HSwMS ''Halland'' (J18) was the
lead ship
The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships that are all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels.
Large ships are very comple ...
of the . She and were the only ones built of their class. Two more ships were ordered but they were never completed.
''Halland'' carried out submarine hunting on a couple of occasions, including at
Hasslö and
Utö Uto, UTO, Utö, or Utō may refer to:
People Given name
* Uto Ughi (born 1944), Italian violinist and conductor
* Uto Wunderlich (born 1946), German sports shooter
Surname
* Datu Uto (died c. 1900), 18th Sultan of Buayan, Mindanao
* Fumiaki ...
in 1980. She was used for two years as a long-haul vessel as a replacement for
HSwMS Älvsnabben (M01) before
HSwMS Carlskrona (M04) started. However, the trips had to be made short as her operating costs were high. It was decommissioned on June 30, 1987, and sold the following year for scrapping in
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
.
A model of ''Halland'' in scale 1:50 has been exhibited at the
Maritime History Museum and Marine Museum in Karlskrona.
Design
''Halland'' was 121 meters long and 12.6 meters wide. The hull was designed with a
forecastle
The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck (ship), deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is t ...
. From the forecastle and astern, a long superstructure appeared, which made it possible for the crew to reach the entire ship without having to go outdoors, thus minimizing the risk of exposure to radioactive contamination. Unlike previous destroyer classes, whose superstructures was built of aluminum, the ''Halland''-class was built of steel. Aluminum gave ships a lower weight but had the disadvantage in a case of fire, when it melts at a much lower temperature than steel. To keep the weight down, therefore,
corrugated galvanised iron
Corrugated galvanised iron (CGI) or steel, colloquially corrugated iron (near universal), wriggly tin (taken from UK military slang), pailing (in Caribbean English), corrugated sheet metal (in North America), zinc (in Cyprus and Nigeria) or ...
was used in the superstructure.
The machinery consisted of steam boilers and
steam turbine
A steam turbine or steam turbine engine is a machine or heat engine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work utilising a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Par ...
are. Two Penhoët boilers delivered steam with a pressure of 40 bar and the temperature of 420 degrees to two de Laval turbines. The effect was a total of 58,000
horsepower
Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are t ...
, which gave the ship a maximum speed of 35 knots (65 km/h).
The main armament consisted of two fully automatic double
Bofors 120 mm gun model 1950 which were initially directed from a central sight which was later replaced by a new artillery radar sight connected to the radar. The secondary armament consisted of a double Bofors 57 mm anti-aircraft gun model 1950 and six single
Bofors 40 mm L/70. The former was initially controlled from a central sight on the bridge and later by a digital fire control housed in the characteristic radome over the bridge deck. The torpedo armament consisted of two tube racks with a total of eight torpedo tubes. Regarding anti-submarine warfare, there was a hydrophone housed in a dome under the forebody which could be retracted into the hull when the hydrophone was not used. When a submarine was discovered, eight Bofors 375 mm rocket launchers each with a 100 kg charge and a range of 300 - 1,200 meters could be fired in a pattern around, above and below the target from two directable four-barrelled launchers. In the stern there was also a mounting with two launchrails for firing the
Robot 08 anti-ship missile.
History
''Halland'' was built at
Götaverken
Götaverken was a Swedish shipbuilding company that was located on Hisingen, Gothenburg. It was founded in 1841, and ceased building ships in 1989.
History
The company was founded in 1841 by Scottish businessman Alexander Keiller (Gothenburg), Ale ...
in
Gothenburg
Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...
and was launched on 16 July 1952 when she was christened by
Prince Bertil,
Duke of Halland.
After extensive work on equipment and installation of all components, the ship was delivered to the Swedish Navy on 12 January 1956.
During the first period, ''Halland'' together with the sister ship Småland formed a fighting division. When the cruisers
HSwMS Tre Kronor and
HSwMS Göta Lejon were scrapped in the early 1970s, the Halland class' ships were the largest and most powerful ships in the Swedish fleet, and later they became leading ships for their respective fighter flotillas.
''Halland'' was disarmed in 1982 and put into
mothball
Mothballs are small balls of chemical pesticide and deodorant, sometimes used when storing clothing and other materials susceptible to damage from silverfish, Mold (fungus), mold or moth larvae (especially clothes moths like ''Tineola bissell ...
until she was stricken on 30 June 1987. In 1988, she was sold for scrapping in
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
.
Gallery
File:Launching of HMS Halland.jpg, HSwMS ''Halland'' on 16 July 1952
File:HMS Halland.jpg, HSwMS ''Halland'' in 1957
File:HMS Halland (J18) 1966 002.jpg, HSwMS ''Halland'' in 1966
File:HMS Halland (J18) 1966 001.jpg
File:Swedish navy ships 1968.JPG, HSwMS ''Halland'' in 1968
File:Halland BB sida.JPG, HSwMS ''Halland'' in 1972
File:Jagardivision.JPG, HSwMS ''Halland'' in 1972
File:Bror Stefenson and Hans von Hofsten in 1982 B 1629 65.jpg, HSwMS ''Halland'' in 1982
References
Notes
Print
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External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Halland
Halland-class destroyers of the Swedish Navy
Ships built in Gothenburg
1952 ships