Peder-Skram missile incident
On September 6, 1982, a missile was accidentally fired from the frigate Peder Skram of the Danish Navy , which hit the coast of Northwest Zealand and caused considerable property damage. The incident came to be known in Denmark as the "Hovsa Missilet" (roughly: "Oops Missile"). It was one of the most talked about events in Denmark in the first half of the 1980s.
Course of events
The rocket was a highly modern anti -ship missile of the type AGM-84 Harpoon from the American manufacturer McDonnell Douglas with a mass of over 600 kg and a charge of 220 kg of explosives.
Due to the high unit cost of seven million Danish kroner, only a few test shots were fired by the Navy. Incidentally, they were limited to six-monthly system tests, during which no rockets were fired, but only the functionality of the systems was checked.
On September 6, 1982, the Peder Skram was in the Kattegat to carry out such a system test. The person responsible for the test was the 54-year-old Orlogskaptajn (roughly equivalent to the rank of a corvette captain ) Henning G. Olsen from the material command of the Danish naval forces, who became known nationwide after the incident as “Hovsa-Olsen” or “Missil-Olsen”.
At noon on September 6, a Harpoon missile was accidentally fired during the system test. This flew about 34 km and finally hit a tree in a summer house area in the municipality of Lumsås (large municipality of Odsherred ) on Zealand. In the explosion of the explosive device, four weekend houses were completely destroyed and over 100 damaged. People were not harmed.
Similar incident on the USS Coontz
A year earlier, a similar incident had occurred on the US warship USS Coontz , in which a harpoon was accidentally fired during a system test. McDonnell Douglas had then informed the US Navy that the weapon could be accidentally fired if the instructions in the manual were not followed exactly.
Consequences
Internal investigation
The incident was initially investigated internally, under the direction of naval auditor Mogens Reimann. The investigation ended after a week and came to the conclusion that Hennig Olsen had been guilty of negligence in the security procedures; however, for technical reasons, the launch could not actually have been triggered, as a special key (launch key) was necessary for this, which, however, was demonstrably not in the control panel, but in a safe on board the ship. Therefore, Olsen was initially only given a mild sentence.
First committee of inquiry
The result of the internal investigation was viewed as unsatisfactory by politicians. As a result, a commission of inquiry was set up under the direction of Judge Jacques Hermann , who later became President of the Supreme Court. The Commission presented its final report in October 1983. Olsen was charged with gross breach of duty and sentenced to 14 days of detention in the quarters. Technical errors were not taken into account, in particular the earlier incident on the USS Coontz was not taken into account. Furthermore, numerous relevant documents were not taken into account or could not be viewed by the investigation commission due to confidentiality regulations. The results and the methodology of the investigation were massively criticized as a result. The impression arose that Olsen had been made a scapegoat.
The role of the media, second committee of inquiry
The incident and the related investigations received wide media coverage. The journalists Henrik Thomsen, Allan Graubæk and Gunner Nielsen from the local newspaper Holbæk Amts Venstreblad followed the matter for years, with extensive research being carried out. Several hundred articles were created. According to the journalists, the Harpoon weapon system was tainted with a number of shortcomings, which led the US military to install a special fuse to prevent accidental shooting. This was apparently unknown to the Danish military. Had the system on the Peder Skram had such a fuse, the missile would not have been fired.
The research by Henrik Thomsen, Allan Graubæk and Gunner Nielsen was followed closely by the public and politicians. Due to the dissatisfaction with the results of the first committee of inquiry, the majority opposition in the Folketing at the time, led by the Socialist People's Party, demanded a further investigation. This ended in July 1984 with the allegations against Olsen being essentially dropped.
The Danish state finally sued the manufacturer McDonnell Douglas. The case ended in a settlement, the manufacturer paid damages to the Danish state.
Cavling Prize
In 1985, the three journalists from the Holbæk Amt Venstreblad received the Cavling Prize - the most important award for journalists in Denmark - for their research into the matter, which, in the opinion of the Cavling Committee, had contributed significantly to the fact that the allegations against Olsen were largely refuted.
literature
- Gunner Nielsen, Henrik Thomsen: Vildskud, sheet om missil-say , ISBN 87-7351-267-2 .
- Søren Nørby, Steen Schøn: Fregatterne Peder Skram and Herluf Trolle. Flådens Flagskibe under Den Kolde Krig , ISBN 87-89022-48-3 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jacob Berner Moe: Om at få plads , in: Journalisten 2001, online at: http://journalisten.dk/om-fa-plads
- ↑ a b Christian Brøndum: Fuld kraft bak for det gamle hovsa-krigsskib. In: Berlingske . July 5, 2006. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
- ↑ a b Jörgen F. Bork: Åbent hav. With Liv i Søværnet 1945 - 1990. Verlag Gyldendal A / S, 2010, p. 230.
- ↑ a b c d Jörgen F. Bork: Åbent hav. With Liv i Søværnet 1945 - 1990. Verlag Gyldendal A / S, 2010, p. 231.
- ↑ a b c d Johnny E. Balsved: HARPOON missil on the loose destroys residential area in North Western Zealand. navalhistory.dk. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
- ↑ Jacob Berner Moe: Om at få plads , in: Journalisten 2001, online at: http://journalisten.dk/om-fa-plads
- ↑ Peder Skram affyrer Hovsa-missilet. pederskram.dk. Retrieved October 21, 2015.