The Chief of Navy (, MC) is the most senior appointment in the

Swedish Navy The Swedish Navy () is the maritime service branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet (), formally sometimes referred to as the Royal Navy () – as well as marine units, the Amph ...

. The position Chief of Navy was introduced in 1936 and the current form in 2014.

History

Until 1936 the

Swedish monarch The monarchy of Sweden is centred on the monarchical head of state of Sweden,See the #IOG, Instrument of Government, Chapter 1, Article 5. by law a constitutional monarchy, constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system.Parl ...

was the

Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces The Chief of Defence, formerly the Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces (; acronym: ÖB) is the highest ranked professional military officer in the Swedish Armed Forces, and is by NATO terminology the Sweden, Swedish chief of defence, c ...

and had formally maintained the Chief of the Navy position together with the Chief of the Military Office of the Minister of Defence in the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

, which is in fact maintained the position. The position of a single professional "Chief of the Navy" (, CM) was established in 1936 in accordance with the Defence Act of 1936. The position of Chief of the Navy existed from 1936 to 1994 and during this time it was his responsibility to lead the navy units production and development. During the period 1936 to 1961 the Chief of the Navy also had an operational commanding responsibility for the naval forces. Following a larger reorganization of the

Swedish Armed Forces The Swedish Armed Forces (, literally ''Defence Force'') are the Military, armed forces of the Kingdom of Sweden. It consists of four separate military branches, the Swedish Army, the Swedish Navy, the Swedish Air Force and the Home Guard (Swed ...

in 1994, the staff agency Chief of the Navy ceased to exist as an independent agency. Instead, the post Chief of Navy Command () was created at the then newly instituted Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters. In 1998, the Swedish Armed Forces was again reorganized. Most of the duties of the Chief of Navy Command were transferred to the newly instituted post of " Inspector General of the Navy" (). The post is similar to that of the "Inspector General of the

Swedish Army The Swedish Army () is the army, land force of the Swedish Armed Forces of the Kingdom of Sweden. Beginning with its service in 1521, the Swedish Army has been active for more than 500 years. History Svea Life Guards dates back to the year 1 ...

" () and the "Inspector General of the

Swedish Air Force The Swedish Air Force ( or just ) is the air force Military branch, branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. History The Swedish Air Force was created on 1 July 1926 when the aircraft units of the Army and Navy were merged. Because of the escalatin ...

" (). It was later renamed to "Inspector of the Navy" () on 1 January 2003. On 1 January 2014, the "Chief of Navy" (, MC) position was reinstated in the Swedish Armed Forces. The position has not the same duties as before.

Tasks

Tasks of the Chief of Navy: *Lead the units which the Chief of Swedish Armed Forces Training and Development has distributed *To the Chief of Swedish Armed Forces Training and Development propose the development of the units' abilities *Being the foremost representative of the units *Represent the units and the area of ability in international contacts

Heraldry

A command flag of the Chief of Navy, drawn by Brita Grep and embroidered by hand by the company Libraria, was introduced during the reign of

Gustaf VI Adolf Gustaf VI Adolf (Oscar Fredrik Wilhelm Olaf Gustaf Adolf; 11 November 1882 – 15 September 1973) was King of Sweden from 29 October 1950 until his death in 1973. He was the eldest son of Gustaf V and his wife, Victoria of Baden. Before Gustaf ...

(1950–1973).

Blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

: "Fessed in yellow and blue; on yellow two blue batons of command with sets of yellow crowns placed two and one in saltire, on blue an anchor erect cabled over two gun barrels of older pattern in saltire, all yellow." A new command flag manufactured by ''Handarbetets Vänner Ateljé'', which is a subcontractor to the

Swedish Army Museum The Swedish Army Museum () is a museum of military history located in the district of Östermalm in Stockholm. It reopened in 2002 after a long period of closure, and was awarded the title of the best museum of Stockholm in 2005. Its displays il ...

, was completed in 2020. The flag is embroidered by Jennie Jakobsson and Katarina Öberg. Parts of the preparatory work were done by Anna Eriksson and printed by Marie-Louise Sjöblom. The model drawing was made by Henrik Dahlström, who previously served at the

National Archives of Sweden The National Archives of Sweden (, RA) is the official archive of the Swedish government and is responsible for the management of records from Sweden's public authorities. Although the archives functions primarily as the government archive, it al ...

and who is now a heraldic artist and graphic designer at the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters. The new command flag was nailed in solemn forms at the

Maritime Museum A maritime museum (sometimes nautical museum) is a museum specializing in the display of objects relating to ships and travel on large bodies of water. A subcategory of maritime museums are naval museums, which focus on navy, navies and the m ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

on 10 September 2021 with six former Chiefs of Navy: Vice Admiral Dick Börjesson (1990–1994), Vice Admiral Peter Nordbeck (1994–1998), Rear Admiral Anders Grenstad (2005–2011), Vice Admiral Jan Thörnqvist (2011–2016), Rear Admiral Jens Nykvist (2016–2020), and the then Chief of Navy, Rear Admiral Ewa Skoog Haslum (2020–2024). File:Kommandotecken Marinchefen MM 25332.jpg, Command flag of the Chief of Navy. File:Kommandotecken Marinchefen.svg, Command sign of the Chief of Navy.

List of chiefs

, -style="text-align:center;" !colspan=7, Chief of the Navy (''Chefen för marinen'') , -style="text-align:center;" !colspan=7, Chief of Navy Command (''Chef för marinledningen'') , -style="text-align:center;" !colspan=7, Inspector General of the Navy (''Generalinspektör för marinen'') , -style="text-align:center;" !colspan=7, Inspector of the Navy (''Marininspektör'') , -style="text-align:center;" !colspan=7, Chief of Navy (''Marinchef'')

List of deputy chiefs

, -style="text-align:center;" !colspan=7, Deputy Inspector General of the Navy (''Ställföreträdande generalinspektör för marinen'') , -style="text-align:center;" !colspan=7, Deputy Chief of Navy (''Ställföreträdande marinchef'')

References

Notes

Print

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chief of Navy (Sweden)

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

Swedish Navy Military appointments of Sweden