Näcken class submarine
Encyclopedia
The Näcken class submarines, also known as the A14 type, were built for the Swedish Navy
Swedish Navy
The Royal Swedish Navy is the naval branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet – as well as marine units, the so-called Amphibious Corps .In Swedish, vessels of the Swedish Navy are given the prefix "HMS," short for Hans/Hennes...
in the late 1970s. The boats were authorised in 1972 and the programme was completed in 1981. All boats were built by Kockums
Kockums
Kockums AB is a shipyard in Malmö, Sweden owned by the German shipyard Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft in Kiel. HDW itself is a subsidiary of the German ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems....
in Karlskrona. The boats had a teardrop hull and diving depth was 150m. Between 1987 and 1988 the Näcken was converted to Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) using a closed cycle Stirling engine
Stirling engine
A Stirling engine is a heat engine operating by cyclic compression and expansion of air or other gas, the working fluid, at different temperature levels such that there is a net conversion of heat energy to mechanical work....
. This technology increased underwater endurance to 14 days and has been adopted in subsequent Swedish submarines.
By the early 2000s the class was decommissioned from the Swedish navy. The HMS Näcken was temorary leased to the Danish navy but was returned in 2005. As of 2011 the three submarines are laid up at the Karlskrona naval base
Karlskrona naval base
Karlskrona naval base is the largest naval base of the Swedish Navy located in Blekinge in southern Sweden. The naval base has intimate ties with the city of Karlskrona. It has an exceptionally well sheltered location: arcs of islands provide a strong defense not only from the sea but also from...
.
Ships
| Ship | Launched | Commissioned | Current status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Näcken | 17 April 1978 | 25 April 1980 | Leased to Danish Navy 2001-2005 as Kronborg, in storage in Karlskrona |
| Neptun | 6 Dec 1978 | 5 Dec 1980 | in storage in Karlskrona. Will be restored and put on display. |
| Najad | 13 Aug 1979 | 26 June 1981 | in storage in Karlskrona |