HMS Gotland (Gtd)
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| Career (Sweden) |  |
|---|---|
| Laid down: | October 10, 1992 |
| Launched: | February 2, 1995 |
| Commissioned: | 1996 |
| Status: | active in service |
| Homeport: | San Diego, California |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 1526 tons standard, 1647 tons submerged |
| Length: | 60.4 meters (198 feet 2 inches) |
| Beam: | 6.2 meters (20 feet 3 inches) |
| Draught: | 5.6 meters (18 feet 4 inches) |
| Propulsion: | two diesel engines (1,300 brake horsepower each), two Stirling engines (75 kilowatts each), one electric motor (1,800 shaft horsepower), one shaft |
| Speed: | 10 knots surfaced, 20 knots submerged |
| Endurance: | over 14 days submerged without snorkeling |
| Test depth: | 500 feet |
| Complement: | 20 officers, 15 enlisted |
| Armament: | four 533-mm (21-inch) torpedo tubes with 12 torpedoes, two 400-mm (15.75-inch) torpedo tubes with 6 torpedoes, 48 external mines |
| Motto: | Gothus sum, cave cornua |
HMS Gotland is an attack submarine of the Swedish Navy. It is the first ship of its class, the Gotland class, which is the first operational submarine class in the world to use air-independent propulsion (AIP).
She was built by Kockums and was launched in 1995, and commissioned in 1996. The AIP units use liquid oxygen with diesel as the propellant.
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[edit] Lease to the United States Navy
In 2004 the Swedish government received a request from the United States of America to lease HMS Gotland with crew – Swedish-flagged, commanded and manned, for a duration of at least one year for use in anti-submarine warfare exercises. The Swedish government decided in October 2004 to grant this request. On March 21, 2005 the United States Navy and the Swedish Navy signed a memorandum of understanding regarding this.
HMS Gotland was loaded on board the Norwegian MV Eide Transporter, a semi-submersible heavy-lift ship on May 10, 2005 to begin a month-long voyage over the Atlantic Ocean and through the Panama Canal to Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego, California where it arrived on June 27, 2005.
After a couple weeks of getting accustomed to the new environment, the exercises with United States 3rd Fleet began on July 18, 2005, and will continue for at least 12 months.
In 2006 it was reported[1][2] that the lease had been extended for another 12 months.
[edit] Reported Kill?
According to online sources[1][2], the Gotland managed to snap several pictures of the USS Ronald Reagan during a wargames exercise in the Pacific Ocean, effectively "sinking" the aircraft carrier. The wargames exercise was done to evaluate the effectiveness of the US fleet against diesel submarine warfare, which some have noted as severely lacking.
[edit] References
Polmar, Norman (March 2006). "Back to the Future". U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings 132 (3): 22–23. 0041-798X. Retrieved on 2006-04-16.
- ^ "US Navy to continue hunt for Swedish sub", The Local, 2006-04-18. Retrieved on 2006-07-21.
- ^ Kockums AB (2006-06-13). Gotland extends US stay for another year. Press release. Retrieved on 2006-07-21.
[edit] External links
- Gotland class submarines page at Kockums
- Första ubåtsflottiljen - the flotilla to which HMS Gotland belongs to (page in Swedish)
- HMS Gotland leased to US navy
- HMS Gotland participates in US wargame exercises.
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