HSwMS Visby (K31)

Last updated
K31 HSwMS Visby (8644182258).jpg
HSwMS Visby in 2013
History
Naval Ensign of Sweden.svg
NameVisby
Namesake Visby
Ordered1995
Builder Kockums
Laid down17 February 1995
Launched8 June 2000
Commissioned16 September 2002
In service2012
Homeport Berga
Identification
StatusActive
Badge HMS Visby vapen, korvett.svg
General characteristics
Class and type Visby-class corvette
Displacement660 t (650 long tons)
Length72.6 m (238 ft 2 in)
Beam10.4 m (34 ft 1 in)
Draft2.5 m (8 ft 2 in)
Propulsion
Speed45+ knots[ citation needed ]
Complement
  • 27 officers
  • 16 conscripts
Sensors and
processing systems
  • Ericsson Sea Giraffe ABM 3D surveillance radar
  • Ceros 200 Fire control radar system
  • Condor CS-3701 Tactical Radar Surveillance System
  • Hull-mounted sonar
  • Towed array sonar system
  • Variable depth sonar
Electronic warfare
& decoys		 Rheinmetall Waffe Munition MASS (Multi-Ammunition Softkill) decoy system
Armament
Aviation facilities Helipad

HSwMS Visby (K31) is the lead ship of the Visby-class corvettes. It was created as a stealth ship, and underwent a decade long testing phase before it entered service with the Swedish Navy.

Contents

Design and description

HSwMS Visby is the lead ship of the Visby-class corvettes. [1] It was built by Kockums at the Karlskrona naval base, and was the first of four vessels of the class which are designed for coastal warfare. [2]

The hull of the vessel is made of carbon fiber reinforced plastic, a stealth technology, in order to make the vessel difficult to detect by other forces. A minimum of external equipment is stored outside of the vessel, with equipment such as liferafts being stored inside the hull. [3] This hull also reduces the weight of the vessel by around half. It was intended to be radar silent until it moves within 30 kilometres (19 mi) of an enemy vessel, resulting in designer John Nilsson saying of it, "Naval officers fall in love with [this] ship. It's not classically beautiful. In fact it looks like a lunchbox. But it has better maneuverability and can achieve that level of stealth." [2]

Construction and career

Visby completed sea trials in 2004. [2] The ship underwent a further eight years of tests by the Swedish Defence Procurement Agency, before being delivered to the Navy in late 2012. These tests included the firing of the RBS15 Mk2 AShM, which took place in July 2012. [1] In October 2014, Visby was amongst the Swedish vessels patrolling in an exercise for finding the source of "foreign underwater activity" which was rumoured to be a Russian submarine, identified by distress call. This rumour was denied by the Swedish authorities, who described it as an "intelligence operation". [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swedish Navy</span> Naval branch of the Swedish Armed Forces

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<i>Visby</i>-class corvette Swedish stealth missile corvettes

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saab Kockums</span>

Saab Kockums AB is a shipyard headquartered in Malmö, Sweden, owned by the Swedish defence company Saab Group. Saab Kockums AB is further operational in Muskö, Docksta, and Karlskrona. While having a history of civil vessel construction, Kockums' most renowned activity is the fabrication of military corvettes and submarines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stealth ship</span> Ship which uses stealth technology to reduce risk of detection

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HSwMS <i>Gotland</i> (Gtd) Swedish Gotland-class submarine

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<i>Göteborg</i>-class corvette Ship class

The Göteborg class is a class of corvettes in the Swedish Navy, built between 1986 and 1993. The class was originally designed to destroy Soviet submarines and surface vessels, and is armed with eight RBS-15 anti-ship missiles, torpedoes, one 57 mm cannon, and one 40 mm cannon.

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HSwMS <i>Härnösand</i> (K33) Swedish corvette

HSwMS Härnösand (K33) is the third ship of the Visby-class corvettes ordered by the Swedish Government and built by Kockums. The Härnösand is designed for mine countermeasures and anti-submarine warfare.

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HSwMS <i>Västergötland</i> (Vgd)

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HSwMS Hälsingland (Hgd), was the second submarine of the Västergötland class. The vessel was named after Hälsingland, Sweden. The submarine was launched on 31 August 1987 and entered service with the Swedish Navy on 20 October 1988. Hälsingland served with the Swedish Navy until 1997 when the submarine was decommissioned. In 2005 Hälsingland and sister boat HSwMS Västergötland were sold to Singapore, where Hälsingland was renamed RSS Archer and entered service on 2 December 2011. Archer remains in service.

HSwMS <i>Gävle</i> (K22) Swedish Göteborg-class corvette

HSwMS Gävle (K22) is a Swedish Navy Göteborg-class corvette, named after the Swedish city of Gävle.

HSwMS <i>Nyköping</i> (K34) Swedish Visby-class corvette

HSwMS Nyköping(K34) is the fourth ship commissioned of theVisby-class corvette, currently active in the Swedish Navy.

HSwMS <i>Karlstad</i> (K35) Swedish Visby-class corvette

HSwMS Karlstad(K35) was the fifth ship of the Visby-class corvette.

The Luleå class is a Swedish corvette class under development. In total four ships are planned to be built by Saab Kockums. The first two ships are to be commissioned by 2030 and two more by 2035. In June 2023 it was announched that the ships will receive names after Swedish coastal cities:

References

  1. 1 2 "Swedish Navy's HMS Visby test fires first guided missile". Naval-Technology.com. July 2, 2012. Retrieved October 19, 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 Summers, Chris (June 10, 2004). "Stealth ships steam ahead". BBC News. Retrieved October 19, 2014.
  3. ↑ ""Ryssland intresserat av vad vi övar"". SvD Nyhetter (in Swedish). October 18, 2014. Retrieved October 19, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Russia denies submarine incident off Sweden". BBC News. October 19, 2014. Retrieved October 19, 2014.
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