HSwMS Gävle (K22)

HSwMS Gävle
History
Sweden
Name	Gävle
Namesake	Gävle
Builder	Karlskrona
Laid down	12 January 1987
Launched	23 March 1990
Commissioned	17 September 1990
Identification	MMSI number: 265888000 Pennant number: K22 Callsign: SCER
Status	in active service
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	Göteborg-class corvette
Displacement	430 tons
Length	57 m (187 ft 0 in) (o/a)
Beam	7.5 m (24 ft 7 in)
Draught	2.6 m (8 ft 6 in)
Speed	30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Armament	1 × Bofors 57 mm Mk3B gun 1 × 40 mm (1.6 in) gun 40 cm (16 in) anti-submarine torpedoes Anti-ship missiles[1] Anti-submarine granades Depth charges[1] Mines[1]
Notes	Alternative armament or combinations of various weapons.[1]

HSwMS Gävle at Ystad on 10 February 2024

HSwMS Gävle (K22) is a Swedish Navy Göteborg-class corvette, named after the Swedish city of Gävle.^[2]

Development and design

The Göteborg class is a class of corvettes in the Swedish Navy, built between 1986 and 1993. The class was originally designed to destroy Soviet submarines and surface vessels, and is armed with eight RBS-15 anti-ship missiles, torpedoes, one 57 mm cannon and one 40 mm cannon.

Gävle and sister HSwMS Sundsvall were radically modernised in 2019–2022, and the class was renamed the Gävle class.^[3]

Construction and career

The ship was launched on 23 March 1990 at Karlskrona and entered naval service on 17 September 1990.

Together with its sister ship Sundsvall, they took part in the United Nations operation off the coast of Lebanon following the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.^[4]

Mid-life upgrade

In June 2017 Saab signed a 1.249BSEK contract for life extension modification and upgrading of the Swedish Navy's Gävle and Sundsvall.^[5] Gävle was relaunched into water in September 2020 and the work on began on commissioning platform systems^[6] In May 2022 Swedish Defence Materiel Administration delivered the upgraded Gävle to the Swedish Navy. The upgrade included a new torpedo guidance system, Bofors 57 mm Mk3B gun, variable depth sonar (VDS), new sensors, all integrated Combat Management System, integrated IFF-system, AMB 3D radar similar to the one in use on the Visby-class corvettes. After the MLU the ships were no longer considered part of the Göteborg class but a new class, designated the Gävle class.^[7][8]

"It is a do over and modernisation of everything on board: She will have the same hull, but more or less all the systems on the inside are new", said Johan Edelsvärd, Project Manager for the Mid-Life Upgrade of HSwMS Gävle at FMV (Swedish Defence Materiel Administration).

On 13 May 2022, Gävle took part in a PASSEX training with the Finnish and the American navies in the northern Baltic Sea.^[9]

References

1. Örlogsboken (in Swedish) (2003 ed.). Stockholm: Försvarsmakten, Operativa insatsledningen. 2003. p. 34. SELIBR 9059217.
2. "Swedish Navy Handbook (in Swedish)". Scribd. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
3. "Miljardorder till varvet i Karlskrona". Sydöstran (in Swedish). 30 June 2017. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
4. "Swedish Armed Forces: The Swedish Navy". Forsvarsmakten.se. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
5. "Saab Signs Contract for the Modification and Upgrading of Swedish corvettes". Archived from the original on 10 May 2022.
6. "HMS Gävle i sjön efter första steget i modifieringen" [HMS Gävle in the lake after the first step in the modification] (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 10 May 2022.
7. "FMV levererar moderniserad korvett till Försvarsmakten" [FMV delivers modernized corvettes to the Armed Forces] (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 10 May 2022.
8. "HMS Gävle with a new edge". Archived from the original on 10 May 2022.
9. "Finnish Navy Holds Drills In Northern Baltic Sea". Naval News. 16 May 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.