Danish Navy to commission final Knud Rasmussen-class patrol vessel ‘Lauge Koch’

The Royal Danish Navy is scheduled to commission its third and final Knud Rasmussen-class patrol vessel, HDMS Lauge Koch (P572), in a ceremony at Naval Station Korsør on December 11.

Like its two predecessors, Lauge Koch will be patrolling the North Atlantic performing fisheries inspections, search and rescue and ice-breaking tasks.

HDMS Lauge Koch does not have a helicopter hangar, however, a helipad will allow it to refuel helicopters operating from the shore or from other Danish Navy vessels, extending their range.

Knud Rasmussen-class patrol vessels are lightly armed with a single 76 mm gun and heavy machine guns but they have two StanFlex mission payload slots allowing them to be equipped with anti-submarine and anti-air warfare capabilities.

The 71-meter long ships were built by Danish Karstensens Skibsværft. The first two vessels, HDMS Knud Rasmussen and HDMS Ejnar Mikkelsen entered service in 2008 and 2009, while the HDMS Lauge Koch was ordered in 2013.

The hulls for all three vessels were built in Poland and transferred to Denmark for outfitting.

Knud Rasmussen-class patrol vessels are replacing the three Agdlek-class cutters, the last of which retired on November 30, 2017 after over 40 years of service.