The Sjöormen- class diesel-electric submarines entered service with the Swedish Navy in 1968/69 . The HMS Sjöormen belonged to a separate class of Swedish submarines, of which a total of five copies were built, the Sjöormen , the Sjölejonet and the Sjöhunden in Malmö and the Sjöhästen and the Sjöbjörnen at the shipyard in Karlskrona .
On July 31, 1968, the Swedish Navy delivered the first submarine called Sjöormen (Sea Snake ) and put it into operation. It was a completely new type of submarine that could stay under the water for several weeks and had a completely new propulsion system. It had a teardrop-shaped hull shape and was able to dive up to 150 meters. The conception is reminiscent of the American test submarine USS Albacore in many respects . Each of the submarines had six tubes for torpedoes, optional mine-laying capacities and, in theory, could have carried tactical nuclear weapons. 1984 to 1985 all boats of the class were modernized, in 1992 the boats Sjölejonet and Sjöhunden received a modernized sonar.
Challenger- class of the RSN
The Sjöormen and her four sister boats were in 1997 to the Navy of Singapore sold, the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) as they were by Swedish standards obsolete. They received additional air conditioning for service in tropical waters and were put into service between 2001 and 2003. The RSS Challenger and the RSS Centurion were decommissioned in March 2015. The RSS Conqueror and the RSS Chieftain are still in active service.
literature
Christopher Chant (1984): Naval Forces of the World. Seacaucus, New Jersey: Chartwell Books. ISBN 0-89009-626-0 .
