Page 72 - Le Operazioni Interforze e Multinazionali nella Storia Militare - ACTA Tomo II

712 XXXIX Congresso della CommIssIone InternazIonale dI storIa mIlItare • CIHm

CG-61USS
MONTEREY of the
TICONDEROGA
class joined SHARP
GUARD in the sum-
mer of 1995. In
addition to the 1
or 2 US warships
that participated in
SHARP GUARD,
parts of the US Sixth
Fleet also operated
in the area ande
US aircraft partici-
pated in Operation

DENY FLIGHT. A Ticonderoga class cruiser was deployed to the SHARP GUARD mis-
sion virtually during the whole 1993-1996 period. These units were very important as
their advanced electronic equipment gave the SHARP GURAD forces direct access to
the air situation above the Adriatic Sea which US aircraft and ships provided on an on-
going basis. A number of submarines also participated in SHARP GUARD but the large
nuclear US submarines proved to be of limited value as their size meant that they could
not operate too close to the coast.
During the 3-year long SHARP GUARD operation, 14 of NATO’s then 16 member
states contributed ships to the force - the two countries not contributing were Luxemburg
and Iceland, but both had a legitimate excuse: no naval ships!.

The Danish Participation in Operations MARITIME MONITOR and SHARP
GUARD
As previously mentioned, the Danish corvette Niels Juel had, briefly participated in
the embargo as part of its participation in STANAVFORLANT 1992.
On 1 June 1993, Danish Defense Minister Haekkerup presented a “proposal for a
parliamentary resolution on Danish participation in the international maritime embargo
on the former Yugoslavia” (B 99) to the Danish parliament. The duration of the Danish
contribution - a corvette - was supposed to be until the end of September 1993 . The
6
proposal was adopted with 118 votes in favor and none against.
B 99 made it clear that the corvette risked being faced with a situation where it would

be necessary to use force to defend the ship, other task force units or to stop a blockade
runner. Parliament gave the needed consent for this.

Once again, the first Danish corvette to join the operation after the adoption of B 99
was Niels Juel which participated from 14 June to 1 August, with Commander Henrik

6 At this time, Denmark had made both a Niels Juel class corvette and a Tumleren class submarine available to
NATO but there is nothing suggesting that it was considered deploying a submarine to the Adriatic Sea.