Royal Danish Navy

The Royal Danish Navy (Danish: Søværnet) is the sea-based branch of the Danish Defence. The RDN is mainly responsible for maritime defence and maintaining the sovereignty of Danish, Greenlandic and Faroese territorial waters. Other tasks include surveillance, search and rescue, icebreaking, oil spill recovery and prevention as well as contributions to international tasks and forces.

During the period 1509–1814, when Denmark was in a union with Norway, the Danish Navy was part of the Dano-Norwegian Navy. Until the copenhagenization of the navy in 1807, the navy was a major strategic influence in the European geographical area, but since then its size and influence has drastically declined with a change in government policy. Despite this, the navy is now equipped with a number of large state-of-the-art vessels commissioned since the end of the Cold War. This can be explained by its strategic location as the NATO member controlling access to the Baltic.

Danish Navy ships carry the prefix KDM (Kongelige Danske Marine) in Danish, but this is translated to HDMS (Her/His Danish Majesty's Ship) in English. Denmark is one of several NATO member states whose navies do not deploy submarines.

List of Active Ships

 * Absalon-class Support Ship (2) - 2004
 * KDM Absalon (L16)
 * KDM Esbern Snare (L17)
 * Thetis-class Frigate (4) - 1991
 * KDM Thetis (F357)
 * KDM Triton (F358)
 * KDM Vædderen (F359)
 * KDM Hvidbjørnen (F360)
 * Iver Huitfeldt-class Air Defense Frigate (3) - 2011
 * KDM Iver Huitfeldt (F361)
 * KDM Peter Willemoes (F362)
 * KDM Niels Juel (F363)
 * Dannebrog-class Royal Yacht (1) - 1932
 * KDM Dannebrog (A540)
 * Sleipnir-class transport ship (1) - 1986
 * KDM Sleipnir (A559)
 * Sea Supply-class Environmental Protection Vessel (2) - 1991
 * KDM Gunnar Thorson (A560)
 * KDM Gunnar Seidenfaden (A561)
 * Sea Truck-class Environmental Protection Vessel (2) - 1996
 * KDM Mette-Miljø (A562)
 * KDM Marie-Miljø (A563)
 * Danbjørn-class Icebreaker (2) - 1996
 * KDM Danbjørn (A551)
 * KDM Isbjørn (A552)
 * Thorbjørn-class icebreaker (1) - 1996
 * KDM Thorbjørn (A553)
 * Holm-class Multirole Vessel (6) - 2006
 * KDM Birkholm (A541)
 * KDM Fyrholm (A542)
 * KDM Ertholm (A543)
 * KDM Alholm (A544)
 * KDM Hirsholm (MSD5)
 * KDM Saltholm (MSD6)
 * Enø-class (12) - 2003
 * KDM Enø (MHV-901)
 * KDM Manø (MHV-902)
 * KDM Hjortø (MHV-903)
 * KDM Lyø (MHV-904)
 * KDM Askø (MHV-905)
 * KDM Fænø (MHV-906)
 * KDM Hvidsten (MHV-907)
 * KDM Brigaden (MHV-908)
 * KDM Speditøren (MHV-909)
 * KDM Ringen (MHV-910)
 * KDM Bopa (MHV-911)
 * KDM Holger Danske (MHV-912)
 * Diana-class Patrol Vessel (6) - 2007
 * KDM Diana (P520)
 * KDM Freja (P521)
 * KDM Havfruen (P522)
 * KDM Najaden (P523)
 * KDM Nymfen (P524)
 * KDM Rota (P525)
 * Knud Rasmussen-class Patrol Vessel (3) - 2008
 * KDM Knud Rasmussen (F570)
 * KDM Ejnar Mikkelsen (F571)
 * KDM Lauge Koch (F572)
 * Miljø 101-class Environmental Protection Vessel (2) - 1996
 * KDM Miljø 101 (Y340)
 * KDM Miljø 102 (Y341)
 * Miljø 103-class Environmental Protection Vessel (1) - 2006
 * KDM Miljø 103 (Y342)
 * Arvak-class Station Tender (2) - 2002
 * KDM Arvak (Y344)
 * KDM Alsin (Y345)