H.M Jagare Nordenskjöld of the Ehrensköld class (1940)
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H.M Jagare Nordenskjöld of the Ehrensköld class was a Swedish destroyer built by Götaverken in 1926 and wore the number (2). She was modernized in 1940 due to an event known as ww2. I am suggesting the Nordenskjöld specifically due to it being one of the few Swedish ships to shoot something during the war. She saw service as a destroyer until 1950 where she was converted into a frigate and saw that form untill she was put out of service in 1963 and was scrapped in Göteborg in 1964.
History and related information
As stated before H.M Jagare Nordenskjöld was a Swedish destroyer of the Ehrensköld class built by Götaverken in 1926. Her pre-war service didn’t amount to much else than general boating activities, sailing around and looking good as most warships do in peace time. The highlight of her pre-war career was being apart of the convoy of destroyers escorting the battleships H.M Pansarskepp Drottning Victoria and H.M Pansarskepp Gustav V to Swinemünde in order to collect the late Queen Victoria’s ashes.
In her original form
As the situation in Europe became worrying, both H.M Jagare Nordenskjöld and Ehrensköld were scheduled for maintenance and modernization, Nordenskjöld specifically was in a rather worn state with all three boilers needing to be replaced. During this time her weaponry was also modernized, though the main armament was kept the same, her Anti-Air weaponry was changed. Removing the two 40mm Bofors, they were replaced by four 25mm auto cannons in twin mounts and two 8mm machine gun posts. As she already carried good torpedoes and sink bombs, there was no further need for modernization of weaponry. This was carried out from January to April in 1940 and she was soon back in action, which was good due to the invasion of Denmark and Norway beginning.
Sorry, there are barley any pictures of her, especially in her ww2 form.
After her modernization was completed she was put to serve in the Göteborg flotilla to protect the fjords and coastline, a thing that was very important now that Norway was getting attacked. One evening in late April 1940, H.M Jagare Nordenskjöld was stationed in the Marstrandsfjorden, a fjord running close to Göteborg, due to numerous breaches of Swedish airspace. There she was alerted to the sounds of aircraft, and they were coming close fast. As her crew were running to their stations, German aircraft were spotted flying overhead. Though they were most likely on their way to Norway, they were still violating Swedish airspace and was to be shot down. Opening fire on the aircraft, one was successfully shot down, giving Nordenskjöld her first and only kill.
A bit afterwards she was apart of the daring convoy to protect a tanker full of oil to Göteborg from the Atlantic ocean, both British and German bombers and scout aircraft were spotted but luckily none attacked. After that however nothing really exiting happened in her career, she was escorting ships and defending the coast as she was supposed to until the end of the war. Post war she lived a calm life until she was rebuilt as a frigate in 1950 where she served until 1963. She was, as most ships were, shot to death by other ships as target practice and was scrapped in Göteborg in 1964.
As i’m suggesting her modernized version from 1940, the stats will reflect that.
Armaments and stats
Length: 91.4 meters
Width: 8.8 meters
Draft: 2.6 meters
Displacement: 947 / 1000 tons
Maximum speed: 35 knots
Crew: 119
Main armament consisted of three 12 cm guns m/24, 10 shots a minute each.
Anti-Air armament was four 25 mm lvakan M/32 in two twin mounts and two 8mm machineguns in single mounts.
She carried six 533 mm torpedoes in two triple tubes on the deck.
For anti submarine duties she was equipped with Two sink bomb throwers and two sink bomb droppers
She could also carry and lay 40 mines if necessary.
I would do a “Pictures” section as well but I’ve pretty much used up the only good ones in the history section so check that out instead, there are not a lot of images of this ship.
Sources
(HMS Nordenskjöld (12) – Wikipedia) (Swedish)
Militaria - Hans Högman (Swedish)
Sweden 12 cm/50 (4.7") Bofors Model 1924, HIH Marks 4 and 5 - NavWeaps (Cannons)