HSwMS Gotland was an aircraft cruiser built for the Royal Swedish Navy during the 1930s. Completed in 1934, she was assigned to the Coastal Fleet and also served as a training ship for naval cadets in foreign waters until the beginning of World War II in 1939. During the war the ship conducted neutrality patrols and continued to serve as a training ship. Gotland was converted into an anti-aircraft cruiser in 1943–1944 as her floatplanes were obsolete and modern replacements could not be purchased. After the war ended in 1945, she became a dedicated training ship and resumed making lengthy foreign cruises with cadets.
HSwMS Clas Fleming was a cruiser-minelayer built before World War I for the Royal Swedish Navy. Completed in 1914, the ship performed limited neutrality patrols in the Sea of Åland and the northern reaches of the Stockholm Archipelago during the war. She was placed in reserve in 1917 to be modified to make laying mines safer and remained in that status until the beginning of World War II in 1939 to save money. Clas Fleming was activated for a short time that year to lay defensive minefields before she began a reconstruction that installed an early version of gas turbines, the first warship in the world to be so equipped. After her sea trials were completed in 1940, she was on active service for the rest of the war. Clas Fleming was again reduced to reserve at that time and did not leave the dockyard before she was stricken from the navy list in 1959. The ship briefly served as a target ship before being sold for scrap the following year.
HSwMS Ehrensköld (11), was the lead ship of her class of destroyer in the Swedish Navy during World War II. Together with the sister ship HSwMS Nordenskjöld (12), she constituted the Ehrensköld class, which, with its size and speed, was a major step in the Swedish destroyer fleet. Initially, Ehrensköld had pennant number 11, which was later changed to 1. In 1951-1952, the ship was converted to frigate, and then received the pennant number 71. She was decommissioned in 1963 and was sold for scrapping in 1973.
SMS Arcona was the ninth member of the ten-ship Gazelle class of light cruisers that were built for the German Kaiserliche Marine in the late 1890s and early 1900s. The Gazelle class was the culmination of earlier unprotected cruiser and aviso designs, combining the best aspects of both types in what became the progenitor of all future light cruisers of the Imperial fleet. Built to be able to serve with the main German fleet and as a colonial cruiser, she was armed with a battery of ten 10.5 cm (4.1 in) guns and a top speed of 21.5 knots. Arcona was a modified version of the basic Gazelle design, with improved armor and additional coal storage for a longer cruising range.
SMS Kronprinz was a unique German ironclad warship built for the Prussian Navy in 1866–1867. Kronprinz was laid down in 1866 at the Samuda Brothers shipyard at Cubitt Town in London. She was launched in May 1867 and commissioned into the Prussian Navy that September. The ship was the fourth ironclad ordered by the Prussian Navy, after Arminius, Prinz Adalbert, and Friedrich Carl, though she entered service before Friedrich Carl. Kronprinz was built as an armored frigate, armed with a main battery of sixteen 21 cm (8.3 in) guns; several smaller guns were added later in her career.
SMS Tiger was a torpedo cruiser built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the mid-1880s. An enlarged and improved version of the Panther class, she was part of a program to build up Austria-Hungary's fleet of torpedo craft in the 1880s. The Panther class, purchased from a British shipyard, was acquired in part to gain experience building cruisers of the type; this provided the basis for the design of Tiger. She was laid down at the Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino shipyard in October 1886, she was launched in June 1887, and was completed in March 1888. The ship was armed with a battery of four 12 cm (4.7 in) guns and three 35 cm (14 in) torpedo tubes, and was capable of speeds in excess of 19 knots.
HSwMS Puke (19) was a Psilander-class destroyer of the Swedish Navy from 1940 to 1947. The ship was purchased from Italy by Sweden in 1940, along with her sister ship HSwMS Psilander. Before that, she served in the Regia Marina as Bettino Ricasoli, one of four members of the Italian Sella class. Puke was scrapped in 1949.
The John Ericsson-class monitors were a group of five iron-hulled monitors; four were built for the Royal Swedish Navy and one for the Royal Norwegian Navy in the mid to late 1860s. They were designed under the supervision of the Swedish-born inventor, John Ericsson, and built in Sweden. Generally, the monitors were kept in reserve for the majority of the year and were only commissioned for several during the year. The ships made one foreign visit to Russia in 1867 but remained in Swedish or Norwegian waters for the rest of their careers. Two of the monitors, Thordon and Mjølner, ran aground, but were salvaged and repaired. Most of the monitors were reconstructed between 1892 and 1905 with more modern guns, but one was scrapped instead as it was not thought cost-effective to rebuild such an old ship. The surviving ships were mobilized during World War I and sold for scrap afterwards.
HSwMS John Ericsson was the lead ship of the John Ericsson-class monitors built for the Royal Swedish Navy in the mid-1860s. She was designed under the supervision of the Swedish-born inventor, John Ericsson, and built in Sweden. John Ericsson made one foreign visit to Russia in 1867, but remained in Swedish or Norwegian waters for the rest of her career. The ship was reconstructed between 1892 and 1895, but generally remained in reserve. She was mobilized during World War I and sold in 1919 for conversion to a barge.
HSwMS Thordön was the second ship of the John Ericsson-class monitors built for the Royal Swedish Navy in the mid-1860s. She was designed under the supervision of the Swedish-born inventor, John Ericsson, and built in Sweden. Thordön made one foreign visit to Russia in 1867, but remained in Swedish or Norwegian waters for the rest of her career. The ship was reconstructed between 1903 and 1905, but generally remained in reserve. She was mobilized during World War I, and sold in 1922 for conversion to a barge.
SMS Friedrich Carl was an ironclad warship built for the Prussian Navy in the mid-1860s. The ship was constructed in the French Société Nouvelle des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée shipyard in Toulon; her hull was laid in 1866 and launched in January 1867. The ship was commissioned into the Prussian Navy in October 1867. The ship was the third ironclad ordered by the Prussian Navy, after Arminius and Prinz Adalbert, though the fourth ship to be acquired, Kronprinz, was ordered after but commissioned before Friedrich Carl.
Masséna was ordered as a third-rank, 90-gun sailing Suffren-class ship of the line for the French Navy, but was converted to a steam-powered ship in the 1850s while under construction. Completed in 1861 the ship participated in the Second French intervention in Mexico the following year. Hulked in 1879 and used as a barracks ship, the vessel sank at her moorings in 1904 and was subsequently scrapped in place.
SMS Zara was a torpedo cruiser of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, the lead ship of the Zara class. She was laid down in August 1878, launched in November 1879, and commissioned into the fleet in July 1882. The ship was armed with a battery of light guns and four torpedo tubes. She proved to be poorly designed, being too slow for use as a fleet scout or as a flotilla leader for torpedo boats, so she saw little active service. Throughout the 1880s and 1890s, she was frequently in reserve, being activated infrequently to participate in training exercises. She served as a guard ship in Cattaro Bay for most of World War I, before being withdrawn for use as a cadet training ship in June 1917. She served in this capacity until the end of the war in 1918, and was ceded to Italy as a war prize in 1920. The Italian Navy had no use for the vessel, and sold her to ship breakers in 1921.
HSwMS Psilander (18) was a Psilander-class destroyer of the Swedish Navy from 1940 to 1947. The ship was purchased from Italy by Sweden in 1940, along with her sister ship HSwMS Puke. Before that, she served in the Regia Marina as Giovanni Nicotera, one of four members of the Italian Sella class. Psilander was scrapped in 1949.
SMS Nix was the lead ship of the two-vessel Nix class of avisos built for the Prussian Navy in the early 1850s. After commissioning in 1851, Nix saw little activity, apart from short training exercises and cruises in the Baltic Sea, which were frequently punctuated with boiler fires. A dissatisfied Prussian Navy decided to sell both Nix-class ships. In 1855, the Prussians sold Nix to the British Royal Navy in exchange for the sail frigate Thetis, and was commissioned as HMS Weser. She saw action during the Crimean War at the Battle of Kinburn in October 1855, and thereafter saw little activity, being based in Malta. She was ultimately decommissioned in 1865, used as a harbor ship, and then sold to ship breakers in 1873.
HSwMS Stockholm was a ship of the line that served in the Swedish Navy and was built by Karlskrona Naval Shipyard. She was named after Stockholm. Commissioned in 1857 and decommissioned in 1921.
HSwMS Gästrikland(J22) was the third ship of the Östergötland-class destroyer.
HSwMS Hälsingland(J23) was the fourth ship of the Östergötland-class destroyer.
HSwMS Visby(J11) was the lead ship of the Visby-class destroyer.
HSwMS Hälsingborg(J13) was the third ship of the Visby-class destroyer.
Sweden