Visby class was a Swedish World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 destroyer

Destroyer

In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...

 class. During the years 1942-1944 four ships, , , and , were built and delivered to the Swedish navy

Swedish Navy

The Royal Swedish Navy is the naval branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet – as well as marine units, the so-called Amphibious Corps .In Swedish, vessels of the Swedish Navy are given the prefix "HMS," short for Hans/Hennes...

. The ships were a part of Sweden's military buildup during the war. Under this period the ships were used as neutral guards and escort ships. In 1965 the ships were modified and rebuilt as frigate

Frigate

A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...

s. Two of the ships were decommissioned in 1978 and the last two followed in 1982.

Orders

During the first years off the War Sweden's defence went through a massive reinforcement. In 1941 as part of this build-up the Swedish government ordered four new destroyers for the Swedish navy. The new class would be based on the older that was classified as a "City destroyer" and because of this classified as "Modified City destroyers", (modifierad Stadsjagare). In total four ships were built, two at the Götaverken-shipyard and two at the Eriksbergs-shipyard.

Design

The design was largely based on the Göteborg-class destroyer. The keel was made of steel, the upper parts and the superstructure of light metals. The Visby class was 3 meters longer than the Göteborg, and the stern was flatted out. Because of the new stern, the larger Visby class could keep the high speed of the smaller and lighter Göteborg class, 39 knots. The ships were powered by two steam turbines creating 36,000 hrp.

Rebuilds

In 1965 the ships were modified and redesigned as frigates. The ships had all of their 120 mm canons removed and replaced by two 57 mm anti-air canons and one anti-submarine rocket launcher. The ships were also modified to carry more mines and a helicopter pad was added. The ships radar and fire-leading central was also upgraded.

Decommissioning

In the 1970s the Swedish government decided that the navy would give up its Blue-water navy

Blue-water navy

The term blue-water navy is a colloquialism used to describe a maritime force capable of operating across the deep waters of open oceans. While what actually constitutes such a force remains undefined, there is a requirement for the ability to exercise sea control at wide ranges...

capacity and become a more coast-based navy. All frigates and destroyers were decommissioned. The first two Visby class frigates left the navy in 1978 and in 1982 the remaining two followed. HMS Visby and HMS Sundsvall were used as target ships before being sold to Spain for scrapping.