Svea-class coastal defence ship

The Svea class was a class of coastal defence ships of the Swedish Royal Navy. The class comprised Svea, Göta and Thule.

Svea after her reconstruction.
Class overview
Name	Svea class
Builders	Lindholmen At Goteborg (1) and Finboda yard (1)
Operators	Swedish Navy
Succeeded by	Oden class
Completed	3
Retired	3
General characteristics
Type	Coastal defense ship
Displacement	3,200 tons
Length	75.7 m (248 ft 4 in)
Draught	5.18 m (17 ft 0 in)
Propulsion	4,700 hp (3,500 kW)
Speed	16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Complement	252
Armament	2 × 10 in (25 cm) 4 × 6 in (15 cm) (4 × 1) 6 × 5.7 cm (2.2 in) (6 × 1) 3 × 15 in (38 cm) torpedo tubes
Armour	11.5 in (29 cm) belt 11.5 in (29 cm) turret

Design

Dimensions and machinery

The ships of the class were 75.7 metres (248 ft 4 in) long, had a draught of 5.18 metres (17 ft 0 in), and had a displacement of 3,200 tons. The ships were equipped with reciprocating engines, which were rated at 4,700 ihp (3,500 kW) and produced a top speed of 16 kn (30 km/h).^[1][2]

Armour

The ships had belt armour of 11.5 in (29 cm) and 11.5 in (29 cm) turret armour.^[1][2]

Armament

The main armament of the ships was a 10 in (25 cm) twin turret gun. Secondary armament included four single 6 in (15 cm) guns and six 5.7 cm (2.2 in) single guns.^[1][2]

Construction

Svea and Göta were both laid down at the Lindholmen in Gothenburg and launched on 12 December 1886 and 30 September 1891, respectively. Thule was laid down at the Finnboda Yard in Nacka and launched in 1893.^[1][2]

Turrets

All the main battery turrets of the Svea-class ships were installed at Ellenabbsfortet, located at Aspö, a small island near Karlskrona harbour. The guns were removed in 1936. The turrets were scrapped.^[1][2]