HSwMS ''Carlskrona'' (in Swedish: HMS ''Carlskrona'') is the longest vessel 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 ...

at . Only , the submarine rescue vessel, has more displacement. She was originally designed as a

minelayer A minelayer is any warship, submarine or military aircraft deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for installing controll ...

and is also used for exercise expeditions. She replaced in both roles.

Construction and Career

''Carlskrona'' built at the

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 ...

shipyard as the largest ship ever built at the shipyard. Not only was the ship designed as a minelayer, but it was also constructed to be used as the Swedish Navy's long-travel ship. The launch took place on 28 May 1980 with 3,000 invited guests, where the king

Carl XVI Gustaf Carl XVI Gustaf (Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus; born 30 April 1946) is King of Sweden. He ascended the throne on the death of his grandfather, Gustaf VI Adolf, on 15 September 1973. He is the youngest child and only son of Prince Gustaf Adolf, Du ...

christened the ship. A music corps and ceremonial company was included in ceremony and among the guests were Defense Minister Eric Krönmark, the Chief of the Navy, Vice Admiral Per Rudberg and the Director General of the

Defence Materiel Administration The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration ( sv, Försvarets materielverk, FMV) is a Swedish government agency that reports to the Ministry of Defence. The agency is responsible for the supply of materiel to the Swedish defence organisation. It ...

Ove Ljung Lieutenant General Per-Ove Poul Ljung (18 May 1918 – 31 May 1997) was a Swedish Army officer. His senior commands include Chief of the Army Staff and the General Staff Corps, Master-General of the Ordnance, head of the Royal Swedish Army Materi ...

. On 19 March 1982 the ship was delivered to the navy, where she replaced and the long travel ship. During the Cold War, large minelayers like ''Carlskrona'' were very important in the Swedish defense strategy, causing the ship to be without a role after the restructuring 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 the early 2000s. ''Carlskrona'' was refitted in 2002. The refit left the ship fit for active service until at least 2018–20. In 2009–2010 she was modified for the Ocean Patrol Vessel (OPV) role and redesignated from M to P (P04). ''Carlskrona'' took part in the

EUNAVFOR The European Union (EU) has undertaken a number of overseas missions and operations, drawing on civilian and military capabilities, in several countries across three continents (Europe, Africa and Asia), as part of its Common Security and Defe ...

operation in the Gulf of Aden (Somalia) in 2010. She left the naval base at Karlskrona, Sweden on 13 March 2010, and commenced her mission as HQ ship for the EU operation on 15 April. On 6 May 2016 ''Carlskrona'' collided with the ferry ''Yxlan'' outside Karlskrona in the Baltic Sea. The ship received minor damage and returned to active duty only ten days later. In August 2016 the ship was dry-docked to give the ship a 10 year extension refit that will extend its service-life to 2025. The ship was handed back to the Swedish Navy on 16 June 2017. Both the 57 mm guns were removed. The aft gun was removed when the helicopter pad was expanded and the forward 57 mm gun was removed when the ship was mothballed in 2007 as it was of an older type that was no longer used on any other ships in the Swedish Navy. On 13 May 2022, ''Carlskrona'' took part in a

PASSEX A passing exercise (a PASSEX in U.S. Navy terminology) is an exercise done between two navies to ensure that the navies are able to communicate and cooperate in times of war or humanitarian relief. Common drills include flashing light drills, sema ...

training with the

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

and

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

navies in the northern

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

References

*
3rd Surface Warfare Flotilla - ''HMS Carlskrona''
* Örlogsboken 2003 Naval ships of Sweden Ships of the Swedish Navy 1980 ships Ships built in Karlskrona {{Sweden-stub