HSwMS Sjöbjörnen (Sbj)

HSwMS Sjöbjörnen (Sbj), Sw. meaning sea bear, was the third ship of the Swedish submarine class Sjöormen, project name A11.[1]

HSwMS Sjöbjörnen underway between 1970-1989.
History
Sweden
Name: HSwMS Sjöbjörnen
Ordered: 1966
Builder: Karlskrona naval base
Launched: 9 January 1968
Commissioned: 28 February 1969
Decommissioned: 1997
Motto: Nulli secundus ("Second to none")
Nickname(s): Sbj
Fate: Sold to Singapore in 1997
Singapore
Name: RSS Challenger
Namesake: Challenger
Acquired: 28 May 1999
Commissioned: 2000s
Decommissioned: 11 March 2015
Homeport: Changi Naval Base, Singapore
Fate: Scrapped
General characteristics
Class and type:
Displacement:
  • 1,130 t (1,112 long tons) surfaced
  • 1,210 t (1,191 long tons) submerged
Length: 50.5 m (165 ft 8 in)
Beam: 6.1 m (20 ft 0 in)
Draught: 5.8 m (19 ft 0 in)
Propulsion:
  • 2 × Hedemora diesel generators
  • 1 × electric motor
  • 1 shaft
Speed: 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement: 25 officers and enlisted
Armament:
  • 4 × 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes
  • 2 × 400 mm (16 in) torpedo tubes

Development

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. The ship was a single-hulled submarine, with the 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 pioneering 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.[2]

Service in Sweden

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.

Service in Singapore

HSwMS Sjöbjörnen was renamed RSS Challenger and Singapore reacquired the boat on 28 May 1999. She was commissioned on 26 June 2004 after a major refit. After 11 years in the Republic of Singapore Navy, she was decommissioned on 11 March 2015 and scrapped.[3]

  • HSwMS Sjöbjörnen & RSS Challenger gallery
  • HSwMS Sjöbjörnen being launched on 9 January 1968.
  • HSwMS Sjöbjörnen surfacing in 1968.
  • RSS Challenger undergoing session trials on 23 March 2010.

References
  1. "HMS Sjöbjörnen (Sbj)", Wikipedia (in Swedish), 2019-09-18, retrieved 2020-07-29
  2. "CHALLENGER CLASS SUBMARINE". Ministry of Defense Singapore. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  3. "End of service for Singapore submarines | Strategic Bureau of Information". www.strategic-bureau.com. Retrieved 2020-07-29.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.