The Frigatte
"Peder Skram"
Flagskib during the Cold War
During the Cold War the frigates Peder Skram and the sister Ship Herluf Trolle were the command ships of the fleet. From here the Danish and West German fleets would be commanded in the defense of possible invasions from the east.
Fregatten Peder Skram
PEDER SKRAM was in itself capable of participate in the defence of Denmark, and for that task it was equipped with both cannons, missiles, and torpedoes. Besides that, the frigates were sailing fast and well maneuvered by virtue of their machinery, where they were the first major warships with a combination of gas turbines and diesel engines with adjustable propeller blades to regulate speed.
In 1982 PEDER SKRAM became world famous in all of Denmark, when a Harpoon Missile by a mistake was launched from the frigate. The missile detonated in an area of summer cottages in “Lumsås” at “Sjællands Odde”. At the detonation four cottages were totally destroyed and 130 others were damaged. Luckily no people were hurt
The demand of arms descrution and out phase
As a part of the defense agreement of 1984 it was settled that the two frigates Peder Skram and Herluf Trolle was to be out phased.
In the defense of the invasion policy the assignments of the frigaters would be carried out by mobile coast missiles mounted on trucks, together with new smaller units of ships, called Standard Felx Class.
The 4th of January 1988 the command of the frigates was closed down. A political defense settlement decided the 8th of March 1988 that this would end the frigates assignment in the Dansih Navy. At that time nobody was aware that the Navy 25 years later would have three new build frigates twice the power of Peder Skram and Herluf Trolle.
Actually the ship was going to be sent to breakers, but was saved on an auction in 1992, and after that was given to the fund Peder Skram. The ship today looks exactly as it did in 1988.
The crew on the frigate PEder Skram
The crew consisted of Officers, petty officers, privates, and, in the beginning, conscripts too.
From 1966 to 1977 the crew consisted of 202 men. Later then the number was reduced to 177.
Besætningen på PEDER SKRAM samlet til søndagsgudstjeneste.
The crew
After the reinforcement and transition into a computer-based plotting system in 1977, the crew could be reduced to 177 men divided into 22 officers, 20 petty officers, 130 able seamen and conscripts. By reenforced alert the crew was enforced by 4 officers and 15 able seamen. The officers and the petty officers lived in single- or two-person quarters with shared shower and toilet. The sailors stayed in four orlops.
Crew idintification
Every member of crew had a number onboard and were divided into the King’s Quarter and the Queen’s Quarter. The former included crew members with odd numbers, and the latter included those with even numbers. The crew number indicated where each member had to be during the various tasks that had to be done in connection to battle, shipwreck, and port manoeuvrers.
The crew was also divided into 4 divisions: the operations-, the weapons,- the engineering- and the management division. The operations division took care of the tactical and of communicative.
The weapons division took care of the frigate’s weaponry and maintenance. The technique division took care of the propulsion machinery, auxiliary motors, and electrical systems. The management division took care of the administration, including payroll, catering, and accommodation of the crew.
The ship’s captain, the deputy commander, and the 4 division formed the ship’s management. They were the only ones who had their own quarters. The other officers were housed in 2-m2n quarters. The sailors (private crew) lived in common quarters, where they slept in fixed bunks in 3 rows above
each other. The officers provided (ate) in the officer’s mess, petty officers and
senior petti officers provided in the petty officer’s mess , and the sailors provided in a common supply line also called the cafeteria.
The story of the Frigate "Peder Skram" and the "Oops missile"
The "Oops-missile"
6th of September 1982
On the 6.th of September 1982 the naval officer Henning G Olsen from the Naval Equipment command performed a routine test of the HARPOON-system of the frigate. An unpredicted incident led to the unforeseen firing of an anti-ship missile at 11,22 o’clock from “Peder Skram in the southern sea of Kattegat.
The missile flew 34 km. in the hight of 5 meter on course 123, before it detonated against some trees at 11.32 o’clock in an area of summerhouses at Lumsås, Sjællands Odde in the northern Seeland.
At the Explosion 4 houses were totally disposed of and 130 were more or less damaged. No citizens were damaged. A omission’s court of the 9.th of July 1984 found no reason to raise charges against any other officers. Henning G. Olesen was sentenced to a reprimand, a so called ”nose. ” The combined expenses were later paid by the American manufacturer of the HARPOON-system.
The "Oops-Map
The missile flew 34 km. five meters up in the air on course 123 degree, before it, at 1132, hours detonated in a summer vacation area in “Lumsås on Sjællands Odde.”
Henning G. Olsen
