Class: Arholma Class Minesweeper
Launched: 1940
At: Eriksbergs Mekaniska Verkstad, Gothenburg, Sweden
Commissioned: 1940
Decommissioned: 1966
Length: 55 meters at waterline
Beam: 7.6 meters
Draft: 2.1 meters
Displacement: 450 tons
Machinery: 2 de Laval steam turbines, 1,600 H.P.
Speed: 17 knots
Armament: (original) Guns: 2 – 10.5 cm M/40; 1 – 20 mm M/32; 2- MG M/36; A/S
Weapons: 50 depth charges; Mines: 40; Carbine M/94 small arms.
Minesweeping equipment: Paravane, clearance sweeps, degaussing equipment.
Complement: 3 officers, 7 warrant officers, 40 ratings
Address:
The National Maritime Museums of Sweden/The Naval Museum
Stumholmen
Box 48
SE-371 21 Karlskrona
Sweden
(46) 455 35 93 00
Fax: (46) 455 35 93 49
http://www.marinmuseum.se
Latitude: 56.1615091229, Longitude: 15.5992287397
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Following the outbreak of war in 1939, the decision was taken to order twelve minesweepers for the Swedish Navy. Although construction work was planned and directed from the Karlskrona Navy Yard, owing to the urgency of the political situation, the minesweepers were built at six different dockyards. The Bremön and her sister ships of the Arholma class were all named after Swedish lighthouses.
The Bremön could be employed as a minesweeper or a minelayer. Sweden remained neutral during World War II, but mines do not differentiate between friend and foe. And during the war years she had more than enough on her hands. In addition to minesweeping duties she acted as a convoy escort and saw service in various other capacities in the upholding of Swedish neutrality. After the war she worked with mine clearance.
The Bremön was taken off the Active List in 1966, and she became a part of the Navy’s training establishment in Karlskrona. One boiler and its turbine were kept in working order and the other opened up for instruction purposes. When the era of steam-powered turbine finally came to an end so did the need for training ships such as the Bremön. She has been at the Naval Museum since 1987.
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