HSwMS ''Sölve'' is one of seven s built for the Swedish Navy in the mid-1870s. The ship had an uneventful career and was sold in 1919 for conversion into a

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...

. She became a museum ship in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1992.

Design and description

The ''Hildur''-class monitors were designed by Lieutenant John Christian d'Ailly, from a proposal by

John Ericsson John Ericsson (born Johan Ericsson; July 31, 1803 – March 8, 1889) was a Swedish-American inventor. He was active in England and the United States. Ericsson collaborated on the design of the railroad steam locomotive ''Novelty'', which co ...

, for the defense of Lake Mälaren and the Stockholm archipelago. The ships were

long overall __NOTOC__ Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, an ...

and had a beam of . They had a

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

of and displaced . Her crew numbered 48 officers and men. The ship had

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally air or water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adve ...

s at bow and stern.Harris, pp. 30–32 The ''Hildur''s had a pair of two-cylinder horizontal-return connecting-rod steam engines, each driving a single propeller using steam from two cylindrical boilers. The engines produced a total of which gave the monitors a maximum speed of .Harris, pp. 30–31 The ships carried of coal.Gardiner, p. 362 The monitors were equipped with one M/69 rifled breech loader, mounted in a long, fixed, oval-shaped

gun turret A gun turret (or simply turret) is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and ability to turn and aim. A modern gun turret is generally a rotatable weapon mount that houses the crew or mechani ...

. The gun weighed and fired projectiles at a muzzle velocity of . At its maximum elevation of 7.5° it had a range of .Bojerud, p. 177 The ''Hildur''s also mounted two guns. They were rearmed with a

quick-firing gun A quick-firing or rapid-firing gun is an artillery piece, typically a gun or howitzer, which has several characteristics which taken together mean the weapon can fire at a fast rate. Quick-firing was introduced worldwide in the 1880s and 1890s an ...

as well as three quick-firing guns sometime in the 1890s or the early 1900s. The ''Hildur'' class had a complete

waterline The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. Specifically, it is also the name of a special marking, also known as an international load line, Plimsoll line and water line (positioned amidships), that indi ...

armor belt Belt armor is a layer of heavy metal armor plated onto or within the outer hulls of warships, typically on battleships, battlecruisers and cruisers, and aircraft carriers. The belt armor is designed to prevent projectiles from penetrating ...

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a wood-like "grain" ...

that was thick with a deck. The face of the

was protected by of armor, while its sides were thick. The conning tower protruded from the top of the turret and was protected by of armor.Harris, pp. 31–32

Construction and service

''Sölve'', named after

Sölve Sölve was a sea-king who conquered Sweden by burning the Swedish king Östen to death inside his hall. The ''Heimskringla'' relates that he was the son of Högne of Nærøy, and that he had his home in Jutland (however, according to the olde ...

, a

semi-legendary King of Sweden The legendary kings of Sweden () according to legends were rulers of Sweden and the Swedes who preceded Eric the Victorious and Olof Skötkonung, the earliest reliably attested Swedish kings. Though the stories of some of the kings may be embell ...

, was launched in 1875 by

Motala Verkstad AB Motala Verkstad is one of the oldest engineering companies in Sweden. The company was founded in 1822 during the construction of Göta Canal. Motala Verkstad has also built about 400 ships, 800 bridges (e.g. Västerbron, Skeppsholmsbron, Be ...

at Norrköping. She was decommissioned in 1919 and was converted into an

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

after she was sold. The ship was acquired by the Gothenburg Maritima Centrum from Mobiloil in 1992. It has been partially restored and is currently moored at the

Maritiman Maritiman is a floating maritime museum on the Göta Älv, in Gothenburg, Sweden. The museum's collection comprises 19 vessels, the oldest being HSwMS ''Sölve'' from 1875. The collection All of the vessels are afloat on the river. The collectio ...

marine museum in Gothenburg.

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Solve Hildur-class monitors Ships built in Norrköping 1875 ships Ships preserved in museums Museum ships in Sweden Museums in Gothenburg 1875 in Sweden