HSwMS ''Hälsingland'' (Hgd), was the second

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

of the . The vessel was named after

Hälsingland Hälsingland (), sometimes referred to by the Latin name Helsingia, is a historical Provinces of Sweden, province or ''landskap'' in central Sweden. It borders Gästrikland, Dalarna, Härjedalen, Medelpad and the Gulf of Bothnia. It is part of ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. The submarine was launched on 31 August 1987 and entered service with the

Swedish Navy The Swedish Navy () is the maritime service branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet (), formally sometimes referred to as the Royal Navy () – as well as marine units, the Amph ...

on 20 October 1988. ''Hälsingland'' served with the Swedish Navy until 1997 when the submarine was decommissioned. In 2005 ''Hälsingland'' and sister boat were sold to Singapore, where ''Hälsingland'' was renamed RSS ''Archer'' and entered service on 2 December 2011. ''Archer'' remains in service.

Development

The

design combined the best properties from the preceding Swedish and es. Submarines of the ''Västergötland'' class had greater submarine hunting capacity than previous classes, partly due to the fact that they were equipped with a new modern submarine

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...

. The submarines in the ''Västergötland'' class were able to fire up to six heavy and six light wire-guided torpedoes at the same time against different targets, a world record of perhaps dubious benefit that probably still stands today. The ''Västergötland'' class included the submarines and . After significant upgrades, these two submarines were reclassified to a new .

Service in Sweden

The submarine served in the

for almost 25 years and was then sold to

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

in 2005 together with .

Service in Singapore

HSwMS ''Hälsingland'' was renamed RSS ''Archer.'' Singapore's

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

(MINDEF) signed an agreement with

Kockums Saab Kockums AB is a shipyard headquartered in Malmö, Sweden, owned by the Swedish defence company Saab AB. Saab Kockums AB is further operational in Muskö, Docksta, and Karlskrona. While having a history of civil vessel construction, Kocku ...

for the supply of two (formerly ''Västergötland''-class) submarines to the

Republic of Singapore Navy The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) is the Naval warfare, maritime Military branch, service branch of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) responsible for defending the country against any seaborne threats and as a guarantor of its sea lines of ...

(RSN) on 4 November 2005. More than 20 years old and previously in reserve with the Swedish Navy, the submarines were transferred to the RSN on completion of the modernisation and conversion for operation in tropical waters. RSS ''Archer'' was launched on 16 June 2009. RSS ''Archer'' has undergone

sea trial A sea trial or trial trip is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a "shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on op ...

s following its launch and is now operational. The second submarine, RSS ''Swordsman'', was launched on 20 October 2010. The ''Archer''-class submarines entered service in 2013 and replaced the s that were retired in 2015. RSS Archer's crew motto and philosophy is 'Strike Silent, Strike as One'. RSS Archer's inaugural exercise was in 2013 as part of Exercise CARAT with the United States Navy. It has since taken part in numerous exercises such as Ex Singsiam and Ex SIMBEX which is held with the Royal Thai Navy and Indian Navy respectively. In 2014, RSS Archer was awarded the Republic of Singapore Navy's Best Ship Award, after participating in fleet-level exercises with various foreign partners including the United States Navy. In 2015, RSS Archer participated in the first-ever anti-submarine warfare exercise in Exercise Singsiam's history in the Andaman Sea alongside counterparts from the

Royal Thai Navy The Royal Thai Navy (Abbreviation, Abrv: RTN, ทร.; , ) is the Navy, naval warfare force of Thailand. Established in 1906, it was modernised by the Admiral Prince Abhakara Kiartiwongse (1880–1923) who is known as the father of the Royal N ...

. During the exercise, RSS Archer trained with naval helicopters jointly deployed from HTMS Naresuan, HTMS Saiburi,

RSS Intrepid RSS ''Intrepid'' (69) is the second ship of the Formidable class frigate, ''Formidable''-class Stealth ship, stealth frigate of the Republic of Singapore Navy. Construction and career RSS ''Intrepid'' was built by ST Engineering, ST Marine Eng ...

as well as a

Dornier 228 The Dornier 228 is a twin-turboprop STOL utility aircraft, designed and first manufactured by Dornier GmbH (later DASA Dornier, Fairchild-Dornier) from 1981 until 1998. 245 were built in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. In 1983, Hindustan Aeronautics ...

Marine Patrol Aircraft(MPA). In July 2015, RSS Archer participated in the 21st Exercise CARAT after 11 days of intensive shore and at sea exercises. This exercise is noted to have involved a Los Angeles Class submarine, USS Houston, the Arleigh Burke class USS Lassen and a

P-8A Poseidon The Boeing P-8 Poseidon is an American maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft developed and produced by Boeing Defense, Space & Security. It was developed for the United States Navy as a derivative of the civilian Boeing 737 Next Generati ...

maritime patrol aircraft as well as the Republic of Singapore Navy warships RSS Supreme for the Anti-Submarine Warfare training engagement.

Gallery

File:HMS Hälsingland vapen.svg, HSwMS ''Hälsingland''s badge

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hälsingland (Hgd) Västergötland-class submarines Ships built in Malmö 1987 ships Archer-class submarines Republic of Singapore Navy