The Frogman Corps ( da, Frømandskorpset) is the maritime

special operations force Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

of the

Danish Defence Danish Defence ( da, Forsvaret, fo, Danska verjan, kl, Illersuisut) is the unified armed forces of the Kingdom of Denmark charged with the defence of Denmark and its constituent, self-governing nations Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The De ...

part of Special Operations Command. On 1 July 2015, the Frogman Corps transferred from the

Royal Danish Navy The Royal Danish Navy ( da, Søværnet) is the Naval warfare, sea-based branch of the Danish Defence force. The RDN is mainly responsible for maritime defence and maintaining the sovereignty of Denmark, Danish territorial waters (incl. Faroe Isla ...

to the newly established Special Operations Command.

History

The Frogman Corps was established on 17 June 1957 based on the model of the United Kingdom's

Special Boat Service The Special Boat Service (SBS) is the special forces unit of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. The SBS can trace its origins back to the Second World War when the Army Special Boat Section was formed in 1940. After the Second World War, the Roya ...

, US

Underwater Demolition Team Underwater Demolition Teams (UDT), or frogmen, were amphibious units created by the United States Navy during World War II with specialized non-tactical missions. They were predecessors of the navy's current SEAL teams. Their primary WWII fun ...

, and

Marinejegerkommandoen ''Marinejegerkommandoen'' (MJK) ( en, Naval Special Operations Command) is the maritime/naval special warfare unit of the Norwegian Armed Forces and was established in 1953. The MJK is under the command of the Norwegian Special Operations Com ...

in Norway. Initially it was under the Danish Navy's Diving School at Flådestation Holmen (Naval Station Holmen,

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

), but in 1972 it was made an independent unit, operationally under the submarine squadron.

Role

The Frogman Corps' primary role is reconnaissance, but it is also tasked with assaulting enemy ships, sabotage of fixed installations, advanced force and maritime anti-terrorism tasks. It also performs special operations work on land, including anti-terrorism and anti-criminal work. The Corps supports the police with matters that demand highly specialised diving. Local authorities, etc. can also benefit from the frogmen's skills, for example when underwater installations must be inspected.

Training

The Frogman Corps trains at the Torpedo Station at Kongsøre and works through a long series of courses, e.g.: *Combat swimmer course for three weeks *Advanced

scuba diving Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for "Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chris ...

course *Rescue swimmer course *Survival course The basic Frogman Course is nine months. Each year 500–600 applicants start the course and less than a dozen complete all nine months. Since its creation in 1957, 311 have completed the training and become frogmen .

Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark, Count of Monpezat, (Frederik André Henrik Christian; born 26 May 1968) is the heir apparent to the Danish throne. He is the elder son of Queen Margrethe II and Prince Henrik. Early life Crown Prince Frede ...

passed selection and completed continuation training to become a badged Frogman, in the course of which he earned the nickname "

Pingo Pingos are intrapermafrost ice-cored hills, high and in diameter. They are typically conical in shape and grow and persist only in permafrost environments, such as the Arctic and subarctic. A pingo is a periglacial landform, which is defin ...

". In 2015, a DR-produced documentary detailing the life of Frogman cadets was released.

Operations

The Frogman Corps were involved in operations in Afghanistan such as

Task Force K-Bar Task Force K-Bar, originally the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-South (CJSOTF-South), was led by the United States and composed of special operations forces from seven nations. It undertook the first major ground deployment in the Wa ...

and in Iraq. From 2008 until the end of 2014, the Frogman Corps was involved in counter-piracy operations as part of

Operation Ocean Shield Operation Ocean Shield was NATO's contribution to Operation Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa (OEF-HOA), an anti-piracy initiative in the Indian Ocean, Guardafui Channel, Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea. It follows the earlier Operation Al ...

. On 5 February 2010, ten Frogman Corps members aboard conducted a counter-piracy mission in the

Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden ( ar, خليج عدن, so, Gacanka Cadmeed 𐒅𐒖𐒐𐒕𐒌 𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒗𐒒) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channe ...

approaching the

Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda (, ) is a sovereign country in the West Indies. It lies at the juncture of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean in the Leeward Islands part of the Lesser Antilles, at 17°N latitude. The country consists of two maj ...

-flagged merchant vessel ''Ariella'' by rigid hull inflatable boat which had been hijacked by six armed Somali pirates. They scaled the side of the ship and freed the 25 crew, who had locked themselves in a secure room, and continued to search the vessel for the pirates who had fled. In November 2021, a unit from the Frogman Corps was involved in counter- piracy operations in the Gulf of Guinea deployed aboard the

frigate

HDMS Esbern Snare (F342) HDMS ''Esbern Snare'' (F342) is an frigate and is, along with her sister ship, the , amongst the largest combat vessels currently commissioned in the Royal Danish Navy. ''Esbern Snare'' is part of the first stage of a strategic realignment wit ...

. On 25 November 2021 soldiers from the unit was involved in a firefight against eight suspected pirates aboard a fast-moving craft where four suspects were killed and one wounded and the surviving three were captured. The soldiers suffered no casualties.

Equipment

Glock 17 Glock is a brand of polymer- framed, short recoil-operated, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H. The firearm entered Austrian military and police service by 1982 after it was th ...

Heckler & Koch MP5 The Heckler & Koch MP5 (german: Maschinenpistole 5) is a 9x19mm Parabellum submachine gun, developed in the 1960s by a team of engineers from the German small arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch. There are over 100 variants and clones of the MP5, ...

SIG MCX The SIG MCX is a family of firearms designed and manufactured by SIG Sauer, produced in both selective fire and semi-automatic only models, and features a short-stroke gas piston system, which is inherited from the earlier SIG MPX submachine g ...

* Gevær M/10 ( Colt Canada C8 IUR rifle) * Finskyttegevær M/04 (

Sako TRG-42 The Sako TRG is a bolt-action sniper rifle line designed and manufactured by Finnish firearms manufacturer SAKO of Riihimäki. The TRG-21 and TRG-22 are designed to fire standard .308 Winchester ( 7.62×51mm NATO) sized cartridges, while the TRG ...

) * GRK M/03 40 mm ( Colt Canada M203A1) * Dysekanon M/85 ( Carl Gustav M3) * Panserværnsvåben M/97 (

AT-4 CS The AT4 is a Swedish unguided, man-portable, disposable, shoulder-fired recoilless anti-tank weapon built by Saab Bofors Dynamics (previously Bofors Anti-Armour Systems and before that FFV Ordance). The AT4 is not considered a rocket lau ...

)

Gallery

File:US Navy 090219-N-1082Z-064 The visit, board, search and seizure team from the Danish flexible support ship HDMS Absalon (L 16) trains trains aboard USS Vella Gulf (CG 72).jpg File:US Navy 090219-N-6278K-006 The visit, board, search and seizure team from the Danish flexible support ship HDMS Absalon (L 16) conduct VBSS training aboard USS Vella Gulf (CG-72).jpg File:US Navy 090219-N-6278K-024 - VBSS assigned to the Danish flexible support ship HDMS Absalon (L 16) boards USS Vella Gulf (CG 72).jpg File:US Navy 090219-N-6278K-062 The visit, board, search and seizure team from the Danish flexible support ship HDMS Absalon (L 16) conduct VBSS training aboard USS Vella Gulf (CG-72).jpg

References

External links

Danish Defence Frømandskorpset
(in Danish)
Official Facebook Frømandskorpset page
(in Danish) {{Underwater diving, prodiv Armed forces diving Counterterrorist organizations Military units and formations established in 1957 Naval special forces units Special forces of Denmark Terrorism in Denmark