HSwMS Psilander (18)

History
Italy
Name: Giovanni Nicotera
Namesake: Giovanni Nicotera
Builder: Societa Pattison, Naples
Launched: 24 June 1926
Commissioned: 8 January 1927
Fate: Sold to Sweden, 1940
Sweden
Name: Psilander
Namesake: Gustaf von Psilander
Acquired: 1940
Commissioned: 27 March 1940
Decommissioned: 13 June 1947
Fate: Scrapped, 1949
General characteristics
Class and type: Psilander-class destroyer
Displacement:
  • 970 long tons (990 t) standard
  • 1,480 long tons (1,500 t) full load
Length: 84.9 m (278 ft 7 in)
Beam: 8.6 m (28 ft 3 in)
Draught: 3.55 m (11 ft 8 in)
Propulsion:
  • 2 shaft Parsons type geared turbines
  • 3 boilers
  • 36,000 hp (26,800 kW)
Speed: 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph)
Range: 1,800 nmi (3,300 km) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Complement: 153
Armament:

HSwMS Psilander (18) was a Psilander-class destroyer of the Swedish Navy from 1940 to 1947. The ship was purchased from Italy by Sweden in 1940, along with her sister ship HSwMS Puke. Before that, she served in the Regia Marina as Giovanni Nicotera, one of four members of the Italian Sella class. Psilander was scrapped in 1949.

Design

Psilander was named after admiral Gustaf von Psilander and was 85.3 meters long, 8.6 meters wide and had a depth of 2.8 meters. The hull was designed with a forecastle that stretched over almost half the ship's length. Forward of the two funnels there was a superstructure that housed the wheelhouse and the command bridge. The machinery consisted of three steam boilers that delivered steam to two Thornycroft steam turbines, which drove each propeller. The machinery developed 36,000 horsepower, giving a maximum speed of 35 knots.[1] The armament was made up of three 12 cm guns, mounted one in a tower on the foredeck and two in a double tower on a structure on the aft deck. The air defense consisted of two 40 mm automatic guns and two 13.2 mm machine guns.[2] In addition, there were two pieces of double rack for 45.7 cm torpedoes and space for 30-40 mines.[2]

History

Italian service

Psilander was laid down at the Pattison shipyard in Naples and launched on 24 June 1926. The ship was delivered to the Regia Marina on 8 January 1927, and was named Giovanni Nicotera after the Italian politician Giovanni Nicotera. In 1929 the ship was modernized, replacing the three 12 cm guns with four modernities, which led to the fact that the forward tower also had a double gun carriage.

Sale to Sweden

In December 1939, a Swedish commission to Italy departed to investigate the possibility for Sweden to buy warships.[3] This led to the acquisition of the Psilander and Romulus-classes. On 14 April 1940, all four destroyers left La Spezia and on 10 July the ships arrived in Gothenburg.[4]

Swedish service

After arriving in Sweden, Psilander was put into service in the Gothenburg Squadron.[5] Over time, the ship was found to be to weakly built and rolled heavily in heavy seas, which meant that reinforcements had to be made and bilge keel had to be mounted on the hull. In addition, the low freeboard of the stern caused it to be flooded in bad weather.[6] In the years 1941-1942 the ships armament were modified. The air defense was changed to two 40 mm anti-aircraft automatic guns m/36 and two dual 8 mm anti-aircraft machine guns m/36. The 45 cm torpedoes was changed to 53 cm torpedoes and depth charge throwers and rack-deployed depth charges were installed.[1] After a very short service, the ships were placed in reserve between 1943 and 1944.

Fate

Psilander was decommissioned on 13 June 1947, after which she used for shooting and exploding tests before she finally was scrapped in Karlskrona in 1949.

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 Hofsten, Waernberg & Ohlsson 2003, p. 160
  2. 1 2 Borgenstam, Insulander & Kaudern 1989, p. 55
  3. ↑ Borgenstam, Insulander & Kaudern 1989, p. 54
  4. ↑ Borgenstam, Insulander & Kaudern 1989, p. 63
  5. ↑ Lagvall 1991
  6. ↑ Borgenstam, Insulander & Kaudern 1989, p. 58

Print

  • Borgenstam, Curt; Insulander, Per; Kaudern, Gösta (1989). Jagare: med Svenska flottans jagare under 80 år (in Swedish). Västra Frölunda: Marinlitteratur. ISBN 91-970700-4-1. LIBRIS 7792227.
  • Hofsten, Gustaf von; Waernberg, Jan; Ohlsson, Curt S. (2003). Örlogsfartyg: svenska maskindrivna fartyg under tretungad flagg. [Forum navales skriftserie, 1650-1837 ; 6] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Svenskt militärhistoriskt bibl. i samarbete med Marinlitteratur. ISBN 91-974384-3-X. LIBRIS 8873330.
  • Lagvall, Bertil (1991). Flottans neutralitetsvakt 1939-1945: krönika. Marinlitteraturföreningen, 0348-2405 ; 71 (in Swedish). Stockholm: Marinlitteraturfören. ISBN 91-85944-05-X. LIBRIS 7753511.
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