Danish Hjӕlperen (LSM 500) converted to MTB tender and delivered but still wearing her LSM hull number.
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Class: Danish HJÆLPEREN (LSM 500)
Design: Navy LSM 1 converted
Displacement (tons): 842 light, 1,168 full
Dimensions (feet): 210.8' oa, 196.5' wl x 35.8' e x 7.9'
Armament: 2-40mmT; (1958) 2-40mmS
Accommodations: 102
Speed (kts.): 12.33
Propulsion (HP): 2,880
Machinery: Diesels (direct), 2 screws
Construction:
| AGP | Name | Reclas | Builder | Keel | Launch | Compl |
| -- | Danish HJÆLPEREN | (1951) | Brown SB, Houston | 17 Mar 1945 | 7 Apr 1945 | May 1953 |
Disposition:
| AGP | Name | T | US Decomm | US Strike | US Disposal | US Fate | MA Sale |
| -- | Danish HJÆLPEREN | -- | 8 Aug 1952 | 15 May 1953 | Trf | -- |
Class Notes:
Six relatively late LSM's were designated on 10 April 1951 for conversion and transfer under the new Mutual Defense Assistance Program (MDAP): LSM 481, 484, 490, 492, and 493 to Turkey and Norway as mine layers (see the MMC 6 class) and LSM 500 to Denmark as a Motor Torpedo Boat Tender. This FY 1951 MDAP mini conversion program, which accompanied a much larger MDAP new construction program primarily of minesweepers and extensive transfers of combatant ships, also included LST 50 for converson to a battle damage repair ship and transfer to Norway (see ARB 13) and PATROCLUS (ARL 19, q.v.) for conversion to a submarine tender and transfer to Turkey. On 31 May 1951 CNO authorized the conversion of LSM 500. Although LSM 500 was sometimes referred to within BUSHIPS as an AGP, CNO wrote on 2 July 1951 that "It is not desired to change the classification of the LSM 500 as it will be transferred to Denmark upon the completion of its conversion." The conversion was ordered on 13 August 1951 from NSY Charleston (S.C.) by Project Order 18745. (The conversion of PATROCLUS was ordered from Charleston on the same date by Project Order 50746.) Further design work was contracted out to Friede and Goldman as design agents and they submitted a preliminary arrangement and profile sketch on 24 August 1951 followed by hull, machinery, and electrical contract drawings in October. A circular of requirements for the conversion of LSM 500 to a motor torpedo boat tender, "LSM 500 (AGP)," was issued on 1 November 1951. The conversion of LSM 500 began 1 April 1952, and by 1 November 1952 the estimated delivery date was 1 May 1953, five months behind the original estimate. She was stricken by the USN before being transferred (although the date above, found only in Musgrove, may be inaccurate).
The ship, whose Danish name HJÆLPEREN means "the helper," was intended to serve six motor torpedo boats. As of August 1951 no U.S. PT's had been assigned to Denmark but it was assumed by BUSHIPS that they would be similar to those sent to Norway (PT 602-612 less 607), which had Packard engines. Facilities to overhaul such engines were thus included in the design. However Denmark was then using ex-German S-boats which were Diesel-propelled and opted instead to build under MDAP six boats of the similar FLYVEFISKEN class (U.S. PT 813-818), which entered service in 1954-55.
Ship Notes:
| AGP | Name | MA | Notes |
| -- | Danish HJÆLPEREN | Ex-LSM 500 (comm. 17 May 1945, decomm. 9 Jan 1947). Named by Denmark 11 Feb 1953. Modernized by the Copenhagen Dockyard 1966-67 and modified at Svendborg 1971-72. Decomm. 12 Oct 1973, struck by Denmark Aug 1974. Sold by USN 12 Sep 1976 to Pounds Marine Shipping, Portsmouth, and towed there from Holmen October 1976. Moved by March 1979 to Husbands Shipyard, Marchwood, England, later BU. |
Page Notes:
Compiled: 7 October 2023
© Stephen S. Roberts, 2023
Special sources: NARA: RG 19 Entry UD 1024-A Box 1; Gunnar Olsen and Svenn Storgaard, Flådens Skibe og Fartøjer 1945-1995 (Copenhagen, 1998)