Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Nils ''Harry'' Martin Bong (13 June 1905 – 18 July 1987) was a

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 ...

officer. Bong served as commanding officers of the torpedo boat HSwMS ''Antares'', the cruisers HSwMS ''Örnen'' and , and the coastal defence ship . He also served as commanding officer of the

Gothenburg Squadron Gothenburg Squadron (, GE) was a naval squadron of the Swedish Navy which has operated in various forms from 1939 to 1951. The unit was based at Gothenburg naval base at Nya Varvet in Gothenburg. History The oldest written evidence of a naval st ...

and of the Karlskrona Naval Training Schools.

Early life

Bong was born on 13 June 1905 in

Kristianstad Kristianstad ( , ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, city and the seat of Kristianstad Municipality, Scania County, Sweden with 41,198 inhabitants in 2023. Since the 1990s, the city has gone from being a garrison town to a developed commercial city, ...

, Sweden, the son of Martin Bong, a manufacturer, and his wife Anna (née Holmkvist). He passed ''

studentexamen Studentexamen (Swedish for "students' examination" or "students' degree"), earlier also ''mogenhetsexamen'' ("maturity examination") was the name of the university entrance examination in Sweden from the 17th century to 1968. From 1862 to 1968, ...

'' in 1923.

Career

Bong was commissioned as a naval officer in the

in 1926 with the rank of acting sub-lieutenant. Bong served aboard the coastal defence ships, and he served aboard HSwMS ''Manligheten'', , and HSwMS ''Svea'' as an artillery officer. He graduated from the

Royal Swedish Naval Staff College The Royal Swedish Naval Staff College (, KSHS) was a Swedish Navy training establishment between 1898 and 1961, providing courses for naval officers. It was the home of the Swedish Navy's staff college, which provided advanced training for office ...

in 1933 and was promoted to Lieutenant (''Kapten'') in 1938. In 1938 he was appointed captain of the torpedo boat HSwMS ''Antares''. Bong then served as a cadet officer from 1940 to 1942. In 1943, Bong was appointed captain of the torpedo cruiser HSwMS ''Örnen''. He was promoted to lieutenant commander in 1944 and served as captain of the coastal defence ship from 1944 to 1945. Bong was promoted to commander in 1949, and served as commanding officer of the

from 1949 to 1950. He was then head of the Naval Staff's Education Department from 1951 to 1954 and was promoted to

in 1954. In 1954, he served as captain of the cruiser and as commanding officer of the 1st Squadron of the

Coastal Fleet The Coastal Fleet (, Kfl) was until 1994 a Swedish Navy authority with the main task of training the naval ships commanders and crews. After the formation of the authority Swedish Armed Forces in 1994, the Coastal Fleet remained as a unit until ...

from 1954 to 1955. Bong then served as commanding officer of the Karlskrona Naval Training Schools (''Karlskrona örlogsskolor'', KÖS) from 1955 until his retirement in 1965. Bong was chairman of the board of the Bongs fabriker AB from 1945 to 1965, chairman of the Karlskrona Orchestra Association (''Karlskrona orkesterförening'') from 1955 to 1965, the Naval Officers' Society in Karlskrona (''Sjöofficerssällskapet i Karlskrona'') from 1955 to 1965. He was also on the board of the

Swedish Armed Forces School for Secondary Education Swedish Armed Forces School for Secondary Education (, FL, later ''Försvarets gymnasieskola'', FGS) was a joint school unit of the Swedish Armed Forces which operated in various forms the years 1943–1982. The school was located in Uppsala Garri ...

from 1951 and of the Social Welfare Bureau of the Swedish Armed Forces (''Försvarets socialbyrå'') from 1951.

Personal life

In 1936, he married Gunilla Holmström (1912–1988), the daughter of Lennart Holmström and Anna (née Ericsson). They had four children; Fredrik (born 1936), Christina (born 1939), Ingrid (born 1942), and Martin (born 1948). Bong died on 18 July 1987 in his home in

Kivik Kivik () is a locality in Simrishamn Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 960 inhabitants in 2010. It is in a part of Scania (Skåne) called Österlen. Kivik is known for its annual market, usually taking place on the third Monday through W ...

Dates of rank

*1926 – Acting sub-lieutenant *1929 – Sub-lieutenant *1938 –

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

*1944 – Lieutenant commander *1949 –

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

*1954 –

Awards and decorations

Bong's awards: * Royal_Order_of_the_Sword_-_Commander_1st_Class_BAR

Commander 1st Class of the

Order of the Sword The Royal Order of the Sword (officially: ''Royal Order of the Sword''; Swedish: ''Kungliga Svärdsorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry and military decoration created by King Frederick I of Sweden on 23 February 1748, together with the Or ...

(6 June 1964) *

Swedish Women's Voluntary Defence Organization Royal Medal of Merit The Swedish Women's Voluntary Defence Organization Royal Medal of Merit (, SLKGM/SM) is a medal awarded by the Swedish Women's Voluntary Defence Organization since 1943 for great personal effort has been beneficial to the organization through extr ...

in gold * Swedish Naval Volunteers' Gold Medal (''Sjövärnskårens guldmedalj'') * Swedish Federation of Orchestral Associations' Gold Medal (''Sveriges orkesterföreningars riksförbunds guldmedalj'') * Blekinge Gymnastics Association's Gold Medal (''Blekinge gymnastikförbunds guldmedalj'') * Swedish Military Sports Association's Medal of Merit in Gold (''Sveriges militära idrottsförbunds förtjänstmedalj i guld'')

Honours

*Member of the

Royal Swedish Society of Naval Sciences The Royal Swedish Society of Naval Sciences (, KÖMS), founded in 1771 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden. The Society is an independent organization and a forum for navy and defence issues. Fellowship is limited to 120 ...

(1951)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bong, Harry 1905 births 1987 deaths Swedish Navy captains People from Kristianstad Commanders First Class of the Order of the Sword Members of the Royal Swedish Society of Naval Sciences