Tag Archives: Glock G20

Modern Day Greenland Patrol

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When talking over the weekend in reference to the 80th anniversary of the lost USCGC Natsek (WYP-170) during WWII’s massively unsung Greenland Patrol, these images from the Danish Arktisk Kommando— their all-services joint Arctic command that interfaces both with NATO and the U.S., Icelandic, Canadian and UK forces in the region stretching across the Faeroes and Greenland– seems timely.

The below shows the new Rasmussen-class patrol vessels HDMS Knud Rasmussen (P570), HDMS Ejnar Mikkelsen (P571), and HDMS Lauge Koch (P572) of 1. Eskadre working the Greenland coastline for the last couple of weeks.

The Danes throughout the Cold War kept a trio of purpose-designed ice-strengthened arctic offshore patrol craft in the region and continue to do so, rotating Royal Danish Navy vessels deployed to Greenland to perform coast-guard duties, while an intrepid 14-man Siriuspatruljen (sled patrol) polices the interior, with the benefit of air-dropped supplies.

The Rasmussens replaced the trio of much smaller (300-ton, 11 knots, 2x.50 cal HMGs) Agdlek-class patrol boats that walked the beat from the 1970s through 2017.

The old Agdlek-class OPVs, exemplified by the HDMS Tulugaq (Y388) seen here, were essentially modified steel-hulled trawler/whaler types, mounting just a pair of .50 cal Brownings

The new 1,700-ton 235-foot vessels are much more capable– not to mention downright naval-looking– with a 76mm M/85 OTO Melera main battery, embarked helicopter/UAV support, and space/weight available for both ASW torpedo tubes and Sea Sparrow missiles.

While low-speed (just 17 knots maximum speed) they are meant to poke around and, with their two large RIBs, send VBSS inspection teams out to check on things both ashore and afloat. Speaking to the latter, they are manned by just an 18-person crew but have accommodations for an embarked helicopter det and a small (16-man) platoon of commando types, of which Denmark has a proficient group.

And, of course, there are some other benefits of walking the Greenland beat, such as plenty of ice for your New Year’s drinks!

Siriuspatruljen at 70

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Happy birthday to the toughest military patrol on Earth, the Danish Navy’s Siriuspatruljen, who were founded this day in 1950, reprising their earlier WWII service. They have been walking the beat uninterrupted for the past 70 years.

Made up of just 14 volunteers headquartered at the station Daneborg, located at 74 degrees north in the Northeast Greenland National Park with a substation at Ella Ø (72 degrees N), the patrol gets its name for the typical mission that sees it break up into two-man teams to dogsled around the isolated coastline, waving the Danish flag and checking for Russians and what not while dodging bitter sub-zero temperatures and the occasional polar bear. Just six teams patrol more than 2,000 nm of coastline.

After completing seven months of training, members of the patrol serve for 26 months on the world’s only military dog sled patrol, with just a Glock 10mm and a bolt-action M1917 .30-06 as backup.

For the nostalgic, here is a window back into the patrol, circa 1965, and little has changed:

The Greenland Beat

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The Danish Ministry of Defense lately has been showcasing its military sled patrol in Greenland, Slædepatruljen Sirius. The 14-man unit is made up of volunteers who agree to two+ years of uninterrupted service in the frozen monolith that is the world’s largest island. There are no holidays or days off, with their leave accruing for when they return to Denmark.

Each Winter, the Sirius patrol sets out in six “fuppere” teams to scout the uninhabited northern coastline from station to station while two men remain behind on post. One such patrol, consisting of two Danish sailors along with their 13 dogs, covered 1,430 miles over three months in minus 40-degree weather.

Yikes.

Their arms? Glock G20 10mm Autos and the Gevær M/53 rifle…the latter being the good old M1917 “American Enfield” in .30-06.

Boom

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