Stockholm-class corvette

Stockholm class is a patrol boat in the Swedish Navy. Built as corvettes in Karlskrona 1984–1985, it was armed with four RBS15 anti-ship missiles, one 57mm cannon and several machine guns. In 2017 the two units in the class were rebuilt and are now serving as patrol boats. The option to carry anti-ship missiles does however remain.

K12 HSwMS Malmö & K11 HSwMS Stockholm Note: The different turret between the two ships
Class overview
Builders: Karlskronavarvet AB
Operators:  Swedish Navy
Succeeded by: Göteborg class corvette
In commission: 22 August 1984
Planned: 2
Completed: 2
Active:
  • HSwMS Stockholm
  • HSwMS Malmö
General characteristics
Displacement: 380 tonnes
Length: 50m
Beam: 7,5m
Draft: 2.6m
Propulsion:
Speed: 30 knots
Complement:
  • 21 Officers
  • 14 Conscripts
Sensors and
processing systems:
Electronic warfare
& decoys:		 Rheinmetall TKWA/MASS (Multi Ammunition Softkill System)
Armament:
  • When Launched
  • 1 × Bofors 57mm
  • 1 × Bofors 40mm
  • 2 x 533mm Torpedo 613
  • 8 × RBS15 Mk2 AShM
  • Current
  • 1 × Bofors 57mm MKII
  • 4-8 × RBS15 Mk2 AShM
  • 40cm Torpedo 45
  • Mines & Depth charges

History

The Stockholm Class Corvette started as a study for a ship with increased endurance, a project called Ytattack-81 (Surface combatant-81), which was built on the torpedo boats of Spica and Spica II classes, but with an increased displacement from 230 tons to 350 tons. The engine was to be a CODAG-concept, two diesels and one gas turbine. However, the class looked to become just another desktop project.

In the early 1980s a series of submarine incidents occurred within Swedish territorial waters, the most famous of which was U 137 which ran aground outside Karlskrona 1981. These incidents showed that the Swedish Navy was seriously lacking in its anti-submarine (ASW) capacity. Specifically, it needed new hulls designed to anti-submarine warfare, and it needed them fast. The decision was to use the Ytattack-81 project and modify it for ASW operations, as designing a completely new ship is a time-consuming and costly task. It was given a towed array sonar, ASW torpedoes and the ELMA anti-submarine mortar system. HMS Stockholm was launched 22 August 1984 closely followed by HMS Malmö 23 March 1985, both ships entered service 1 May 1986.

In the middle of the 1990s the ships started to show their age, mainly because of their high mileage and the latest few years explosive development of electronics. The Stockholm class was a successful design and the ships' basic status was good despite a hard life so the Swedish Defence Administration decided to give the ships a second life. HMS Malmö was the first to be modernised in 1999 with HMS Stockholm following in 2000. The modernisation included new engines, combat control systems, fire control systems, SIGINT and navigational systems. The ships both went through extensive modification of the mast, hull and superstructure to reduce their radar cross-section. Much of the modification was also made with low maintenance in mind to minimise the need for expensive repairs in the future. The guiding principle for the project was to update as much of the systems as possible to the same level as the Visby Corvettes. Both ships are back in operational condition now, attached to the 31'st Corvette Division of the 3rd Naval Warfare Flotilla.

In early 2009 the Swedish government decided that the two ships in the class was to join the EU-led taskforce outside Somalia, where it would fight piracy.[1] In May 2009 the ships started their first patrol off the Somali coast. On May 26, HMS Malmö responded to a pirate attack on the Greek ship M/V Antonis. The Corvette fired warning shots with its 57mm cannon and arrested seven pirates.[2][3]

In 2015, Saab was awarded a contract to overhaul the Swedish Navy’s Stockholm-class corvettes[4] and the ships were redesignated as patrolboats. The ships retain most of their weaponry and will continue to be stationed at the Carlskrona naval base.[5]

HSwMS Stockholm in Kalmar

The crew complement will be reduced so not all weapon and sensor stations can be manned simultaneously, instead they will get two crews so the ships can stay at sea for more days of the year.

Units
HSwMS Stockholm Drawing
Bow number Ship name Laid down Launched Commissioned Service Status
K11, later P11 HSwMS Stockholm 1 August 1982 22 August 1984 1 May 1986 3rd Naval Warfare Flotilla Modernised 2000, Active
K12, later P12 HSwMS Malmö 14 March 1983 23 March 1985 1 May 1986 3rd Naval Warfare Flotilla Modernised 1999, Active

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-03-20. Retrieved 2009-03-31.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-06-01. Retrieved 2009-05-26.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. Pirate attack thwarted - Piratattack avvärjdes (HD), retrieved 2020-01-10
  4. "Saab to overhaul Swedish Navy's Stockholm-class corvettes". Naval Technology. 2015-12-22. Retrieved 2020-01-10.
  5. Försvarsmakten. "Patrullfartyg Stockholm". Försvarsmakten (in Swedish). Retrieved 2020-01-10.
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