HSwMS Drottning Victoria

HSwMS Drottning Victoria was a Sverige-class coastal defence ship (Pansarskepp) for the Royal Swedish Navy in the 1910s.

HSwMS Drottning Victoria under way
History
Sweden
Name	HSwMS Drottning Victoria
Namesake	Victoria of Baden
Builder	Götaverken, Gothenburg
Laid down	July 1915
Launched	15 September 1917
Commissioned	12 March 1921
Decommissioned	22 March 1957
Fate	Scrapped 1959
General characteristics
Class and type	Sverige-class coastal defence ship
Displacement	6,842 t standard; 7,663 t full load
Length	120.9 m (396 ft 8 in) waterline 121.6 m (398 ft 11 in) overall
Beam	18.63 m (61 ft 1 in)
Draught	6.25 m (20 ft 6 in)
Propulsion	12 Yarrow boilers; 2 Motala-Westinghouse geared turbines; 2 three-blade propellers 22,000 hp (16,000 kW)
Speed	23.2 kn (43.0 km/h; 26.7 mph)
Range	3,280 nmi (6,070 km; 3,770 mi) at 14 kn (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Complement	427
Armament	4 × Bofors 283 mm gun M/1912 (2×2) 8 × 152 mm/50 cal. Bofors QF M/1912 (1×2, 6×1) 4 × 75 mm/53 cal. Bofors QF M/1912 (4×1) 2 × 75 mm/53 cal. Bofors AA M/1915 (2×1) 2 × 57 mm/21.3 cal. Bofors M/1916 (2×1) 2 × 6.5 mm/92.3 cal. MG M/1914 (2×1) 2 × 45 cm torpedo tubes M/1914 (2×1) WWII: 4 × Bofors 283 mm gun M/1912 (2×2) 6 × 152 mm/50 cal. Bofors QF M/1912 (1×2, 4×1) 4 × 75 mm/60 cal. Bofors AA M/1928 (2×2) 6 × 40 mm/56 cal. Bofors AA M/1936 (3×2) 4 × 25 mm/58 cal. Bofors AA M/1932 (2×2) 3 × 20 mm/66 cal. Bofors AA M/1940 (3×1) 4 × 8 mm/75.8 cal. AA MG M/1936 (2×2)
Armour	Belt 200 mm (8 in) Turrets 200 mm (8 in) Citadel 100 mm (4 in) Deck 18–28 mm (1–1 in)

Notable commanders of the ship include Gösta Ehrensvärd between 1932 and 1933, Yngve Ekstrand in 1936 and 1937 and Stig H:son Ericson during 1942 and part of 1943.

Plans were drawn up in the 1940s to modernize Drottning Victoria by rebuilding the superstructure, increasing the elevation of the main turrets to 32 degrees, and replacing the light armament with 2 twin 57mm guns and 12 40mm/56 Bofors guns in 4 twin and 4 single mounts, as well as 10 25mm Bofors mounts. This would have more than doubled the weight of anti-aircraft fire per minute. These plans were never undertaken. The plans and an essay explaining them can be viewed in here on pages 103 to 113.

Bibliography

• Harris, Daniel G. (1992). "The Svierge Class Coastal Defense Ships". In Gardiner, Robert (ed.). Warship 1992. London: Naval Institute Press. pp. 80–98. ISBN 0-85177-603-5.
• Sundberg, Ulf (2018). "The Armoured Ship Sverige (1915)". In Taylor, Bruce (ed.). The World of the Battleship: The Lives and Careers of Twenty-One Capital Ships of the World's Navies, 1880–1990. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. pp. 290–307. ISBN 978-0-87021-906-1.
• Utredning och Forslag angaende Sjorkrigsmaterielens sammansättning m.m. avgivet jamlikt Kungl. [Investigation and Proposals regarding the composition of the Naval War Equipment, etc.]. Swedish National Archives. pp. 103–113. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
• Westerlund, Karl-Eric (1985). "Sweden". In Gray, Randal (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 355–363. ISBN 978-0-85177-245-5.