The Västergötland class of diesel-electric submarines entered service in 1987 in the Swedish Navy allowing the last Draken II class of subs to be retired.
History Following award of the design contract on 17 April 1978 and the construction contract on 8 December 1981 to Kockums AB, building commenced for four boats of the class (Västergötland, Hälsingland, Södermanland, and Östergötland) which were built between 1983 and 1988. The latter two have undergone comprehensive refits, including the insertion of a new hull section with an air-independent propulsion system equipped with Stirling engines. They have been recommissioned in 2003–2004 as the new .
Västergötland and Hälsingland were put in reserve until November 2005, when they were sold to the Republic of Singapore Navy as the . They were refitted to Södermanland class standards and received additional climatisation for use in tropical waters, and relaunched in 2009–2010.
Östergötland was decommissioned in 2021, leaving Södermanland as the last remaining ship of the class in Swedish service.
Design The Type A17 attack submarines were designed for the Swedish Navy as replacements for the Draken II-class submarines and incorporates the best properties from the preceding and es. Requirements called for a multi-role submarine to carry out a variety of missions involving attack, mining, surveillance, anti-submarine, and interjection of Special Forces. It features a two-deck single-hull design with two watertight compartments divided by a centre watertight bulkhead controlled using an X-configuration rudder/after hydroplane design.
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 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 that still stands today.
Units
Ship nameLaid downLaunchedCommissionedServiceRefitStatusVästergötland10 January 198319 July 198627 November 19871st Submarine flotillaSold to Republic of Singapore Navy 2005 (deal finished 2008); Recommissioned as Archer-class submarinesActiveHälsingland1 January 198431 August 198720 October 1988ActiveSödermanland198512 April 198821 April 1989Refitted 2003–2004 to Södermanland classActiveÖstergötland19869 December 1988Decommissioned 2021; In reserve
See also List of submarine classes in service
Equivalent submarines of the same era
References
Further reading