The Halland-class destroyers have a special place in naval history, even though they are
little-known warships.
These surface combatants were the largest and most heavily armed destroyers ever in
the Swedish Navy.
Also, they served in the Colombian National Navy.
Today, we are investigating the Halland-class destroyer, the Swedish naval response to the
First Cold War.
The Halland-class destroyer has always bedazzled naval enthusiasts with its superior features
and beautiful silhouettes.
HMS Halland and HMS Småland of the Swedish Navy were early examples of new-generation
warships designed to answer new threat perceptions of the First Cold War.
They were the first Western surface combatants equipped with anti-ship missiles.
In 1948, Sweden initiated a new defence acquisition programme, which included modernizing the
existing warships.
But, the Korean War, which broke out two years later, changed the plans, and Stockholm decided
to build new surface combatants, which would be a member of Landskapsjagare, meaning the
province destroyers.
At that time, the Swedish Navy defined its warships as "Landskapsjagare" named after
a province of Sweden.
Initially, Sweden considered designing a surface combatant based on the previous Öland-class
destroyer created in the early 1940s and named it the modified Öland-class.
Yet, the naval staff had comprehensively analyzed the naval battles of the previous World War
and the ongoing Korean War.
So, they requested a heavier ship, which would carry all the new weapons systems and have
many other improvements.
Thus, a newly designed destroyer, called the Halland-class, was created.
Due to the redesigning process, the first ship, HMS Halland, was laid down in 1951 at
AB Götaverken shipyard even though she had already been ordered in 1948.
The destroyer was launched on July 16, 1952, and commissioned on June 8, 1955.
The second destroyer, HMS Småland, was launched on October 23, 1952, and commissioned on January
12, 1956.
She was built at Eriksbergs Mekaniska Verkstads AB shipyard.
Towards the mid-1950s, the cruiser HMS Gotland was nearing time for scrapping.
Also, since the cruisers were too large and expensive, the Swedish Navy intended to replace
HMS Tre Kronor and HMS Göta Lejon with destroyers.
Therefore, in 1955 Sweden ordered two additional Halland-class vessels, HMS Lappland and HMS
Värmland.
Yet, they were also too large and expensive.
So, in 1958, the Swedish Navy cancelled the order in favour of the smaller Östergötland-class
destroyers.
It is unclear whether Sweden originally conceived the Halland-class as a missile destroyer.
But it is known that the Swedish anti-ship missile programme based on the German V1 and
V2 rockets that crashed on the Swedish coasts during the Second World War goes back as early
as 1944.
The design works on the Robot 315, one of these projects, started in 1949, two years
before HMS Halland was laid down.
The first trial of the missile was conducted in 1953.
HMS Halland launched a Robot 315 as a test in 1955, the year she was commissioned.
Until 1959, 86 missile fire trials were performed, eight of which were from the Halland-class
destroyers.
But, the result was unsatisfactory.
So, Sweden designed the Robot 08 based on the French Nord Aviation CT20 target missile
manufactured under licence by Saab.
After the trials were completed successfully, HMS Småland was fitted with this anti-ship
missile in 1966.
One year later, HMS Halland gained the Robot 08 firing capability.
So, they became the first Western surface combatants fitted with anti-ship missiles.
Although the Robot 315 programme was unsuccessful, HMS Halland became the first warship equipped
with anti-ship missiles, even for trial purposes.
In 1958, the Soviet Project 56EM-class, a.k.a Kildin-class, destroyer, Bedovy, was fitted
with the P-1, whose NATO reporting name was SS-N-1 Scrubber, and she became the first
major surface combatant equipped with anti-ship missiles operationally.
In addition to Sweden, Colombia ordered two modified Halland-class destroyers in 1954.
They were laid down in 1955.
The first ship, ARC 7 de Agosto, was launched on June 19, 1956, and commissioned on October
31, 1958.
The second destroyer, ARC 20 de Julio, was launched on June 26, 1956, and commissioned
on June 15, 1958.
The hull was made of steel.
The Swedish naval engineers preferred corrugated galvanized iron for the superstructure since
experiences showed that aluminium could melt in the event of a fire.
The design of the superstructure allowed the crew to reach the entire ship without having
to go outside, thus minimizing the risk of exposure to radioactive fallout.
Also, the Halland-class ships had no portholes and were fitted with internal air conditioning
systems to increase NBC protection.
The Swedish destroyers before the Halland-class had both turbine rooms located aft of the
boiler area, making the machinery more vulnerable to shelling.
So, in the new ship, to increase survivability, one steam turbine was placed at the far front
and the other behind the boiler area.
These areas were also armoured.
Initially, the Halland-class destroyer had the LW-03 radar and M20 and M45 fire control
systems.
Later, the 9LV 200 Mk.2 radar replaced the LW-03 and M50.
The noise of the ship's own propellers did not affect the sonar in a dome under the bow.
However, at speeds above 20 knots, the flow of water around the dome caused problems.
According to Jane's Fighting Ships, 1981-1982 Edition, the complement of the Halland-class
destroyer was 290-person.
The ship had a length of 121 metres, a beam of 12.6 metres, and a draught of 4.5 metres.
Its standard displacement was 2,800 tons, and its fully-loaded displacement was about
3,400 tons.
Two 29,000-horsepower De Laval double reaction geared steam turbines gave the destroyer a
top speed of 35 knots.
Its range was nearly 5,560 kilometres, in other words, 3,000 nautical miles.
The Halland-class destroyers of the Swedish Navy had two 120mm twin-barrel Bofors 12 cm
automatkanon m/50 naval guns with a rate of fire of 40 rounds per minute for each barrel.
It was fed via two 52-round magazines.
The gun had a 9,000 metres effective range against air and 19,100 metres against surface
targets.
There were three-rack 103mm illumination rocket launchers on each side of each turret.
The ships of the Swedish Navy had one Bofors 57mm twin-barrel gun, named 57 mm automatkanon
m/50 initially 57.
The designation changed to 57 mm torndubbelautomatpjäs m/50 later.
It had a rate of fire of 130 rounds per minute for each barrel.
The gun's maximum range was 13,000 metres.
But, it had an effective range of 5,000 metres and an effective altitude of 5,500 metres
against air targets.
The Halland-class destroyers of the Swedish Navy had six Bofors 40mm single-barrel 40
mm luftvärnsautomatkanon m/48 guns with a rate of fire of 300 rounds per minute.
Its maximum range was 12,500 metres against surface targets and 6,900 metres against air
targets.
The Robot 08, a.k.a Rb 08, was controlled via radio command during the mid-course phase.
In the terminal phase, it activated its active radar homing.
The missile with a 250-kilogram warhead had a top speed of 90 kilometres per hour and
a range of 70 kilometres.
The twin-rail Mk 20 launcher of the Robot 08 was located behind the stern funnel, with
the missile stored directly below it.
It could also be used as a reconnaissance drone by fitting with cameras.
Initially, the Halland-class ships of the Swedish Navy had two 533mm quadrable torpedo
tubes.
After the anti-ship missile launcher was fitted, the arrangement was changed so that the forward
tube got three and the aft one got five.
The destroyer could launch the 533mm wire-controlled Torped 61 torpedoes with 45 knots speed and
24 kilometres range.
Its warhead was 250 kilograms.
Two quadrable 37,5 cm antiubåtsraketpjäs M/50 anti-submarine rocket launchers were
located in the bow.
The rocket with a 100-kilogram warhead could be effective in a range of between 300 to
1,2000 metres.
The Swedish destroyers also had two depth charge launchers and could lay sea mines.
Later, a small landing platform for light helicopters, such as Bell 47 and Bell 206,
was installed on the HMS Halland and HMS Småland.
Unlike the Swedish destroyers, the Colombian ships had three 120mm and four 40mm guns.
They had no 57mm gun, anti-ship missiles, depth charges, and mine-laying rails.
Also, these destroyers were fitted with a single quadruple 533mm torpedo tube and only
one 37,5 cm antiubåtsraketpjäs M/50 anti-submarine rocket system.
During the high of the First Cold War, HMS Halland and HMS Småland were deployed to
the Muskö Naval Base in the mountains on Muskö Island from time to time.
Between the mid-1950s to the early 1980s, a destroyer flotilla of the Swedish Navy generally
consisted of one Halland and two Östergötland-class destroyers and six torpedo/missile boats.
These ships conducted many Soviet submarine hunt operations.
For example, during an exercise on August 23, 1962, Swedish destroyers detected a submarine
north of Fårö on Gotland and forced it to leave the area by using depth charges.
In 1974, a Swedish Coast Guard vessel spotted a submarine periscope at Kappelshamn on Gotland.
Then, HMS Halland was sent to the scene and received contact, whereby the submarine left
the Swedish waters.
On September 18, 1980, the Swedish Marine tugboat Ajax discovered a submarine off Utö
in the Stockholm archipelago.
HMS Halland also participated in this 18-day hunt operation.
But, the Halland-class destroyers were not part of the famous U 137 incident in 1981.
Until the late 1970s, the Swedish naval defence concepts included keeping sealines open in
case of a war.
The destroyers were an essential part of this mission.
But, they were expensive to be operated and required a relatively large crew.
It was an unbearable burden for small-populated Sweden, which already had a sizable army and
air force.
So, Stockholm decided to reorganize the Navy as a coastal defence force based on missile
boats and boat-size corvettes.
First, HMS Småland was decommissioned in 1979.
Three years later, HMS Halland followed her sister.
She was scrapped in 1985.
But luckily, HMS Småland has survived as a museum ship.
If you happen to be in the Maritiman marine museum in Göteborg, you can still see her.
Also in 2000, the Swedish heavy metal band Hardcore Superstar recorded a music video
on the ship.
If you would like, you can watch this Grammy-nominated video via the link above.
The Colombian National Navy also decommissioned ARC 20 de Julio and ARC 7 de Agosto in 1984
and 1986, respectively.
Thanks to Sweden's policy of neutrality and the fact that the Third World War never broke
out, the Halland-class destroyers never saw combat.
But, they were pioneers in being equipped with anti-ship missiles.
The leading Western navies would wait to replace the medium and large-calibre guns with this
weapon system until the 1970s.
So, the Halland-class destroyers have earned a special place as a legend in naval history.
Thanks for watching our video.
And please don't forget to subscribe to our channel and click the bell button to be notified
of our new videos.
Also, you can now click the join button to support our channel.
And as always, we would greatly appreciate all of your likes, comments, and shares.