disabled skiff with suspected pirates aboard in the Gulf of Aden, 90 miles off the coast of Yemen; the Somali craft was reported to hold rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47 assault rifles, and to have been adrift for several days. Absalon took the sailors and weapons aboard, sank the craft, and turned the sailors over to the Yemeni Coast Guard.Absalon was reportedly the most successful counter-piracy warship in the Gulf of Aden, capturing 88 out of the 250 pirates detained.

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Wikipedia