HSwMS Tre Kronor

HSwMS Tre Kronor was a cruiser built for the Royal Swedish Navy during the Second World War.

History
Sweden
Name	Tre Kronor
Namesake	Tre Kronor
Builder	Götaverken, Gothenburg
Laid down	27 September 1943
Launched	16 December 1944
Commissioned	25 October 1947
Out of service	1 January 1964
Motto	För Sveriges frihet ("For the freedom of Sweden")
Fate	Stricken, 1 January 1964 and scrapped, 1968
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	Tre Kronor-class cruiser
Displacement	7,400 long tons (7,519 t)
Length	181.96 m (597 ft 0 in)
Beam	16.45 m (54 ft 0 in)
Draft	5.9 m (19 ft 4 in)
Propulsion	2 shafts, 90000shp
Speed	33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph)
Complement	618
Armament	As built : 7 × Bofors 152 mm guns 20 × Bofors 40 mm guns 9 × 20 mm guns 6 × torpedo tubes From 1950 : 7 × 152 mm (6 in) guns 21 × 40 mm guns 6 × 20 mm guns 6 × torpedo tubes
Armor	70 mm (2.8 in) Deck: 30 + 30 mm (1.2 + 1.2 in) Conning tower and turrets: 127 mm (5 in)

Description

The Tre Kronor-class ships had an overall length of 181.96 meters (597 ft 0 in), a beam of 16.45 metres (54 ft 0 in) and a draft of 5.94 metres (19 ft 6 in) at deep load. They displaced was 7,400 long tons (7,500 t) at normal load, which increased to 9,200 long tons (9,300 t) at deep load. Four steam boilers fed steam to two geared steam turbines that each drove a single propeller shaft. The engines were rated at 100,000 shaft horsepower (75,000 kW) which gave the ships a speed of 33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph). They had a complement of 618 officers and men.

History

At the start of the war most of the ships of the Royal Swedish Navy were quite old and the navy was in need of new ships. In 1940 the government decided that three cruisers were to be built. A political debate broke out about the cruisers and works did not start until 1943. The ship was to be built in Götaverken in Gothenburg. Eventually only two of the cruisers were built, and the third cruiser-squadron of the Coastal Fleet would be led by the modernised AA-cruiser HSwMS Gotland.

The turrets used on HSwMS Tre Kronor were built by Bofors and were originally ordered by the Dutch Navy to be fitted on the two De Zeven Provinciën-class cruisers, but after the German occupation of the Netherlands the Swedish government was afraid they would be claimed by the Germans so they were confiscated.

Tre Kronor was launched 16 December 1944, commissioned on 25 October 1947, and served until 1 January 1964.

Captains

• 1947–1948: Erik af Klint
• 1949–1951: Erik Friberg
• 1954–1954: Harry Bong
• 1954–1955: Magnus Starck
• 1955–1956: Åke Lindemalm
• 1956–1957: Magnus Hammar
• 1957–1958: Anders Nilson

Bibliography

• Westerlund, Karl-Eric (1980). "Sweden". In Chesneau, Roger (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. New York: Mayflower Books. pp. 368–377. ISBN 0-8317-0303-2.
• Westerlund, Karl-Eric & Chumbley, Stephen (1995). "Sweden". In Chumbley, Stephen (ed.). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. pp. 443–453. ISBN 1-55750-132-7.
• Whitley, M. J. (1995). Cruisers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-141-6.