ICGV ''Týr'' is an and the former flagship of the

Icelandic Coast Guard The Icelandic Coast Guard (, or simply ) is the Icelandic defence service responsible for search and rescue, maritime safety and security surveillance, and law enforcement in the seas surrounding Iceland. The Coast Guard maintains the Iceland ...

. The ship was built by Dannebrog Værft in Denmark in 1974–1975 and entered service in 1975. ''Týr'' is the second largest ship in the Icelandic Coast Guard and participated in the Third Cod War. The ship conducted patrols, search and rescue, fishery inspections, general law enforcement and

counter-terrorism Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or ...

operations in the Icelandic exclusive economic zone and the waters of the surrounding territories, such as

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...

and

Jan Mayen Jan Mayen () is a Norwegian volcanic island in the Arctic Ocean with no permanent population. It is long (southwest-northeast) and in area, partly covered by glaciers (an area of around the Beerenberg volcano). It has two parts: larger ...

. ''Týr'' was decommissioned in 2021 and sold in 2022.

Description

''Týr'' has a

standard displacement The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...

of and at full load. The ship measures long with a beam of and a draught of . The vessel is powered by two

MAN A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromo ...

8L 40/54

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-ca ...

s turning two shafts with

Kamewa AB Karlstads Mekaniska Werkstad (''trans.'' Karlstad Mechanical Works Ltd), known as Kamewa, was a Swedish manufacturing company in the city of Kristinehamn. Kamewa started as a brand name of the controllable-pitch propellers manufactured by KM ...

controllable pitch propeller In marine propulsion, a variable-pitch propeller is a type of propeller with blades that can be rotated around their long axis to change the blade pitch. Reversible propellers—those where the pitch can be set to negative values—can al ...

s rated at . This gives the ship a maximum speed of with a range of at . The vessels have a 20-ton bollard-pulling winch and passive rolling tanks. The ''Ægir'' class was initially armed with a Hotchkiss cannon. However, these weapons were replaced in 1990 with the Bofors /L60 autocannon, which in turn was replaced with the 40 mm Bofors L70 in the late 2000s. Other weapons include net cutters, which the

(ICG) used during the

Cod Wars The Cod Wars ( is, Þorskastríðin; also known as , ; german: Kabeljaukriege) were a series of 20th-century confrontations between the United Kingdom (with aid from West Germany) and Iceland about fishing rights in the North Atlantic. Each of ...

. A large crane is situated forward of the

helicopter deck A helicopter deck (or helo deck) is a helicopter pad on the deck of a ship, usually located on the stern and always clear of obstacles that would prove hazardous to a helicopter landing. In the United States Navy, it is commonly and properly ...

. The ships of the class are equipped with Sperry surface search and navigational

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, we ...

. ''Týr'' is equipped with hull-mounted

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect objects on o ...

. The ship sports a helicopter deck aft and a

hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

located between the funnels. In 1997, the helicopter deck was extended. The ship has a complement of 19.

Construction and career

The patrol vessel was ordered for construction by Dannebrog Værft of

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

and launched on 10 October 1974. The vessel, named for the deity of Norse mythology, was commissioned in the ICG on 15 March 1975. ''Týr'' primarily conducts patrols, search and rescue, fishery inspections, general law enforcement and

operations in the Icelandic exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Cod Wars

The Third Cod War began after Iceland extended its EEZ to in November 1975. ICG vessels were deployed to chase unlicensed

fishing trawler A fishing trawler is a commercial fishing vessel designed to operate fishing trawls. Trawling is a method of fishing that involves actively dragging or pulling a trawl through the water behind one or more trawlers. Trawls are fishing nets th ...

s out of the new limit. On 21 November ''Týr'' began cutting the nets of British trawlers. ICG had armed all of its trawlers with net cutters. If a fishing trawler refused to leave the area, the ICG ships would come up astern of the fishing trawler at a right angle and using the net cutter, cut the fishing vessel's nets. The loss of the nets and the catch within was an expensive proposition for the fishermen, so they began to work together to prevent the ICG vessels from cutting their nets. Some of the fishing trawlers tried to prevent the ICG from cutting their nets by ramming the ICG ships. The British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

sent

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...

s and frigates to assist the British trawlers in the region. This led to a series of confrontations between the ICG and the Royal Navy. After a quiet period around

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

, on 28 December 1975, ''Týr'' rammed , which was escorting two fishing trawlers at the time. On 6 February 1976 ''Týr'' collided with after the British frigate intervened while the Icelandic patrol vessel was attempting to cut the nets of the trawler ''Ross Altair''. On 1 April ''Týr'' was involved in seven collisions with and . On 6 May 1976 ''Týr'' survived being rammed twice by , which led Captain Guðmundur Kjærnested to give the order to man the guns against the much more powerful warship to deter further ramming. The ship received serious damage in the incident. The Third Cod War ended on 1 June after an agreement was reached between Iceland and the United Kingdom.

Later career

In January 1980, the

third engineer A third engineer or second assistant engineer is a rank of engine officer who is part of the engine department on a ship. The third engineer is usually in charge of boilers, auxiliary engines, condensate and feed systems, record keeping of chemi ...

on ''Týr'', stabbed and killed two of his crewmates before throwing himself overboard when the ship was located miles northeast of

Grímsey Grímsey () is a small Icelandic island, off the north coast of the main island of Iceland, straddling the Arctic Circle. In January 2018 Grímsey had 61 inhabitants. Before 2009, Grimsey constituted the ''hreppur'' (municipality) of Grí ...

. In 1994, a crane was fitted in ''Týr'' forward of the helicopter deck on the starboard side. In 1997, the ship underwent a refit that extended its helicopter deck and installed a

radome A radome (a portmanteau of radar and dome) is a structural, weatherproof enclosure that protects a radar antenna. The radome is constructed of material transparent to radio waves. Radomes protect the antenna from weather and conceal antenna e ...

atop the ship. In 2006, ''Týr'' underwent a refit in Poland that improved the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

and accommodations along with the installation of in-flight refuelling equipment for the helicopters. In March 2014, ''Týr'' was leased to ''Fáfnir Offshore hf.'' for surveillance and rescue work as well as general law enforcement and service work for the Sheriff of Svalbard with home port in Longerbyen. The Icelandic Coast Guard fleet takes part in

Frontex The European Border and Coast Guard Agency, also known as Frontex (from French: ''Frontières extérieures'' for "external borders"), is an agency of the European Union headquartered in Warsaw, Poland, exercising in coordination with the borde ...

operations. In December 2014 ''Týr'' played a major part in the rescue of 408 migrants off the coast of

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

in a drifting cargo vessel. of 359 Syrian refugees were rescued in the eastern

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

in January 2015 after they had been abandoned by the crew of the cargo ship ''Ezadeen'' off the Italian coast. On 4 April, the crew of ''Týr'' rescued 320 people from a boat of the coast of Libya. During the days of 3 and 4 May, the crew rescued 328 people from two small boats north of Libya. On 11 June 2015, ''Týr'' was accidentally rammed and damaged by the Russian sailing ship at

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

. ''Týr'' finished its last tour of duty on 15 November 2021 and was put up for a sale. In August 2022, ''Týr'' was sold to ''Fagur ehf.'' along with .

Notable appearances in media

''Týr'' was featured in the 2010 drama film '' Undercurrent'' along with the rescue helicopter TF-LÍF.

Citations

References

* * * * *

External links

in Icelandic and in English
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tyr Ægir-class offshore patrol vessels Ships built in Denmark 1974 ships Patrol vessels of Iceland