HSwMS Sjöbjörnen (Sbj), Sw. meaning sea bear, was the third ship of the Swedish submarine class Sjöormen, project name A11.[1]
_MM01677.jpg) HSwMS Sjöbjörnen underway between 1970-1989.
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Sweden | |
| Name | Sjöbjörnen |
| Namesake | Sjöbjörnen |
| Ordered | 1966 |
| Builder | Karlskrona naval base |
| Launched | 9 January 1968 |
| Commissioned | 28 February 1969 |
| Decommissioned | 1997 |
| Motto |
|
| Nickname(s) | Sbj |
| Fate | Sold to Singapore in 1997 |
 Singapore | |
| Name | Challenger |
| Namesake | Challenger |
| Acquired | 28 May 1999 |
| Commissioned | 2000s |
| Decommissioned | 11 March 2015 |
| Homeport | Changi |
| Fate | Scrapped |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 50.5 m (165 ft 8 in) |
| Beam | 6.1 m (20 ft 0 in) |
| Draught | 5.8 m (19 ft 0 in) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
| Complement | 25 officers and enlisted |
| Armament |
|
Development
editThe planning of the class included a number of different AIP solutions including nuclear propulsion. However, the ships where finally completed with for the time extremely large batteries. The ship was a single-hulled submarine, with the hull shape influenced by the American experimental submarine USS Albacore. The hull was covered with rubber tiles to reduce the acoustic signature (anechoic tiles), at this time a pioneering technology. The Sjöormen class also pioneered the use of an x-shaped (as opposed to cross-shaped) rudder as a standard (as opposed to experimental) feature.[2]
Service in Sweden
editThe submarine served in the Swedish Navy for almost 30 years and was then sold to Singapore in 1997 together with its four sister ships.
Service in Singapore
editHSwMS Sjöbjörnen was renamed RSS Challenger after Singapore acquired the boat on 28 May 1999. She was commissioned on 26 June 2004 after a major refit. After 11 years in the Republic of Singapore Navy, she was decommissioned on 11 March 2015 and scrapped.[3]
Gallery
edit- HSwMS Sjöbjörnen & RSS Challenger gallery
-
HSwMS Sjöbjörnen being launched on 9 January 1968. -
HSwMS Sjöbjörnen surfacing in 1968. -
RSS Challenger undergoing session trials on 23 March 2010.
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References
edit- ^ "HMS Sjöbjörnen (Sbj)", Wikipedia (in Swedish), 2019-09-18, retrieved 2020-07-29
- ^ "CHALLENGER CLASS SUBMARINE". Ministry of Defense Singapore. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
- ^ "End of service for Singapore submarines | Strategic Bureau of Information". www.strategic-bureau.com. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
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