Swedish Navy

The Swedish Naval Ensign

Coat of arms of the Swedish Navy

The Swedish Navy (Swedish: Marinen) is the naval branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It consists of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet (Flottan) – as well as marine units, the so-called Amphibious Corps (Amfibiekåren).

In Swedish, Royal Swedish Navy vessels are given the prefix "HMS," short for Hans/Hennes Majestäts Skepp (His/Her Majesty's Ship).

History

On June 7, 1522, merely a year after the separation of Sweden from the Kalmar Union, King Gustav I purchased a number of ships from the hanseatic town of Lübeck which is seen as the birth of the Navy. The Vasa was a 17th-century ship of the Swedish Navy, then known as the Royal Swedish Navy (Kungliga flottan).

The Amphibious Corps dates back to January 1, 1902, when a separate "Coastal Artillery" (Kustartilleriet) was established, and Marinen came into use as the name of the service as a whole. The last decade of the 20th century saw the abandonment of the coastal fortifications and the force became a more regular marine corps, renamed Svenska amfibiekåren (the Swedish Amphibious Corps) in 2000.

Organization

Until recently, the Navy was led by the Chief of the Navy (Chefen för Marinen, CM), who was typically a Vice Admiral. This office has been abolished, and the highest officer of the Navy is now the Naval Inspector (Marininspektören), Rear Admiral Anders Grenstad.

The Amphibious Corps uses the same system of rank as the Army. The present Commander-in-Chief, General Håkan Syrén, was taken from this service.

Naval units

The submarine HMS Gotland

* 1st Submarine flotilla (1. ubflj) located at Karlskrona
* 3rd Naval Warfare Flotilla (3. sjöstridsflj) located at Karlskrona
* 4th Naval Warfare Flotilla (4. sjöstridsflj) located at Muskö

Amphibious units

* 1st Amphibious Regiment (Amf 1) located in Berga

Bases

* Naval Base (MarinB) located at Karlskrona with detachments at Muskö, Berga and Härnösand.

Equipment

Unlike many of the larger navies the Swedish was changed into a coastal defence force after the Second World War and is not meant to project force on other countries. It lacks many of the ships vital to battle far from land, such as aircraft carriers, cruisers, nuclear submarines and destroyers. The largest combat ships are corvettes. This limits the endurance of the navy, but smaller short-range ships was deemed better suited for missions along the coast, in the archipelago and in the Baltic Sea.

Surface warships in the Swedish navy are named after Swedish cities, while the submarines are named after Swedish provinces and the minehunters are named after Swedish islands. The surface ships are mostly small, relying on agility and flexibility. Examples of these Stockholm and Göteborg class corvettes. The Navy is currently taking into service a new, larger, class of stealth corvettes, the Visby. Also, a new submarine class, Gotland, similar to the older Västergötland, has recently been commissioned. Its air independent Stirling engine enables submerged endurance never before seen in conventional submarines. The Gotland is presently on lease with crew and all to the US navy and is based in San Diego.

The Amphibious Corps is built around the Stridsbåt 90H, a small combat boat capable of carrying 21 soldiers for fast transports and landings in the archipelago. It is also equipped with larger transport boats, but relies on the army, navy and air force for heavy transports and protection.

Surface Vessels

*Corvettes
**5 Visby class (stealth corvette)
***HMS Visby (K31)
***HMS Helsingborg (K32)
***HMS Härnösand (K33)
***HMS Nyköping (K34)
***HMS Karlstad (K35) (under construction)
**4 Göteborg class
***HMS Göteborg (K21)
***HMS Gävle (K22)
***HMS Kalmar (K23)
***HMS Sundsvall (K24)
**2 Stockholm class
***HMS Stockholm (K11)
***HMS Malmö (K12)
*Combat Boats
**187 Stridsbåt 90
*Mine Counter-Measure Vessels
**7 Landsort class
**4 Styrsö class
**HMS Carlskrona (M04)

Submarines

*Submarines
**3 Gotland class
**2 Södermanland class

Auxiliary Vessels

*Landing craft
**~100 G class landing craft
*Auxiliary vessels
**1 Älvsborg class support vessel
**1 Trossö class support vessel
**HMS Arkösund
**HMS Grundsund
**HMS Belos (submarine salvage vessel)
**12 Tapper class patrol boats
*2 Torpedo salvage vessels
**HMS Pelikanen
**HMS Pingvinen
*Transportships
**HMS Sleipner
*SIGINT vessels
**HMS Orion

Strategy

For many years the Swedish navy was built around a single task, to stop a full-scale invasion over the Baltic Sea, preferably by creating massive losses before the enemy could reach the shore. Today the navy is changing rapidly. With the collapse of the Soviet Union the only viable threat in the local area disappeared. The army and air force has a strong presence in UN missions. The swedish navy has four rapidly deployable units on 30 days standby but has not yet participated in any mission. These are a corvette squadron (2 Göteborg class) with a support ship, a minecountermeasures squadron (2 Landsort class) with a support ship, one submarine and a forward naval support element. In the near future there will also be an amphibous unit on 30 days standby.

See also

*Royal Swedish Society of Naval Sciences
*Swedish National Maritime Museums
*Leidang
*List of Swedish wars
*List of Swedish military commanders
*List of Swedish monarchs
*List of ships of the Swedish Navy
*List of Swedish steam battleships
*Swedish Admirals

External links

*Swedish Navy - Official site