The Karlskrona naval base ( sv, Karlskrona örlogsbas) is the largest

naval base A naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock. Ships may also undergo repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that us ...

of 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 ...

. Located in

Blekinge Blekinge (, old da, Bleking) is one of the traditional Swedish provinces (), situated in the southern coast of the geographic region of Götaland, in southern Sweden. It borders Småland, Scania and the Baltic Sea. It is the country's second ...

in southern Sweden, the base has close ties with the city of

Karlskrona Karlskrona (, , ) is a locality and the seat of Karlskrona Municipality, Blekinge County, Sweden with a population of 66,675 in 2018. It is also the capital of Blekinge County. Karlskrona is known as Sweden's only baroque city and is host to Swed ...

. It has an exceptionally well-sheltered location: arcs of islands provide a strong defense not only from the sea but also from land attacks. Two of Sweden's three naval warfare flotillas are based there. It contains the

Marinmuseum Marinmuseum (previously: Shipyard Museum, ''Varvsmuseet''; alternate: Naval Dockyard Museum; translation: Naval Museum) is a maritime museum located on Stumholmen island, in Karlskrona. It is Sweden's national naval museum, dedicated to the Swedish ...

and the

Ropewalk A ropewalk is a long straight narrow lane, or a covered pathway, where long strands of material are laid before being twisted into rope. Due to the length of some ropewalks, workers may use bicycles to get from one end to the other. Many ropew ...

, the longest wooden building in the country.

History

After Sweden and Denmark ceased hostilities after the

Scanian War The Scanian War ( da, Skånske Krig, , sv, Skånska kriget, german: Schonischer Krieg) was a part of the Northern Wars involving the union of Denmark–Norway, Brandenburg and Sweden. It was fought from 1675 to 1679 mainly on Scanian soil, ...

(1675–1679), King

Charles XI of Sweden Charles XI or Carl ( sv, Karl XI; ) was King of Sweden from 1660 until his death, in a period of Swedish history known as the Swedish Empire (1611–1721). He was the only son of King Charles X Gustav of Sweden and Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein- ...

made a reconnaissance trip in the eastern part of the

Blekinge archipelago Blekinge archipelago is an archipelago in the Baltic Sea, located in Blekinge in the south of Sweden. Geography Blekinge archipelago stretches among almost the entire coastline of Blekinge, from west to east. It covers some including water; the ...

. The king decreed the construction of a city named "Carlscroona" on the island of Trossön. The major reason for its establishment was to provide the Swedish Navy with a permanent base closer to Denmark, which throughout the 17th century had been the foremost enemy of Sweden. In addition, a shipyard was needed for both construction and repair of ships, as well as for supply depots and barracks. The new base had the added advantage of being free of ice in winter, unlike the base in

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 ...

which had until then been the principal base of the navy. A plan for the base was laid forth by quartermaster general

Erik Dahlbergh '' Count Erik Jönsson Dahlbergh (10 October 162516 January 1703) was a Swedish military engineer, Governor-general and Field marshal. He rose to the level of nobility through his military competence. As an architect and draftsman, he was reno ...

in 1683, and construction was started two years later. The new city of Karlskrona received its city privileges in 1680. An international incident occurred on October 27, 1981, when the Soviet S-363 ran aground approximately 10 km from Karlskrona, in an event sometimes called "Whiskey on the rocks".

Ships

The base contains ships and vessels from the Swedish 1st Submarine Flotilla and the 3rd Naval Warfare Flotilla. *, 2 ships *, 3 ships *, 2 ships *, 2 ships *s, 3 ships *, 2 ships *, 1 ship *Support ship *Work ship HSwMS ''Fårösund'' Gamla mastkranen Karlskrona

References

External links

Om marinbasen
(in Swedish) {{Authority control Swedish Navy installations Buildings and structures in Blekinge County Karlskrona Garrison

History

Ships

See also

References

External links