H.M Pansarkryssare Fylgia (1941)
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H.M Pansarkryssare Fylgia was an armored cruiser in service with the Swedish navy built by Finnboda shipyard in 1905. In 1939 she received a grand modernization that was completed in 1941, this is the form i am suggesting here, though i wouldn’t mind seeing her in her original form either.
History and Development
It all began in 1892, the Swedish navy expressed their desire for two ships of the cruiser type, which was the style at the time. They wanted one larger cruiser type and one smaller, however as is standard for the Swedish military, the lack of funds got in the way. As a result only one cruiser type was to be built, the smaller alternative was chosen and it was decided that 5 were going to be built. Despite this, in 1901 the naval needs of Sweden were examined and it was found that the smaller cruiser alternative was too weak and a larger type was needed, something that could both scout and fight enemy cruisers and destroyers Independently. Therefore a new, larger cruiser was designed and in 1902 the Fylgia was approved for construction. The name comes from “Fylgja”, female protective spirits from Nordic mythology. There were arguments for a sister ship but unfortunately they were denied.
Here we see H.M Pansarkryssare Fylgia being launched.
In 1905 she was completed and put into service in the Swedish navy, at 117 meters long and 14,8 meters wide she held the record for the worlds smallest armored cruiser. Despite this she was 20 meters larger than Sweden’s biggest “Battleship” at the time, H.M Pansarskepp Oscar II and as such represented the largest ship in the Swedish navy. She was found to be a far more stable ship than thought despite the rather small armored sections and was enjoyed by her crew, all 322 of them.
Her service life early on didn’t amount to much else than voyages to all the corners of the world, from America to India to the Caribbean, she went on 10 fares around the world before her first major assignments, guarding Swedish waters during ww1. Fun fact, she was in the middle of a trip to the Mediterranean sea when the war broke out and had to hurry home to the dismay of the crew expecting sun and sand instead of cold winds and snow.
Her original form, with her white paint she was nicknamed “The white swan of Sweden”
Post war she returned to her duties of looking good, taking on more voyages abroad, 20 in all, and generally just being eye candy. By this point she was quite the worn woman, being considered unfit for combat and put in the reserve fleet with a planned modernizing sometime at some point in the future.
Fylgia coming into the harbor on her 1922 cruise.
Now then, for what you all came here for. In 1939, Europe had just seen the outbreak of ww2, with this in mind Sweden finally gave the navy funds to modernize Fylgia, this would be an extensive modernization covering all fronts. She was put into dry dock and was to put it simply, gutted.
Her power plant was modernized, all her 12 coal-fired boilers were removed, and replaced by four large oil-fired Penhoët boilers. A funnel was removed and the first boiler room was converted to a Cadette accommodation area. All electrical wiring and systems were modernized, she received modern fire control systems, a new electrical supply, new radio equipment and much more. Her ramming bow was removed and replaced.
The bridge was completely rebuilt, they made it less cramped and was appreciated by many officers.
Her main armament of 8 x 6 inch cannons was kept the same though modernized with new gun cradles, ammo and barrels among other things. Her secondaries however were changed by removing all 14 case mate mounted 57mm cannons and replacing them with deck mounted AA cannons. Her torpedo tubes were also removed and replaced with deck mounted ones.
All in all she could almost be seen as a new ship, it took 2 years to complete and she was back in action in 1941.
Fylgia at a port in Malmö, 1944
During ww2 she spent her time just like she did in ww1, patrolling and guarding Swedish waters while also acting as chief ship in the naval war school department.
After the war when all was calm, she returned yet again to her duties as eye candy and went on to sail around the world again, this time even featuring in a movie! But her age was showing, in 1953 she was put out of service and used as a target ship until she was scrapped in 1957, however her cannons lived a bit longer. Her armament was removed and dug in as defensive cannons along the defensive zone known as Kalixlinjen where they remain to this day, though no longer active.
What remains of this great pansarkryssare… The battery where they were placed were built to survive both nuclear blasts and napalm so the cannons were probably safer here than on the ship.
As i am suggesting her modernized form from 1941, the stats will reflect that.
Armament and stats
Displacement: 4980 tons
Length: 117 meters
Beam: 14,8 meters
Draft: 6.3 meters
Propulsion: 4 oil-fired boilers, 2 4cyl-triple expansion, 2 screws, 13,000 ihp
Speed: 21.5 / 22 knots with a range of 5,770 nautical miles if traveling at 10 knots
Complement: 341 men
Armor:
Side belt 100 mm (3.9 in) though thick, the fact that it only covered a small part of her was criticized.
Turrets 50–125 mm (2.0–4.9 in)
Deck 22–35 mm (0.87–1.38 in)
Conning tower 100 mm
Armament:
8 × 152 mm/55cal. Bofors M/03 (modernized), 5 - 6 shots a minute.
4 × 57 mm/55cal. AA M/89B-38B
4 × 40 mm/56cal. Bofors AA M/1936
2 × 25 mm/58cal. Bofors AA M/1932
1 × 20 mm/66cal. Bofors AA M/1940
2 × 533mm torpedo tubes
2 depth charge throwers
