When visiting the countries of northern Europe as a foreigner today, you may be easily captured by the beautiful landscapes and elegant architectures, as well as the great food options and the generally exceptional hospitality. Actually, a visit to Scandinavia will hardly disappoint, either in the summer or in the cold season. Everywhere looks like an ideal place for having a good time off.

However, digging in the military history of Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland, you might be surprised. Actually, since medieval times peaceful mutual relations have been built very slowly over the years in the area, going through centuries of unrest and struggle often culminating in open wars. In the global conflicts brought about starting with Napoleon until the end of the Cold War roughly 190 years later, the Countries around the Baltic sea have been in the center of a theater of operations of their own.

World War II and the Cold War

Looking at WWII and the Cold War era, the roles of Northern-European countries have been significantly different. Denmark, geographically untenable in front of the German enemy, was taken by Hitler’s Third Reich forces almost overnight, with Norway following shortly after. This gave birth to fierce resistance actions, trying to jeopardize the activities of the enemy. Norway was in the focus of much attention by the Western Allies, who tried to land in Narvik, sank battleship Bismarck, bombed the heavy water plant in Vemork, and transited in its arctic seas to feed Stalin’s Soviet Union with much needed supply (see this chapter). Conversely, Finland fought a fierce war against the USSR, ending up as an ally of Germany after the start of Operation Barbarossa, and finally turning against the Wehrmacht on agreement with the USSR, and managing to leave the conflict in 1944 (see this chapter).

Finally, Sweden did not take part to offensive military actions in WWII, managing to keep a neutral role through delicate diplomatic actions. For this neutrality to be credible however, the Country had to be defended, and its border – both on land and along the shoreline – actively guarded. This meant the construction of many forts all along the Baltic coast, to the west, south and east, as well as ground installations along the border with Finland. Similarly, the military tradition of Sweden, that in modern times date at least from the 17th century, when in the Thirty Years War Sweden managed to take a primary role in the balance of powers in Europe, was not discontinued at all. Despite neutrality, traditional manufacturers of fine firearms and shipbuilders were flanked over time by companies making excellent heavy-duty vehicles, armored tanks and aircraft.

In the Cold War period following the end of WWII, Scandinavia got a possibly even more central status, due to its proximity with the USSR and the control it could exercise on the sea accesses of the Soviet Union to the Northern Atlantic. Where Denmark and Norway joined NATO (see this chapter for Norway, this for Denmark), Finland and Sweden kept a neutral role. Once again, Sweden, not entangled in a complicated post-WWII deal with the USSR unlike Finland, could develop the credibility of its neutrality, preparing for defending against the Soviet threat with a build-up of its armed forces, and the development of original and high-tech military solutions, tailored to its territorial and climatic needs, carried out mostly in-house.

Traces in Sweden

The facts of WWII and especially of the Cold War in Sweden have left relevant traces, which are proudly preserved for the public either in world-class exhibitions, sometimes prepared on the very site of former military installations, or in smaller, well-crafted and much detailed collections, often run by groups of exceptionally passionate enthusiasts.

This and the following chapters cover some of them, offering a cut-out of what a visitor interested in military technology and history can find in beautiful Sweden. Photographs were taken in 2024.

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• Aeroseum – former Säve Air Force Base – Göteborg
• Maritiman – Göteborg

Sights

Aeroseum – former Säve Air Force Base – Göteborg

Besides making for a testimony to the originality and commitment of Sweden military planners, the air force base of Säve, located about 4 miles north of the major town of Göteborg in South-Western Sweden, is truly a one-of-a-kind example of a Cold War installation. Conceived for anti-blast protection in the early years of the nuclear age, the base was designed to carry out all operations, except take-off and landing, underground. This included aircraft storage and servicing, but also refueling, loading, towing, and lighting the engines in corridors carved down to 100 feet underground in the hard Scandinavian rock!

The project had an anticipation during WWII, when some special aircraft shelters had been obtained on site by drilling the hillside. However, the actual digging of this incredible Cold War underground base was started in 1950, to be inaugurated by the king Gustav VI Adolf in 1955 (even if not totally complete at the time). The base was sized for a crew of 40 men staying underground with 15 aircraft, of the then new type Saab J29 Tunnan (which translates into ‘barrel’).

The plan of the underground facility features multiple accesses from ground level, on the sides of local hills. Entrances are all misaligned, to reduce the potential damage from a hit by a single attacker. The actual access to the descending tunnel driving down is through a colossal concrete sliding door, 2.3 ft thick and weighing 70 tonnes, with a front area such to allow a fully mounted aircraft to transit with sufficient clearance from the walls and ceiling!

Interestingly, the concrete door is preceded outside by a curtain, which together with traffic lights, switch cabinets and cables can still be seen today. This was installed for further protection to prevent the effects of fallout and contamination, in case of a nuclear attack on the base premises. The heavy curtain could be effective in stopping debris and lower-energy contaminated particles from even touching the doors. Soaked in water for cleansing, it could be then potentially re-employed multiple times, in case of a nuclear war scenario with waves of nuclear strikes.

This feature of the base, already pretty unusual, is the first to welcome – and strike! – the visitor. Then the tour takes you inside, for a full exploration of the underground facility beyond the massive concrete doors.

The feeling when accessing the tunnel is really of something huge. A description of the history of the base is offered as a first item through pictures, schemes and original crests. Then the roomy environment of the access tunnel, descending in a bend to the bottom part of the base, is stuffed with a rich collection of aircraft and helicopters in service with the Swedish Air Force, their engines and technical accessories.

The base of Säve was fully completed by 1963, including the fuel supply system which had posed some safety issues in its original design (fuel went down in case of accidental spilling, thus remaining trapped in the deep-end of the base). However, the F9 squadron of the Air Force, home-based in Säve, was disbanded just a few years later, in 1969. This meant that the underground airbase saw active service with the J29 and later the J34, the latter being the Swedish designation of the British Hawker Hunter. After 1969, Säve was home base to the 2nd Helicopter Squadron, and the underground part, hardly of use for rotorcraft, was then employed as a safe storage for non-active aircraft, notably the illustrious Saab J35 Draken, of which 70 (!) were long-term stored inside, with wings dismounted. The base finally ended its military service in 1998. The underground bunker was re-opened later as the Aeroseum museum, where most of the former airbase was turned into a civilian airport, still working today.

Among the aircraft on display in this first descending tunnel are a Saab J29 Tunnan, alongside its De Havilland Ghost jet engine (license-built under the designation RM2 by Svenska Flygmotor, later Volvo Aero, in Sweden). In service between 1948 and 1976 with the Swedish Air Force, the somewhat elusive J29, little known in the West, was a massively produced swept-wing fighter and fighter-bomber, with 661 exemplars manufactured! Austria, another non-NATO country lying on the border with the Soviet bloc, was the only foreign customer for this machine, which in the 1950s formed the backbone of Sweden’s defense force. A modern fighter in many respects, in the same class of the North American F-86 Sabre and of the MiG-15, the J29 was not easy to master for novel pilots, and unfortunately caused many accidental losses, at a time when Sweden was the fourth air force in the world in strength. It was actively employed in the Congo, where Sweden took part within the United Nations contingent in the 1960s.

On display are also the towing truck and generator employed for engine spool up. In a scramble, the aircraft could be towed up by this Volvo truck, directed on an open air apron, from where it could complete its taxi run alone and finally take-off.

Next in line is a Saab J35 Draken (meaning ‘dragon’), an iconic and successful supersonic fighter/interceptor from Sweden, first flown in 1955 and entering service in 1960, manufactured in 615 exemplars and not less than 10 variants. Besides the Swedish Air Force it was adopted by the foreign Air Forces of Denmark, Finland, and again Austria, the last to withdraw it from service in 2005! This Mach 2 capable machine, with a double-delta wing planform, was propelled by a slightly modified Rolls-Royce Avon engine (manufactured by Svenska Flygmotor as RM6). An original design from the Swedish school, among the features making it so versatile were provision for a two-seats airframe, as well as a general plant simplicity and undercarriage sturdiness, which together with a stopping parachute allowed its deployment from the wartime landing strips.

The latter were obtained in Sweden from the quick conversion of short sections of straight roads in the highway system, creating a network of so-called krigsflygbaser (‘war air bases’), in a defense plan called Bas 60 and later Bas 90. A solution to be found also in the Federal Republic of Germany in the Cold War years, this could greatly enhance the chance of survival of the air force following enemy strike on major air bases, through force dispersal. Yet not all aircraft can safely operate from similar airstrips. Swedish aircraft take this ability into account from the design phase, yielding dependable aircraft, capable of operations in far-from-ideal conditions.

Despite featuring a double, fixed-geometry and comparatively small air intake, the aircraft is single-engined. Underneath the fuselage, this aircraft features a ram air turbine (RAT), for powering the aircraft systems through kinetic energy in the airflow, in case of an engine shut-off in flight.

To the back of this exemplar of the Draken model is a Saab J37 Viggen (which is the name of a local species of duck). Another great example of an original design from Sweden, the J37 is an attack aircraft built in a canard configuration, and like its predecessor capable of short take-off and landing from road runways. Made in mode than 300 exemplars and employed uniquely by Sweden, it was in service between 1971 and 2007. Quite difficult to see out of Sweden, at the time of its introduction it was arguably the most advanced aircraft design to date, in terms of aerodynamic study, avionic suite and attack potential.

Developed in a number of variants for several roles, the exemplar on display features a number of payloads, to be attached to the underwing pylons or under the fuselage, also thanks to the good clearance from ground offered by the tall undercarriage (not to be found on the Draken). Differently from its Saab predecessors, the J37 was powered by a Volvo RM8, based on the American Pratt & Whitney JT8D turbojet, instead of a British engine.

Close to the Viggen, on display is a Saab car employed for friction test on the runway. This was rather widespread in airport facilities in Sweden. Vehicles with similar function can still be found everywhere in the world, especially in countries where runways are subject to icing.

Next in the line is the Saab JAS 39 Gripen, the most current evolution of the Saab dynasty of attack aircraft. Currently manufactured in more than 300 exemplars and exported to several countries, this machine is another original design from Sweden which is also a post-Cold War commercial success. A canard design like the Viggen, this model was introduced in the late 1980s, and it has been updated over the years as an air superiority platform, with a good mix of performance and efficacy, dependability and economical efficiency. Based on the Volvo RM12, derived from the American General Electric F404, it is currently in service. The aircraft on display is the oldest surviving.

Before reaching to the bottom, in one of the recesses along the corridor, photos from the construction phase of the bunker base, its inauguration and the years of operation can be checked out.

Also mentioned in the exhibition is the peculiar chapter of the Swedish nuclear program. The latter was envisioned in the early nuclear age following WWII, and it took shape especially in the 1950s and early 1960s. Besides facilities for the making of what was needed for fueling and managing a nuclear deterrent, on the aviation side Saab was tasked with dedicated projects for a delivery aircraft for nuclear ordnance, to flank the Saab J32 Lansen intended as an interim platform in that role. Project A 36, for an aircraft featuring a Viggen-like fuselage but no canard, and with an unusual overhead layout of the engine similar to the North American F-107, was in the pipeline when the government started to face increasing contrast from the public opinion concerning the entire national nuclear program, which was eventually cancelled in 1968.

Looking at the structure of the tunnel, left mostly untouched from the days of operation, the original wiring and piping for various systems – electrical, ventilation, etc. – can still be seen. The tunnel is also interspersed with frames, where light fire-proof doors could be lowered in case of an accidental fire. They could seal segments of the tunnel, which could then be flooded with fire-suppressing foam.

Approaching the bottom of the descending tunnel, it is possible to find a group of helicopters, in service in Sweden mostly for rescue operations, like an ubiquitous US-made Piasecki H-21 (the ‘Flying banana’), a Sud Aviation Allouette 2, an Agusta-Bell 402 and a Bell 206, the latter employed in polar missions from icebreaker Ymen. An Eurocopter Super Puma and a MBB Bo 105 come from the Swedish military, the latter reportedly having been prepared in a special anti-tank version, but never pressed into service.

Once on the bottom level, you can explore the halls, which are all interconnected, forming a network with a plant similar to a double ‘H’. On the crossing of two halls, you can spot the big round turntables, employed to turn the aircraft when towing them from storage to the base of the ramps going up. There are actually two of these ramps, one is that employed for access by visitors, the other is currently only visible from the bottom level, and off limits (employed for museum service). Its access can be found to the opposite side of the bottom level upon entering.

You can find several aircraft and exhibits on this level, including some pay-per-use professional flight simulators. An interesting exhibition tells about the organization of the STRIL, an acronym for stridsledning och luftbevakning, forming the backbone of the air defense system of Sweden from the early years of the Cold War on. Among the most unique facilities managed by the system are the krigsflygbaser mentioned above. Some original pictures and scale models tell about the detailed scheme of such bases, which could be activated when conditions required.

It is possible to board examples of both the Draken and Viggen models. The latter is presented with the engine dismounted from the airframe, and with many examples of war load either hanging from the wing pylons, or lying underneath. The number of options is really big, witnessing the versatility of the Viggen as an airborne platform.

The cockpit of the Viggen has evolved over time. The one you can see is fully analog. Close by is also the RM8 jet engine of the Viggen, with the afterburner pipe installed – a pretty long assembly! Also a trailer for storing and transporting jet engines is on display.

One of the Saab Draken exemplars is displayed alongside its engine as well. Interestingly, the afterburner pipe has been separated from the engine core in this case, allowing to check their respective size.

Another interesting item on display in this area, alongside a Bell 47 helicopter with its distinctive bubble canopy, is a Saab J32 Lansen. Primarily built as a fighter and entering service in the 1950s, the career of the Lansen stretched to the 1990s, and saw it employed in several roles, including as a trainer. Interestingly, the study for a dedicated engine – the STAL Dovern – was started alongside with that for the airframe, as typical to other military programs especially in the US. The engine, which reached the flight testing phase, is displayed alongside the aircraft. It represents one of the few projects of the Swedish company STAL for aviation. The company has been for long a primary manufacturer of turbines for electric power plants, started in the early 20th century on the remarkable Ljungström design (the homonym brothers actually founded STAL). In the end, the Lansen employed the British Rolls-Royce Avon.

A well-stuffed display is that of on-board radar equipment employed on the SAAB aircraft in service with the Swedish Air Force.

Among the many design and procurement programs of the Swedish military, special attention was given to missiles. The Robot 08 A, an anti-ship cruise missile employed on destroyers and from coastal batteries in Sweden, was the result of a collaborative program with the French. After a boost phase employing rockets, the efficient small jet engine employed for thrust in cruise (a Turbomeca Marbore) allowed the missile to travel at transonic speed, delivering a warhead up to 100 nautical miles away from the launch site. Navigation was through radio control, and homing on target was radar-assisted.

A real work-horse both in the US and abroad (see this post), a Cessna 337 Skymaster in service with the Coast Guard of Sweden can be found in apparently pristine conditions.

A wing of the museum is dedicated to the collection of the Aviation Veteran Society of Göteborg. Among their many interesting projects is the restoration of classic models, often times unique exemplars from an age prior to the introduction of jets. Each of the aircraft on display in their collection, which is always evolving, has a story to tell. For example, one of them, a British De Havilland Gipsy Moth, was employed by his owner (the Swede Gösta Fraenkel) in the 1930s for an experimental treatment of whooping cough, an infectious disease typically developing in children. The pilot took infected people on board the open-cockpit biplane, allowing cold, dry and clean air to ram into their respiratory channels and lungs for some minutes while flying at a sufficient altitude. Apparently, this treatment accelerated recovery in a percentage of cases. Another aircraft in this area is a SAAB 91A Safir. The ‘A’ version is the original and oldest of this light basic trainer and multipurpose aircraft, dating back to the 1940s, and a good commercial success for Sweden.

Another rich collection is based on an impressive archive of Cold War files documenting many Soviet activities in the territory of the German Democratic Republic. This exhibition (a topic often touched on this website, see for instance here and here) is especially interesting for its completeness and for the level of detail – most files show photographs and numerical data.

A nice array of models, often portraying in dioramas scenes from the real aviation history of Sweden or the region of the Baltic sea, is aligned along a wall. Among them, you can see the first ever defection of a MiG to the West on the Danish island of Bornholm (see this post), as well as the grounding of a Douglas DC-3 in Swedish markings by a MiG-15 which had taken off from Estonia (at that time within the borders of the Soviet Union). That DC-3 has been savaged from the bottom of the Baltic Sea years later, and it is now on display at the museum of the Swedish Air Force in Linköping.

Even if you don’t need it, you should take a detour to the toilet, to access an original corridor and have a look to two full-scale reconstructions of STRIL command centers.

Back outside, you can climb uphill to check out a few additional military vehicles on display, including an exemplar of the highly-succesful line of bi-modular track vehicles called Bandvagn, made by the Swedish company Hägglunds in tons of variants and for different roles. Basically unstoppable on any terrain (and actually working in shallow waters as well), this highly versatile machine is here displayed in a Swedish Army camo paint. Also on display is a rather rare moving lounge, a vehicle for easing boarding operation on larger aircraft. Made by Chrysler in the US (and reportedly employed at Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C., back then), this exemplar was in use at Göteborg Landsvetter airport, before the terminal was re-designed for a better management of passenger traffic.

From the hilltop, you may get a vantage view of the airfield, now the general aviation airport of Säve.

Getting there and visiting

The exact address of Aeroseum is Nya Bergets Väg 50, 41746 Göteborg, Sweden. The location is easily reachable along Hisingsleden, taking north from Göteborg, and connecting some of the premises of the huge Volvo factory quartered north of town. From the crossing with Flygflottilijens Väg (where a bus stop is), it is a .4 miles stretch to the museum’s gate. Huge parking on site. Visiting for technically-minded people with an interest for aviation can easily take 3 hours (4 in my case), checking out all the nice exhibits. There is a self-service restaurant at the bottom of the bunker, as well as a nice shop. Entertaining activities for the kids are on the menu as well.

Together with the Air Force Museum in Linköping, this is possibly one of the top air museums in Sweden, well worth a dedicated trip also for the special construction where it is located. Website with full information (also in English) here.

Maritiman – Göteborg

Located in downtown Göteborg, this museum has on display a handful of vessels, originally employed in Sweden in either civilian or military roles. The most sizable of them, the destroyer Småland (J19), is also an illustrious witness of the Cold War, and a lone survivor of the Royal Swedish Navy of that era. She was built by Eriksbergs shipbuilding company in Göteborg, a now defunct primary player in the Swedish naval history, and it saw service between 1956 and 1979 together with the only sister ship Halland, which gave name to the class.

The neutrality of Sweden for the Navy meant that the fleet of the kingdom was developed with self-defense in mind. At the end of WWII, two cruisers were laid down, Tre Kronor and Göta Lejon, which were the largest vessels ever to see service in Sweden. In the 1950s the shipbuilding effort saw the completion of the new destroyers Halland and Småland, which went operating alongside many more destroyer units over the 1950s and 1960s. All these four ships however were the pinnacle of shipbuilding in Sweden in terms tonnage. By the end of the 1950s the last four destroyers of the Östergötland class (lighter than Halland class) had been put into service, and manufacture of either cruisers or destroyers ceased altogether. By the end of the 1960s, the two cruisers were stricken off, and over the 1970s and 1980s many of the destroyers followed. In the high-tech late era of the Cold War, Sweden opted for a larger number of lighter surface ships, in particular corvettes and torpedo boats. The former are represented today by the highly effective Visby class, which constitutes the backbone of the Royal Swedish Navy today.

Of the historical cruiser and destroyer fleet of the Swedish Navy, the Småland is the only surviving unit. In the Maritiman museum, it is possible to board and thoroughly explore this vessel. Among the distinctive construction features, the castle structure runs all along the ship, allowing the crew to operate while keeping inside, so as to avoid exposition to fallout radiation in a nuclear war scenario. Provision for cleaning the outer decks was made with a pressurized water system, running around the castle. Furthermore, material was steel and iron, instead of aluminum, sometimes employed in shipbuilding for saving weight, but more prone to fire damage than heavier steel. The crew was of 250-290 men. The ship went through three modernization programs, and included three fire direction facilities in the castle.

The heavier gun armament of the destroyer is composed of two turrets (one at bow, one at stern) with two 120 mm guns each, and a bow turret with two 57 mm cannon. Additionally, six 40 mm single-barrel anti-aircraft cannons on revolving turrets are placed along the sides of the ship. All guns were made by Bofors in Sweden.

A single 120 mm gun turret was manned by seven men, and could fire 42 rounds per minute, with a range of roughly 12 nautical miles. It could be employed for targeting other ships, aircraft or land installations.

On the side of the 120 mm turrets you can see flare rockets with super intense illuminating power, which were employed for fire direction at night. Fire direction systems evolved over the years, but the task was mainly performed in the castle structure.

The 57 mm gun turret was designed for anti-aircraft operations, with a range of up to 4,000 m, which was roughly 25-30% more than the standard 40 mm anti-aircraft guns. Fire direction was from the castle deck or locally by the designated gunner.

For anti-submarine war operations, Småland has revolving torpedo tubes on the deck, for the Torped 61 torpedo series, a highly-successful design from Sweden, employed also by foreign customers (see this post).

Additionally, to the bow are two racks of launchers for four anti-submarine rockets each. An example of the body of a Bofors 375 mm anti-submarine rocket is on display beside the rocket launchers. It took 40 seconds to reload one launcher. Fire direction and timing was performed from inside the sonar room, or from a control station beneath the launchers.

The ship could carry out mine laying operations. To the stern of the ship some sea mines are on display on the rail employed for launching them outboard.

The Småland could manage helicopter landings on its deck, and it had the ability to launch anti-shipping cruise missiles. This rather innovative solution for the time was based on the Robot 08 platform (see also the Aeroseum exhibition here in this chapter). Two of them could be carried on the launching pad, where further missiles were stored under deck, and a special incline was employed to take them to the outer deck level for launch. Launch was managed with a dedicated fire control computer.

The Småland could operate as a flotilla capital ship, thus navigation and communication systems were particularly modern and capable on this ship, for the time. Digital computers, with pre-defined communications which could be issued at quick pace, are part of the scenery on the top decks of the castle structure.

The crew compartments, even those for higher-ranking staff, and many technical rooms are as cramped as usual on military ships, not so far from their WWII predecessors.

On top of the castle, the command deck can be found, and from here you can get also a nice view of the town of Göteborg.

Among the most interesting parts, is the engine and power supply area. The Småland was pushed by two independent boiler/turbine systems, which gave power to two propellers. Top speed was 37 knots, and at that speed the ship employed 420 liters of fuel per minute!

The engines required 16 men for operations initially, working close to the hot ducts and parts of the engine at extreme noise level. At a later stage, control rooms were installed in the engine compartments, allowing to reduce the workload and increase comfort to a reasonable level. Filtering and shielding was installed on the air intake system, to reduce the effect of nuclear fallout ingestion by the combustion system.

This area can be toured extensively, unveiling many narrow passages and showing the complex structure of the energy plant, producing power for motion and for all the other onboard systems.

Another highlight of the Maritiman is the Draken class submarine Nordkaparen (Nor, in the registry). The six ships of this class were manufactured in the early 1960s, Nordkaparen (laid down by Kockums at Malmö) entering service in 1962, to be stricken off in 1988. The Royal Swedish Navy has always invested much in its submarine fleet, especially along the entire span of the Cold War, with more than 20 units manufactured post-WWII and before 1989. New models have been introduced after the end of the Soviet Union and the Cold War, and currently four modern units are in service.

The Draken class, propelled by Diesel-electric propulsion, was introduced as an improvement of the older Hajen class, with a single slow rotating propeller instead of two, and a modified stern part and control surfaces. With an operative depth of 150 m and manned by 36 men, it was capable of a top speed of 22 knots submerged.

At the Maritiman it is possible to board the Nordkaparen from the stern hatch, and have a complete tour of its well preserved interiors, coming out from the hatch to the bow.

The rear compartment with the electric motors and a sleeping area for the crew is relatively roomy. Conversely, the center section of the submarine allows only a narrow passage between the Diesel engines, with round tight doors which require some body flexibility to go through!

The navigation deck and the cockpit are again somewhat roomier than their WWII counterparts, similar to the forward compartment, with a reasonable area for the crew.

A unique feature of this design is the revolving rack for storing the torpedoes. Torpedo tubes are four, and all placed to the bow of the ship. The revolving rack, resembling that of a giant revolver, hosts eight torpedoes. It is itself loaded from the back, and it can pivot around its axis pushed by a motor, putting a torpedo in the revolver at the level of the firing tube to be reloaded, thus allowing a faster recharging of any firing tube.

Another military boat from the Cold War years on display is the patrol boat Hugin (P151). A fleet of many, lighter vessels was preferred by military planners in Sweden to one of heavier and more expensive ships with greater firepower, especially towards the last decades of the Cold War. Hugin was the first of her class, and it was manufactured in Norway (Bergen Mekaniske Verksted). Sixteen units of this class were in service in the 1980s with the Royal Swedish Navy.

The boat features a steel hull, and is pushed by two 20-cylinders MB518D Diesel engines made by MTU, delivering a power of 3,500 hp each, and giving this boat a top speed of 39 knots. The crew of twenty men could operate for more days in a row on board the ship. This versatile fast boat was armed with inertial-guided and IR-homed anti-shipping missiles (type Robot 12 Mk 2, made in Sweden), depth charges and ASW-600 Elma grenades (made by SAAB in Sweden) for anti-submarine warfare, and sea mines for mine laying missions.

Additionally, the boat has a single Bofors 57 mm cannon for anti-aircraft gunnery. One of the versions of the Arte fire control system made by Philips was installed on the ship, allowing to engage more targets simultaneously.

The Maritiman has on display a number of other boats, covering a range of uses and a big part of the storyline of shipbuilding in Sweden. Among them are fire-fighting vessels, tugboats, as well passenger commuters.

Getting there and visiting

A top attraction of Göteborg, the Maritiman museum can be reached with a nice walk from the historical city center, simply reaching the water bank from it. The museum will be very entertaining for children, but it has even more to tell to technically minded people. Many detailed descriptions in multiple languages all along the visiting path allow to get much from your visit. Furthermore, the majority of the compartments are open or visible on the Småland ship, all on the Nordkaparen, allowing to fully explore these vessels or look into the many technical rooms. A thorough visit may take about 2-3 hours or more, depending on your level of interest.

The exact address is Packhusplatsen 12, 411 13 Göteborg. Parking options nearby (public at a fee). Website with full access information (also in English) here.