Östergötland-class destroyer

The Östergötland class were a class of destroyers built for the Swedish Navy in the late 1950s. They were smaller and less capable than the preceding Halland class and were decommissioned in 1982. The class were the last destroyers built by Sweden in the 20th century. They were sometimes referred to as Light destroyers.

HSwMS Östergötland
Class overview
Name:	Östergötland class
Builders:	Götaverken, Eriksbergs Mekaniska Verkstad, Kockums Mekaniska Verkstads AB
Operators:	Swedish Navy
Preceded by:	Halland class
Succeeded by:	None to date (As of March 2015)
In commission:	Sweden: 1958–1982
Completed:	4
Retired:	4
General characteristics [1]
Type:	Destroyer
Displacement:	2,150 tons standard 2,600 tons full load
Length:	112 m (367 ft 5 in)
Beam:	11.2 m (36 ft 9 in)
Draft:	3.7 m (12 ft 2 in)
Propulsion:	2 shaft geared turbines, 2 boilers, 47,000 hp (35,000 kW)
Speed:	35 kn (65 km/h)
Range:	3,000 nmi (6,000 km) at 20 knots (37 km/h)
Complement:	244
Armament:	4 × 120 mm (4.7 in) guns m/44 (2×2) 7 × Bofors 40 mm AA guns m/48 (7×1) 6 × 533 mm (21.0 in) torpedo tubes (1×6 ) for Wire-guided Torped 61 1 Squid anti-submarine mortar 1 quadruple Seacat SAM launcher replaced 3 - 40mm guns in 1960's
Notes:	Ships of the class took part in a number of incidents and confrontations involving Soviet incursions into Swedish waters during the late 1970s and early 1980s, most notably the Whiskey on the rocks incident in 1981.

Ships

ship	Pennant number	builder	commissioned	fate
HSwMS Östergötland	J20	Götaverken, Göteborg	1958	Decommissioned 1982
HSwMS Södermanland	J21	Eriksberg, Göteborg[lower-alpha 1]	1958	Decommissioned 1982
HSwMS Gästrikland	J22	Götaverken, Göteborg	1959	Decommissioned 1982
HSwMS Hälsingland	J23	Eriksberg, Göteborg	1959	Decommissioned 1982

The general layout of an Östergötland destroyer, prior to the class being modernised between 1963 and 1967

Södermanland testing its newly installed Sea Cat launcher sometime during 1963. The linked CRBFD used a variant of the M4 radar manufactured by Hollandse Signaalapparaten.[2]

Notes

1. In the case of the Södermanland, unlike her sister ship Hälsingland, Eriksbergs Mekaniska Verkstad just built the hull, with completion and fitting out done by Kockums Mekaniska Verkstads AB. The reasons for this are unclear, though it may possibly have been part of a work share agreement.

References

1. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947-1995
2. "SEACAT - The Guided Missile To Defend Small Ships" FLIGHT International, 5 September 1963, p. 442.

• Gardiner, Robert and Stephen Chumbley. Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995. Annapolis, Maryland, USA, 1995. ISBN 1-55750-132-7.