HSwMS ''Sjölejonet'' (Sle), ( Sw. meaning ''sea lion''), was the second ship of the Swedish submarine class ''Sjöormen'', project name A11.

Development

The planning of the class included a number of different AIP solutions including nuclear propulsion. However, the ships where finally completed with for the time extremely large batteries. The ship was a single-hulled submarine, with hull shape influenced by the American experimental submarine . The hull was covered with rubber tiles to reduce the acoustic signature (

anechoic tile __NOTOC__ Anechoic tiles are rubber or synthetic polymer tiles containing thousands of tiny voids, applied to the outer hulls of military ships and submarines, as well as anechoic chambers. Their function is twofold: *To absorb the sound waves ...

s), at this time a pioneer technology. The also pioneered the use of an x-shaped (as opposed to cross-shaped) rudder as a standard (as opposed to experimental) feature.

Service in Sweden

The submarine served in 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 ...

for almost 30 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 1997 together with its four sister ships.

Service in Singapore

HSwMS ''Sjöbjörnen'' was renamed RSS ''Conqueror'' after Singapore acquired the boat on 28 May 1999. She was commissioned into 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 ...

on 26 June 2004 after a major refit. As of 25 November 2024, she was decommissioned after 20 years of service.

Gallery

File:HMS Sjölejonet (Sle) D-14969-68.jpg, HSwMS ''Sjölejonet'' being towed out of harbor after her being launched in July 1967. File:US Navy 090615-N-0000X-318 Republic of Singapore Navy and U.S. Navy ships maneuver together during during the at-sea phase of Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) 2009.jpg, RSS ''Conqueror'' with other RSN and

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

ships during

Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training The Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) is a series of annual bilateral military exercises conducted by the United States Pacific Fleet, with several member nations of ASEAN in Southeast Asia. Currently, the navies of Bangladesh, ...

(CARAT) 2009.

References

Sjöormen-class submarines Ships built in Malmö 1968 ships Challenger-class submarines Republic of Singapore Navy {{Sweden-stub