HSwMS ''Gefle'' was a steam

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloo ...

of 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 ...

. She was one of the earliest steam-powered ships of the Swedish Navy, and the first equipped with a

propeller A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...

. During her service years, ''Gefle'' was used on several long expeditions, including to the Mediterranean, West Africa and South America. In 1870, ''Gefle'' was dispatched to

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

to evacuate Swedish citizens after the outbreak of the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

. Admiral and marine artist

Jacob Hägg Jacob Hägg (22 July 1839 – 15 April 1931) was a Swedish naval officer and marine art, marine artist. He entered the Royal Swedish Naval Academy, Naval Academy in 1858, and was commissioned as an officer in 1863. He sailed on several long jour ...

served onboard ''Gefle'' early in his career. ''Gefle'' was removed from active service in 1890 and shortly thereafter broken up.

Construction

The parliament of Sweden, the ''

Riksdag The Riksdag ( , ; also or , ) is the parliament and the parliamentary sovereignty, supreme decision-making body of the Kingdom of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral parliament with 349 members (), elected proportional rep ...

'', decided during its session 1844–1845 to provide funding for a steam-powered, wooden naval ship equipped with a

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

. The resulting ship, HSwMS ''Gefle'', was launched in 1847 and thus became one of the earliest warships of Sweden powered by a

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs Work (physics), mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a Cylinder (locomotive), cyl ...

. Another steam-powered

, , predated ''Gefle'' by a few years, but was equipped with

paddle wheels A paddle is a handheld tool with an elongated handle and a flat, widened end (the ''blade'') used as a lever to apply force onto the bladed end. It most commonly describes a completely handheld tool used to propel a human-powered watercraft by ...

. ''Gefle'' was also the first ship of the

equipped with a

, and one of the first naval ships in the world with a screw propeller. The ship nonetheless still used sails as its main force of propulsion, and was rigged as a

barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel with three or more mast (sailing), masts of which the fore mast, mainmast, and any additional masts are Square rig, rigged square, and only the aftmost mast (mizzen in three-maste ...

Service history

''Gefle'' was named after the Swedish city

Gävle Gävle ( ; ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, city in Sweden, the seat of Gävle Municipality and the capital of Gävleborg County. It had 79,004 inhabitants in 2020, which makes it the List of cities in Sweden, 13th-most-populated city in Sweden. I ...

. She was sent on several long expeditions abroad during the years 1863–1881. For example, ''Gefle'' journey to the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

and

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

in 1864–1865, and again to the Mediterranean in 1867–1868. In 1877–1878 she sailed to South America. During the 1864–1865 expedition, future

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

and

marine art Marine art or maritime art is a form of figurative art (that is, painting, drawing, printmaking and sculpture) that portrays or draws its main Sea in culture, inspiration from the sea. Maritime painting is a genre that depicts ships and the sea� ...

ist

served onboard, and later illustrated a travelogue from the trip. In 1870, ''Gefle'' was dispatched to

to evacuate Swedish citizens after the outbreak of the

. During the service years of ''Gefle'' the technological development was rapid, and her armament was updated several times. By 1882, her engine was removed and the following year her armament dismantled entirely. From then on, ''Gefle'' served mainly as a

training ship A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house class ...

and saw very little sailing. She was removed from active duty in 1890 and shortly thereafter broken up.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gefle (1847) Ships built in Karlskrona Corvettes of the Swedish Navy 1847 ships