The 1982 Harpoon Missile Misfire Incident, in Danish dubbed 'Hovsa-Missilet' (or 'The Whoops Missile'), was an unintentional discharge of a live
Harpoon missile by Danish
frigate
A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat.
The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...
HDMS ''Peder Skram'' during a training maneuver in the
Kattegat on 6 September 1982. The missile traveled 34 kilometers at low altitude, severing several power lines before eventually striking a group of trees and exploding. The fireball and subsequent shockwave destroyed four nearby unoccupied summer cottages and caused minor damage to a further 130 buildings in the area. No human injury was reported.
Cause
A navy investigation into the matter concluded that a technical malfunction was the cause of the launch as it happened without the launch key being activated. The missile system had undergone maintenance and was in the process of being checked by an expert from the Navy Material Command (abolished in 1985, prior to the
Packard Commission
The President's Blue Ribbon Commission on Defense Management, informally known as the Packard Commission, was a federal government commission by President Ronald Reagan, created by to study several areas of management functionality within the US D ...
), who was later charged and convicted for negligence, though most charges were later dropped following a second investigation.
McDonnell Douglas
McDonnell Douglas was a major American aerospace manufacturing corporation and defense contractor, formed by the merger of McDonnell Aircraft and the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1967. Between then and its own merger with Boeing in 1997, it produ ...
, the manufacturer of the missile later paid the Danish government compensation, which covered all the damage made by the missile.
It was applied a
termination clause like the ones which in 1999 become a recommended standard for contracts valued at less than $100K.
See also
* The was involved in a similar incident in 1981.
Notes and references
Harpoon Missile Misfire Incident
Military history of Denmark
Harpoon Missile Misfire Incident
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