The Chief of Navy ( sv, Marinchef, MC) is the most senior appointment in the

Swedish Navy The Swedish Navy ( sv, Svenska marinen) is the naval branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet () – as well as marine units, the Amphibious Corps (). In Swedish, vessels o ...

. The position Chief of Navy was introduced in 1936 and the current form in 2014.

History

Until 1936 the Swedish monarch was the

Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces The Supreme Commander ( sv, överbefälhavaren; acronym: ÖB) is the highest ranked professional military officer in the Swedish Armed Forces, and is by NATO terminology the Swedish chief of defence equivalent. The Supreme Commander is the agency ...

and had formally maintained the Chief of the Navy position together with the Chief of the Military Office of the Minister of Defence in the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

, which is in fact maintained the position. The position of a single professional "Chief of the Navy" ( sv, Chefen för marinen, CM) was established in 1936 in accordance with the Defence Act of 1936. The position of Chief of the Navy existed from 1936 to 1994 and during this time it was his responsibility to lead the navy units production and development. During the period 1936 to 1961 the Chief of the Navy also had an operational commanding responsibility for the naval forces. Following a larger reorganization of the

Swedish Armed Forces The Swedish Armed Forces ( sv, Försvarsmakten, "the Defense Force") is the government agency that forms the armed forces of Sweden, tasked with the defense of the country as well as with promoting Sweden's wider interests, supporting internati ...

in 1994, the staff agency Chief of the Navy ceased to exist as an independent agency. Instead, the post Chief of Navy Command ( sv, Chefen för marinledningen) was created at the then newly instituted Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters. In 1998, the Swedish Armed Forces was again reorganized. Most of the duties of the Chief of Navy Command were transferred to the newly instituted post of "

Inspector General An inspector general is an investigative official in a civil or military organization. The plural of the term is "inspectors general". Australia The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (Australia) (IGIS) is an independent statutory off ...

of the Navy" ( sv, Generalinspektören för marinen). The post is similar to that of the "Inspector General of the

Swedish Army The Swedish Army ( sv, svenska armén) is the land force of the Swedish Armed Forces. History Svea Life Guards dates back to the year 1521, when the men of Dalarna chose 16 young able men as body guards for the insurgent nobleman Gustav Vas ...

" ( sv, Generalinspektören för armén) and the "Inspector General of the

Swedish Air Force The Swedish Air Force ( sv, Svenska flygvapnet or just ) is the air force branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. History The Swedish Air Force was created on 1 July, 1926 when the aircraft units of the Army and Navy were merged. Because of the es ...

" ( sv, Generalinspektören för flygvapnet). It was later renamed to "Inspector of the Navy" ( sv, Marininspektören) on 1 January 2003. On 1 January 2014, the "Chief of Navy" ( sv, Marinchefen, MC) position was reinstated in the Swedish Armed Forces. The position has not the same duties as before.

Tasks

Fabian Tamm and Helge Strömbäck, 1 April 1945

Tasks of the Chief of Navy: *Lead the units which the Chief of Swedish Armed Forces Training and Development has distributed *To the Chief of Swedish Armed Forces Training and Development propose the development of the units' abilities *Being the foremost representative of the units *Represent the units and the area of ability in international contacts

Heraldry

A command flag of the Chief of Navy, drawn by Brita Grep and embroidered by hand by the company Libraria, was introduced during the reign of

Gustaf VI Adolf Gustaf VI Adolf (Oscar Fredrik Wilhelm Olaf Gustaf Adolf; 11 November 1882 – 15 September 1973) was King of Sweden from 29 October 1950 until his death in 1973. He was the eldest son of Gustaf V and his wife, Victoria of Baden. Before Gustaf Ado ...

(1950–1973).

Blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vis ...

: "Fessed in yellow and blue; on yellow two blue batons of command with sets of yellow crowns placed two and one in saltire, on blue an anchor erect cabled over two gun barrels of older pattern in saltire, all yellow." A new command flag manufactured by ''Handarbetets Vänner Ateljé'', which is a subcontractor to the

Swedish Army Museum The Swedish Army Museum ( sv, Armémuseum) is a museum of military history located in the district of Östermalm in Stockholm. It reopened in 2002 after a long period of closure, and was awarded the title of the best museum of Stockholm in 2005. ...

, was completed in 2020. The flag is embroidered by Jennie Jakobsson and Katarina Öberg. Parts of the preparatory work were done by Anna Eriksson and printed by Marie-Louise Sjöblom. The model drawing was made by Henrik Dahlström, who previously served at the

National Archives of Sweden , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , seal = Riksarkivet_myndighetsvapen_-_Riksarkivet_Sverige.png , seal_width = 150 , seal_caption = , logo = , logo_width = , logo_caption = , picture ...

and who is now a heraldic artist and graphic designer at the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters. The new command flag was nailed in solemn forms at the

Maritime Museum A maritime museum (sometimes nautical museum) is a museum specializing in the display of objects relating to ships and travel on large bodies of water. A subcategory of maritime museums are naval museums, which focus on navies and the militar ...

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

on 10 September 2021 with six former Chiefs of Navy: vice admiral

Dick Börjesson Vice Admiral Dick Roland Börjesson (born 16 July 1938) is a Swedish Navy officer. He was Chief of the Navy from 1990 to 1994 and military commander of the Middle Military District (Milo M) from 1994 to 1998. Early life Börjesson was born on ...

(1990–1994), vice admiral Peter Nordbeck (1994–1998), rear admiral

Anders Grenstad Rear Admiral Anders Lennart Grenstad (born 2 July 1958) is a retired Swedish Navy officer. He served in the Swedish Navy for 39 years. Grenstad's senior commands include Inspector of the Navy, commanding officer of the Naval Tactical Command/M ...

(2005–2011), vice admiral

Jan Thörnqvist Vice Admiral Anders Jan-Eric Törnqvist (born 9 October 1959) is a retired Swedish Navy officer. Before his retirement in 2020, he served as the Chief of Joint Operations of the Swedish Armed Forces from 2016 to 2020 and as Commandant General ...

(2011–2016), rear admiral

Jens Nykvist Rear Admiral Jens Gunnar Peter Nykvist (born 23 August 1968) is a Swedish Navy officer. Nykvist senior commands include commanding officer of the 1st Submarine Flotilla and the Maritime Component Command. He served as the Chief of Navy from 201 ...

(2016–2020), and current Chief of Navy, rear admiral

Ewa Skoog Haslum Rear Admiral Ewa Ann-Sofi Skoog Haslum née ''Skoog'' (born 26 March 1968) is a Swedish Navy officer. She currently serves as Chief of Navy. Early life Skoog was born on 26 March 1968 in Hov Parish, Kristianstad County, Sweden, and she grew ...

(2020–present). File:Kommandotecken Marinchefen MM 25332.jpg, Command flag of the Chief of Navy. File:Kommandotecken Marinchefen.svg, Command sign of the Chief of Navy.

List of chiefs

, -style="text-align:center;" !colspan=7, Chief of the Navy (''Chefen för marinen'') , -style="text-align:center;" !colspan=7, Chief of Navy Command (''Chef för marinledningen'') , -style="text-align:center;" !colspan=7, Inspector General of the Navy (''Generalinspektör för marinen'') , -style="text-align:center;" !colspan=7, Inspector of the Navy (''Marininspektör'') , -style="text-align:center;" !colspan=7, Chief of Navy (''Marinchef'')

List of deputy chiefs

, -style="text-align:center;" !colspan=7, Deputy Inspector General of the Navy (''Ställföreträdande generalinspektör för marinen'') , -style="text-align:center;" !colspan=7, Deputy Chief of Navy (''Ställföreträdande marinchef'')

References

Notes

Print

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chief of Navy (Sweden)

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

Swedish Navy Military appointments of Sweden