Cutters sent to auction:

The four cutters have rendered distinguished service, but now it's almost over

On Wednesday, April 23, four strikes of the hammer at an auction of surplus military equipment will determine the future of four of the Danish Navy's and Naval Home Guard's long-serving cutters.

The  arctic patrol cutter AGDLEK, seen here in Greenland waters.
(Photo: Lars Rasmussen)

By Johnny E. Balsved

The four cutters have rendered distinguished service, but now it's almost over, after a combined total of nearly 140 years' Navy and Naval Home Guard service.

On Wednesday 23 April, four strikes of the hammer at an auction of surplus military auction will determine the future of two of the Navy's and two of the Naval Home Guard's long-serving cutters, which all entered service during 1973-75.

Catalogue number 208-210

The first cutter to sold off at the auction in Hjørring, with catalogue number 208, will be the naval cutter FARØ (Y306). It entered service with the Navy on February 6, 1973 and is therefore the oldest of the four cutters to go under the hammer.

FARØ was replaced last year by the patrol vessel DIANA. The naval cutter is the third BARSØ-class vessel to go to auction - VEJRØ and ROMSØ have already been auctioned off.

In contrast to the latter two, FARØ is the first of the naval cutters from the second series to leave Navy service. The three second series vessels all feature extended enclosed bridges, whilst the bridges of the previous six cutters were only partially enclosed.

Two MHV 90-class Home Guard cutters are going under the hammer as catalogue numbers 209 and 210, viz MHV 91 BRIGADEN, which entered Naval Home Guard service in March 1974, and MHV 93 HVIDSTEN, which entered service in June 1975, making her the “youngest” of the fours cutters being offered for sale.

HVIDSTEN was replaced earlier this year by MHV 907, which received the same name. Therefore it can’t be excluded that MHV 908, which is due to join the Aarhus flotilla in June, will bear the name BRIGADEN.

The naval cutter FARØ.
(Photo from Danish Naval Museum archive)

Continued career afloat

The final cutter to go under the hammer in Hjørring on the day of the auction is the arctic patrol cutter AGDLEK, which entered Navy service on March 12, 1974. With a length of over 31 meters and displacement of over 330 tons she is by far the largest of the four cutters on offer.

Even without a detailed examination of the cutters' logbooks, it's probably fair to say that AGDLEK is the cutter which has covered the greatest distance over the years. AGDLEK was replaced earlier this year by the offshore patrol vessel KNUD RASMUSSEN, which at this very moment is conducting sea-trials off Greenland.

The auction in Hjørring offers the opportunity to acquire a long-serving cutter, which presumably can look forward to many years afloat ahead of it.
Although the auction takes place in Hjørring, it should be noted that none of the cutters have actually been sent there.

AGDLEK is laid up at Frederikshavn (Naval Base), FARØ at Korsør (Naval Base), whilst the two Home Guard cutters HVIDSTEN and BRIGADEN are in the harbor at Søby on the island of Ærø.

Naval Home Guard cutter MHV 93 HVIDSTEN.
(Photo from Danish Naval Museum archive)

Translated by Alan Russel (May 4, 2008)

^{|To the Top}

- Do you miss a major event on this Site,
or do you hold a great story?

Are you able to contribute to the unfolding of the Danish Naval History,
please e-mail me, enclosures are welcome.
Please remember to list your sources.

You can also use the Naval Web Forum on this web-site.

^{|To the Top}

-

This page was last updated: -

This page was first published: April 4, 2008 (May 4, 2008)

Copyright © 2013-2016 Johnny E. Balsved - All rights reserved - Privacy Policy