HSwMS Gotland (1933)

Gotland in 1936
History
Sweden
Name	Gotland
Ordered	7 June 1930
Builder	Götaverken, Gothenburg
Laid down	1930
Launched	14 September 1933
Commissioned	14 December 1934
Decommissioned	1956
Stricken	1 July 1960
Fate	Sold for scrap, 1962
Badge
General characteristics (as built)
Type	Aircraft cruiser
Displacement	4,750 t (4,670 long tons) (standard)
Length	134.8 m (442 ft 3 in)
Beam	15.4 m (50 ft 6 in)
Draught	5.5 m (18 ft 1 in)
Installed power	4 boilers 33,000 shp (25,000 kW)
Propulsion	2 shafts; 2 steam turbines
Speed	27.5 knots (50.9 km/h; 31.6 mph)
Range	4,000 nmi (7,400 km; 4,600 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement	467
Armament	2 × twin, 2 × single 152 mm (6 in) guns 1 × twin, 2 × single 75 mm (3 in) AA guns 4 × single 25 mm (1 in) AA guns 2 × triple 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes 80–100 Mines
Armour	Deck: 51 mm (2.0 in) Gun turrets: 29–51 mm (1.1–2.0 in)
Aircraft carried	6 Hawker Osprey floatplanes
Aviation facilities	1 catapult

HSwMS Gotland was an aircraft cruiser built for the Royal Swedish Navy during the 1930s. Completed in 1934, she was assigned to the Coastal Fleet and also served as a training ship for naval cadets in foreign waters until the beginning of World War II in 1939. During the war the ship conducted neutrality patrols and continued to serve as a training ship. Gotland was converted into an anti-aircraft cruiser in 1943–1944 as her floatplanes were obsolete and modern replacements could not be purchased. After the war ended in 1945, she became a dedicated training ship and resumed making lengthy foreign cruises with cadets.

The ship was converted into a fighter-direction ship in 1953–1954. Gotland made one final training cruise in 1955–1956 and was reduced to reserve later that year. She was stricken from the navy list in 1960 and sold for scrap in 1962.