HSwMS ''Västergötland'' (Vgd) was the

lead ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships that are all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very comple ...

of the s, named after

Västergötland Västergötland (), also known as West Gothland or the Latinized version Westrogothia in older literature, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish), situated in the southwest of Sweden. Vä ...

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 19 July 1986 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. ''Västergötland'' served with the Swedish Navy until 1997 when the submarine was decommissioned. In 2005 ''Västergötland'' and sister boat were sold to Singapore, where ''Västergötland'' was renamed RSS ''Swordsman'' and entered service on 30 April 2013.

Development

The submarine design combined the best properties from the preceding 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. The submarines in the ''Västergötland'' class were able to fire up to six heavy and six light wire-guided

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 ...

es 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 ''Västergötland'' was renamed RSS ''Swordsman.'' 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'' underwent

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. In October 2018, RSS Swordsman participated in Exercise Bersama Lima as part of the Five-Power-Defence-Arrangement exercise and was noted to have performed well, remaining undetected by the participating ships in the

anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in the older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations ar ...

exercise. In November 2018, the Republic of Singapore Navy announced on its official Facebook page that RSS ''Swordsman'' successfully conducted a live torpedo firing in the Andaman Sea.

Gallery

File:HMS Västergötland vapen.svg, HSwMS ''Västergötland''s badge. File:Singapore Navy RSS Swordsman Archer class Submarine IMDEX 2019 Changi Singapore.jpg, RSS ''Swordsman'' alongside Changi Naval Base in 2019.

References

Västergötland-class submarines Ships built in Malmö 1986 ships Archer-class submarines Republic of Singapore Navy {{submarine-stub