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Swedish Navy

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Swedish Navy
Svenska marinen
Coat of arms of the Swedish Navy.
Founded7 June 1522
(502 years, 5 months)
Country Sweden
Size2,100[1]
Part ofSwedish Armed Forces
Garrison/HQMuskö[2]
March"Kungliga Flottans paradmarsch" (Wagner)
Anniversaries9 July (Battle of Svensksund)
EquipmentList of equipment
Engagements
See list
Commanders
Chief of NavyRAdm Johan Norlén
Deputy Chief of NavyBGen Patrik Gardesten
Chief of the Naval StaffCapt Håkan Nilsson
Insignia
Naval ensign and jack
Naval ensign 1844–1905
Naval ensign 1815–1844

The Swedish Navy (Swedish: Svenska marinen) is the maritime service branch of the Swedish Armed Forces.[3] It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet (Flottan), formally sometimes referred to as the Royal Navy (Kungliga Flottan) – as well as marine units, the Amphibious Corps (Amfibiekåren).

Founded under King Gustav I in 1522, the Swedish navy is one of the oldest continuously serving navies in the world, celebrating its 500th anniversary in 2022.

History

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Early Swedish kings (c. 9th–14th centuries) organised a Swedish Navy along the coastline through ledungen. This involved combined rowing and sailing ships (without artillery). This system became obsolete with the development of society and changes in military technology. No later than in the 14th century, the duty to serve in ledungen was replaced by a tax. In 1427, when Sweden was still part of the Kalmar Union (with Denmark and Norway), Swedish warships did however participate in the naval battle of Öresund against the Hanseatic League. It is unclear how this force was organised and exactly on what basis.

On 7 June 1522, one year after the separation of Sweden from the Kalmar Union, Gustav Vasa purchased a number of ships from the Hanseatic town of Lübeck. Official Swedish histories since the 19th century have often recorded this day as the birth of the current Swedish Navy. The museum ship Vasa in Stockholm was a 17th-century ship of the Royal Swedish Navy (Kungliga flottan).

Swedish Navy uniforms from the period 1779–1833; lithography by Adolf Ulrik Schützercrantz

The Amphibious Corps dates back to 1 January 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[citation needed] marine corps, renamed Amphibious Corps (Amfibiekåren) in 2000.

For most of the twentieth century, the Swedish Navy focused on the threat of a full-scale invasion of Sweden via the Baltic Sea and on protecting commercial shipping. Sweden's location on the Scandinavian peninsula makes it highly dependent of maritime trade: 90% imports and exports enter or leave Sweden through the Baltic. In 1972, the government decreed that non-military measures should be used to protect merchant shipping. The resolution led to the decommissioning of all the navy's destroyers and frigates, though the non-military measures the government intended to use to protect shipping have never been specified.

The navy first participated in a UN-led peacekeeping mission in October 2006 when the corvette HSwMS Gävle[note 1] began performing coastal surveillance duties for the United Nations Mission in Lebanon. HSwMS Gävle was relieved by HSwMS Sundsvall, which returned to Sweden in September 2007.

HSwMS Malmö, HSwMS Stockholm, and HSwMS Trossö took part in the EU-led EUNAVFOR operation (2008– ) off the coast of the Horn of Africa. In 2010, HSwMS Carlskrona was the EUNAVFOR flagship, housing the fleet headquarters led by RAdm (LH) Jan Thörnqvist.[5]

Organization

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Until recently, the Navy was led by the Chief of the Navy, who was typically a vice admiral. This office has been eliminated, and the highest officer of the Navy is now the Chief of Navy, Rear Admiral Johan Norlén, who is the senior representative of the Swedish Navy's combat forces.

The Marine units use the same system of rank as the Army.

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Amphibious units

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Bases

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Training units

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Fleet

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Main article: List of active Swedish Navy ships

Equipment

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Main article: List of equipment of the Swedish Navy

Commanders

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Main article: Chief of Navy (Sweden)

Ranks

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Main article: Military ranks of the Swedish Armed Forces
Commissioned officer ranks

The rank insignia of commissioned officers.

NATO code OF-10 OF-9 OF-8 OF-7 OF-6 OF-5 OF-4 OF-3 OF-2 OF-1
 Swedish Navy[6]
Amiral Viceamiral Konteramiral Flottiljamiral Kommendör Kommendörkapten Örlogskapten Kapten Löjtnant Fänrik
Other ranks

The rank insignia of non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel.

NATO code OR-9 OR-8 OR-7 OR-6 OR-5 OR-4 OR-3 OR-2 OR-1
 Swedish Navy[6]
Flottiljförvaltare Förvaltare Överfanjunkare Fanjunkare Översergeant Sergeant Överfurir Furir Korpral Vicekorpral Menig 4 Menig 3 Menig 2 Menig 1 Menig

See also

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Swedish Navy.

Notes

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  1. ^ In Swedish, vessels of the Swedish Navy are given the prefix "HMS", short for Hans/Hennes majestäts skepp (His/Her Majesty's Ship). In English, this is sometimes changed to "HSwMS" ("His Swedish Majesty's Ship") to differentiate Swedish vessels from those of the British Royal Navy. [4]

References

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  1. ^ IISS (2022). The Military Balance 2022. Routledge. p. 151. ISBN 978-1-032-27900-8.
  2. ^ Birke, Sune; Braunstein, Christian (2011). Sveriges marina förband och skolor under 1900-talet. Skrift / Statens försvarshistoriska museer, 1101-7023 ; 13 (in Swedish). Stockholm: Statens försvarshistoriska museer. pp. 8–13. SELIBR 12638815.
  3. ^ "The Navy". Swedish Armed Forces. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  4. ^ Allied Command Operations. "A Day Aboard HSwMS Kullen". NATO. Archived from the original on 20 October 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
  5. ^ "90 000 ton humanitär hjälp säkrades under svensk ledning" [90,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid was secured under Swedish leadership]. Swedish Armed Forces (in Swedish). 16 August 2010. Archived from the original on 27 August 2010.
  6. ^ a b "Försvarsmaktens Gradbeteckningar" (PDF). Försvarsmakten (in Swedish). Swedish Armed Forces. 2 January 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
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