H.M Torpedbåt Vega
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H.M Torpedbåt Vega was a 1:st class torpedo boat belonging to the Swedish navy built during the Swedish naval expansion of the early 1900’s. In 1906 the Swedish navy ordered the designing of a new set of torpedo boats based on the preexisting 1:st class torpedo boats in service, specifically HM Plejad. After a few years and some different designs, the boats, to be named Vega and Vesta, were built and launched by the Karlskrona shipyard in 1910. HM Vega served well in the navy for many years, mostly patrolling the shallows of the Swedish coast and was eventually rebuilt into a vedette boat in 1921, serving in that role until she was put out of service in 1941. Her fate was that of a gunnery target as her hull currently resides at the bottom of the Märsgarn bay.
History
In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, the Swedish navy saw a huge modernization and expansion effort due to the rapidly evolving naval technology as well as the instability of the Swedish-Norwegian union, something that many thought could lead to war (which it almost did). During this expansion the Swedish navy saw the addition of the larger Pansarskepp of the Oden, Äran and Oscar II class as well as cruisers like the Örnen and Fylga class, however there was also an effort to procure a large amount of small, cheap and quick torpedo boats of both the 1st and 2nd class totaling over 50 that were built at the time. One of these ships, HM Torpedbåt Plejad, would be a particularly successful design that entered service in 1905, it combined both a good amount of firepower against enemy torpedo boats but also two large torpedoes against larger surface warships. The design was as stated, very successful and spawned a few torpedo boats largely based on it, two of these were the sister ships HM Vega and HM Vesta.
HM Vega and Vesta would differ slightly from their predecessor, being slightly smaller but heavier. The armament was also changed, unlike Plejad with her two 37mm m/98B, the sisters were planned to replace the aft 37mm with a stronger 57mm m/95D, however this was changed later to instead replace both 37mm’s with 57mm’s.
After some planning and eventual construction at the Karlskrona shipyard, H.M Vega (and Vesta) would enter service in 1910, not doing much other than practicing and looking good. By the time ww1 started in 1914, HM Vega would join the neutrality guard to defend Swedish waters, though as she was Swedish she never participated in any battles and mainly spent her time patrolling the archipelago. Post war in 1921, HM Vega would be reclassified as a vedette boat and repurposed for non-direct combat duties like light mining, minesweeping, patrolling and more. H.M Vega would stay a vedette boat until 1941 when she was put out of service. Her fate was like that of her sisters, being used as a gunnery target and shot until sunk as she now lays at the bottom of Märsgarn bay.
H.M Torpedbåt Vega (53), Castor (41) and Vesta (54) as vedette boats.
Armament and stats
Length: 39 Meters
Width: 4,4 Meters
Draught: 2,6 Meters
Deplacement: 110 Tons
Speed: 25 - 27 knots
Crew: 18 Men
Main weaponry: 2 x 57mm m/95D (L/33), one forward and one aft. They could fire around 20 - 35 shells a minute and had a range of around 6 km.
57 mm cannon’s available shells:
2,7 kg HE shell
2,7 kg shrapnel shell
Since the M/95D was a development based on the m/89 already in service, having the same base construction, it should also be able to fire the same ammunition which would then also include:
2,7 kg APHE (Steel) shell with 97 grams of filler.
2,7 kg APHE (Iron) shell with 72 grams of filler.
Secondary weaponry (aka the torpedoes): 2 x 45,7 cm torpedtub m/04, one in the bow and one rotatable on the aft deck.
Torped m/04:
Weight: 635 kg
Speed: 33 knots (26 knots if longer range was set)
Range: 1000 meters (2000 meters if longer range was set)
Warhead weight: 58,9 Kg
Photos
Original planned construction, notice the 37mm cannon forward.
A year later, forward is now planned as a 57mm m/95D, which would end up being in service.