HSwMS Sjöhunden (Shu)

HSwMS Sjöhunden (Shu), Sw. meaning sea dog, was the fourth ship of the Swedish submarine class Sjöormen, project name A11.

HSwMS Sjöhunden underway between 1968-1997
History
Sweden
NameSjöhunden
NamesakeSjöhunden
Ordered1966
BuilderKarlskrona
Launched21 March 1968
Commissioned25 July 1969
Decommissioned1997
HomeportStockholm
Motto
  • Cave canem
  • (Beware of the dog)
Nickname(s)Shu
FateSold to Singapore in 1997
Singapore
NameChieftain
NamesakeChieftain
Acquired28 May 1999
Commissioned26 June 2004
HomeportChangi
StatusActive
General characteristics
Class and type
Displacement
  • 1,130 t (1,112 long tons) surfaced
  • 1,210 t (1,191 long tons) submerged
Length50.5 m (165 ft 8 in)
Beam6.1 m (20 ft 0 in)
Draught5.8 m (19 ft 0 in)
Propulsion
  • 2 × Hedemora Diesel generators
  • 1 × electric motor
  • 1 shaft
Speed20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement25 officers and enlisted
Armament

Development

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The planning of the class included a number of different AIP-solutions including nuclear propulsion, however the ships where finally completed with for the time extremely large batteries.[citation needed] The ship was a single hull submarine, with hull shape influenced by the American experimental submarine USS Albacore. The hull was covered with rubber tiles to reduce the acoustic signature (Anechoic tiles), at this time a pioneer technology. The Sjöormen class also pioneered the use of an x-shaped (as opposed to cross-shaped) rudder as a standard (as opposed to experimental) feature.[1][2]

Service history

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The submarine served in the Swedish Navy for almost 30 years and was then sold to Singapore in 1997 together with its four sister ships.

HSwMS Sjöhunden was renamed RSS Chieftain and Singapore acquired the boat on 28 May 1999. She was commissioned into the Republic of Singapore Navy on 26 June 2004 after a major refit. She was in active service as of 2020.

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References

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  1. ^ "Challenger Class Submarine". Ministry of Defense Singapore. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  2. ^ "SJÖHUNDEN (1968) [sv] - KulturNav". kulturnav.org. Retrieved 30 July 2020.