Göteborg-class corvette

The Göteborg class is a class of corvettes in the Swedish Navy, built between 1986 and 1993. The class was originally designed to destroy Soviet submarines and surface vessels, and is armed with eight RBS-15 anti-ship missiles, torpedoes, one 57 mm cannon, and one 40 mm cannon.

HSwMS Gävle in Visby harbour in 2006
Class overview
NameGöteborg class
BuildersKarlskronavarvet AB
Operators Swedish Navy
Preceded byStockholm class
Succeeded byVisby class
SubclassesGävle class
In commission13 April 1989
Planned6
Completed4
Cancelled2
Active2
Retired2
General characteristics
TypeCorvette
Displacement380/425 tonnes
Length57 m (187 ft 0 in)
Beam8 m (26 ft 3 in)
Draft2.5 m (8 ft 2 in)
Propulsion
  • 3 × MTU diesel engines at 2,560 kW (3,430 hp)/each
  • Water jet propulsion system[1]
Speed30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Range3,704 km (2,000 nmi; 2,302 mi)
Complement
  • 23 officers
  • 18 seamen
Sensors and
processing systems
  • Sea Giraffe radar
  • PN621 navigation radar
  • 2 × fire control radar sights (SAAB)
  • CS-3701
  • Simrad SS 304 Spira HMS (hull-mounted sonar)
  • STN Atlas Elektronik TAS (towed array sonar)
  • Thales TSM 2643 Salmon VDS (variable depth sonar) (former)
  • Kongsberg ST2400 VDS (variable depth sonar) (after upgrade)
Electronic warfare
& decoys
Rheinmetall TKWA/MASS (Multi Ammunition Softkill System)
Armament

The Swedish Navy originally planned to acquire six Göteborg-class corvettes, but following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the final two were cancelled.

Two of the four corvettes built remained in service as of 2021. Modified in 2019, the two vessels form the subclass Gävle class. Both vessels, HSwMS Gävle and HSwMS Sundsvall, took part in a United Nations operation off the coast of Lebanon in 2006 and 2007, following the 2006 Lebanon War.

Gävle subclass

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Sundsvall and Gävle were modified in 2019–2022. After the modification, the remaining ships were given the subclass name, the Gävle class, as HSwMS Göteborg had been mothballed.[2][3] During the upgrade the corvettes received new equipment bringing them to the same standard as the Visby class, a significant step in terms of capabilities.[4]

Units

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A lateral diagram of HSwMS Göteborg
Bow number Ship name Laid down Launched Commissioned Service Status
K21 Göteborg 10 February 1986 13 April 1989 15 February 1990 4th Naval Warfare Flotilla Decommissioned/mothballed
K22 Gävle 12 January 1987 23 March 1990 17 September 1990 4th Naval Warfare Flotilla Active
K23 Kalmar 21 September 1988 1 November 1990 1 September 1991 4th Naval Warfare Flotilla Decommissioned/mothballed
K24 Sundsvall March 1989 29 November 1991 7 June 1993 4th Naval Warfare Flotilla Active
K25 Helsingborg Cancelled
K26 Härnösand

References

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  1. ^ "Korvett typ Göteborg - Kockums". Archived from the original on 2010-08-28. Retrieved 2010-11-22.
  2. ^ "Miljardorder till varvet i Karlskrona". 30 June 2017.
  3. ^ "Korvett Gävle".
  4. ^ "FMV levererar moderniserad korvett till Försvarsmakten". www.fmv.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2023-02-11.
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