Thetis-class patrol vessel

This article is about the Danish naval vessel class Thetis-class. For other uses, see Thetis (disambiguation).

The Thetis-class ocean patrol vessels or ocean patrol frigates,^[1][4] also called Stanflex 3000, is a class of large patrol vessels built for the Royal Danish Navy. The class comprises four ships, all built and commissioned in the early 1990s. The ships' tasks are mainly maintenance of sovereignty, search and rescue, fishery inspection and support to local (mainly Greenlandic) authorities. The operation areas are normally Greenland and the Faroe Islands, but the vessels also operate near Iceland on transit between Greenland and the Faroe Islands, and near Denmark.

HDMS Thetis
Class overview
Name	Thetis class
Builders	Svendborg Skibsværft
Operators	Royal Danish Navy
Preceded by	Hvidbjørnen class
In commission	1991–present
Planned	4
Completed	4
Active	4
General characteristics
Type	Ocean patrol frigates[1][2]
Displacement	3,500 tons, standard
Length	112.3 m (368 ft 5 in)
Beam	14.4 m (47 ft 3 in)
Height	37.0 m (121 ft 5 in)
Draft	6.0 m (19 ft 8 in)
Installed power	3 × Detroit Diesel GM 16V 7163-7305 at 480 kW (640 hp) 1 × Detroit Diesel 6L-71N 1063-7005 at 120 kW (160 hp) (EMG)
Propulsion	3 × MAN B&W Diesel 12v28/32A-D at 2,940 kW (3,943 hp), single shaft 1 × Brunvoll azimuth thruster (800 kW) 1 × electrical Brunvoll bow thruster (600 kW)
Speed	21.8 knots (40.4 km/h)
Range	8,700 nmi (16,112 km) at 15 kn (28 km/h)
Endurance	60 days
Boats & landing craft carried	2 x 7 m (23 ft) RHIBs
Complement	47-60 depending on role + aircrew etc.
Sensors and processing systems	1 × Terma Scanter Mil 009 navigational radar 1 × Furuno FR-1505 DA surface search radar 1 × Terma SCANTER 4103 air & surface search radar 1 × SaabTech Vectronics 9LV 200 Mk 3 fire control system 1 × SaabTech CTS-36 hull-mounted sonar FLIR Systems AN/AAQ-22 SAFIRE thermal imager
Armament	1 × 76 mm/62 cal. OTO Melara Super Rapid DP gun 2 × 12.7 mm heavy machine guns 2 × 7.62 mm light machine guns
Aircraft carried	1 x Sikorsky MH-60R helicopter[3]
Aviation facilities	Aft helicopter deck and hangar

Design

The ships each have double-skinned ice-reinforced hulls so that the ships can break through 80 centimetres (31 in) of solid ice. Thetis has undergone a conversion, first to participate in the CANUMAS-project, and later to become the fleet's flagship, a role that ended in September 2007. Thetis is fitted with Terma C-Flex Combat Management System. The Danish Navy has retrofitted the vessels with 12.7-millimetre (0.50 in) heavy machine guns, Stinger launchers and decoy launching systems. The ships can carry and use multiple StanFlex mission modules. In the meantime, the armament and sensors have been significantly reduced for cost reasons.^[5] All that remains of the armament is the 76 mm gun and a 12.7 mm machine gun.^[6]

In the most common role (ocean patrol), the standard base crew is 47 people and 16 conscripts,^[7] but in either command ship role or more warfare heavy roles, the base crew is expanded to 60 people plus 4 aircrew for the Westland Lynx Mk.90B and one or two doctors. Accommodation is available for 101 personnel in all.

The ships are assigned to the Navy's 1st Squadron, primarily tasked with the protection of waters around Greenland and the Faroe Islands.^[8]

Planned replacement

After 2025 the Thetis-class vessels are planned for replacement by new MPV80-class vessels, built by Odense Maritime Technology and SH Defence. The new vessels will incorporate a modular concept enabling packages of different systems (for minehunting or minelaying for example) to be fitted to individual ships as may be required.^[9][10]

List of ships

Name	Pennant number	Int'l c/s	Shipyard	Laid down	Launched	In service	Christened by	Decommissioned
Thetis	F357	OUEU	Svendborg Skibsværft	10 October 1988	14 July 1989	1 July 1991	Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark	-
Triton	F358	OUEV	Svendborg Skibsværft	27 June 1989	16 March 1990	2 December 1991	Poul Schlüter, Prime Minister of Denmark	-
Vædderen	F359	OUEW	Svendborg Skibsværft	19 March 1990	21 December 1990	9 June 1992	Atli Dam, Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands	-
Hvidbjørnen	F360	OUEX	Svendborg Skibsværft	2 January 1991	11 October 1991	30 November 1992	Lars Emil Johansen, Prime Minister of Greenland	-

Citations

1. "Thetis Class, Denmark". naval-technology.com. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
2. "Thetis / Stanflex 3000". GlobalSecurity.org. 11 July 2011. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
3. "Structure of the Air Force". Danish Defence. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
4. Royal Danish Navy: Ocean Patrol Vessels, THETIS-class
5. Charles Szumski (2023-11-30). "Dänemarks Patrouillenschiffe erfüllen Anforderungen der NATO nicht" (in German). Retrieved 2024-12-02.
6. "Inspektionsskibe" (in Danish). 2020-08-05. Retrieved 2024-12-02.
7. "Med inspektionsskibet "Thetis" i det "grå rederi"" (PDF). SIMAC News (in Danish) (22): 16–21. Retrieved 2011-10-18.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
8. "Structure of the Navy". Danish Defence. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
9. Atherton, Kelsey (3 July 2023). "Denmark's new modular patrol boats will tackle a changing Arctic". Popular Science.
10. McGwin, Kevin (12 July 2023). "Denmark is stepping up as an Arctic sea power". Polar Journal.

References

• Wertheim, Eric. The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World, 2005–2006; Their Ships, Aircraft, and Systems. US Naval Institute Press. Annapolis, Maryland. 2005.

External links

Media related to Thetis-class (Denmark) at Wikimedia Commons

• Thetis class (from Naval Technology)
• Thetis class (From Royal Danish Navy)