The powerful engines roar as the minelayer LAXEN sails out off the harbour in Frederikshavn. Hirsholmene lies ahead and quickly they come near. Although the mine clearing vessel just left Frederikshavn, the little islets are right beside the ship when the commanding officer commands the vessel to stop.

Vessels of the FLYVEFISKEN-class are capable of sailing quite fast. About 30 knots at full throttle, but today’s task requires a more subtle approach, and HDMS LAXEN continues forward at 0.5 knots. On the deck the crew gets ready to launch the rubber boat, called “Little brother”.

On the aft deck lines are made ready  for the six buoys   Photo:Martin Pedersen, RDN

LAXEN has to lay out a minefield, in order to test what it takes to detonate the 500 kilos of explosives and 300 kilos of technology.
On the bridge, the ships commanding officer,

Lieutenant commander Nils B. Strandbygaard is in command. Together with an engineer from the Navy Materiel Command he is planning how to lay the mines, while steering the ship trough the area. Many of his sentences are ended with a correction of the vessels speed or course, and without hesitation the navigation yeoman at the controls understands, repeats and execute the orders.

High-tech exercise mines
Because of the test that will be conducted, the navy engineer Morten Bernsdorf is on board the ship. He is an expert of the deadly thingies secured on the aft deck.

“Little brother” in the water  Photo: Martin Pedersen, RDN

- This is state of the art technology, and it will be very exiting to retrieve the mines and see what they have experienced down there, he says. However, the mines must first get to the bottom of the sea, and he explains that it is very important, that they are placed accurately, so that the ship can be placed correctly during the tests. Because of that buoys must be placed before the mines is sent down.

Luckily it is only exercise mines but they do look real. Large white cylindrical containers with the text EXPLOSIVES printed on them.
Instead of explosives however, they contain ballast and a buoy that will launched to the surface when the equipment has to be retrieved.

In addition to the six Danish mines a group of Belgian Navy technicians are on board LAXEN. They have got a new type of exercise mine, and are looking forward to trying it out.

Junior rating Mikael Dyg Madsen  makes the galley ready for the sea  Photo: Martin Pedersen, RDN

As we wait for “little brother”                      
- You can launch “Little Brother,” the commanding officer orders, and after two small steps on the command ladder the fast rubber boat is in the water. It contains three divers and six buoys.
There will be a diver in the water at all times, to ensure that the buoys are placed correctly on the bottom. A time-consuming task, and while the three men in the boat are working, the ships crew can rest for a while.

In the wardroom and on the bridge coffee is served by junior rating Mikael Dyg Madsen. He enjoys being on board LAXEN:

- During my conscription duty I sailed on the bigger inspection ships, but I like these ships much better. Because we aren’t as many on board there is a spirit of unity that you cant find anywhere else, he explains.

The water is nice    
“Little brother” is getting closer. Behind the boat six red buoys are rocking in the waves, and on board the mother ship, the mine laying is prepared. Lines are measured to the correct length and the crane moved into position. And then - off course - it begins to rain.

Divers enter the rubberboat   Photo: Martin Pedersen, RDN

- it always rains when we are doing this sort of work, says one of the sailors as he grab his blue protection helmet and walks out to the waiting mines.

The rubber boat is on its way out again to survey the work from the sea. A tough job, but as one of the crewmembers notes before entering the boat:

- The water is nice. It is very quiet down there and not even that cold, the diver says. You can almost see the smile on the divers’ faces as they jump the waves in the little orange boat.

The oblong mines a lifted over the shipside. The Danish ones are wired down, to assure that they are placed correct, while the Belgian mines can be dropped right above the surface. 

Mines is lifted overboard from the aft  deck.  Photo: Martin Pedersen, RDN

With a large splash the heavy mine breaks trough the surface and starts it’s decent towards the bottom.
In a relatively short period of time the rest of the mines are placed, and the foreign guest start up their computers.

Relaxed channels of command
While waiting for the Belgians to finish the commanding officer takes the time to have a cup of coffee in the wardroom. The petty officers lounge and the officer’s wardroom can be separated by a thin wall, but there is no need of that on a small vessel like LAXEN. Lieutenant commander Nils B. Strandbygaard has been commanding officer for three years, so he knows his ship, and likes commanding it.

HDMS LAXEN fact sheet:  Class: FLYVEFISKEN       Speed: 30 knot  Length: 54 m    Beam: 9 m  Draught: 2,5 m  Deplacement: 300 t  Entered the Royal Danish   Navy in: 1991  Crew: 29  FLYVEFISKEN-class  ships can act in the  following roles:      Fighting ship      Patrol vessel  Minelayer      Minesweeper

- Because we are only 29 crewmembers on board, I know my crew exceptionally well. For instance that means that I can go directly to the person that I want to execute my order. The chain of command is shorter than on the large ships, and that results in a much more relaxed atmosphere, the commanding officer states.        

After a few hours the technicians finish up. In a rush “Little brother” is recovered and the technical equipment on the aft deck is packed.
The mine clearance drone MFS 1 is called out. The small vessel is at quay in Frederikshavn, but now it has to act as a refusal vessel in the minefield while HDMS LAXEN goes into port.

The sound volume from the engines increases as LAXEN sets a course towards the harbour. The crew is looking forward to getting some rest, but the visit in Frederikshavn will be a brief one. MSF 1 will have to be relieved in a few hours. It is going to be a long night – and a long day tomorrow.

Additional photos