The Äran class was a class of coastal defence ship

Coastal defence ship

Coastal defence ships were warships built for the purpose of coastal defence, mostly during the period from 1860 to 1920. They were small, often cruiser-sized warships that sacrificed speed and range for armour and armament...

s of the Swedish Navy

Swedish Navy

The Royal Swedish Navy is the naval branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet – as well as marine units, the so-called Amphibious Corps .In Swedish, vessels of the Swedish Navy are given the prefix "HMS," short for Hans/Hennes...

. The class comprised Äran, Wasa, Tapperheten and Manligheten.

Dimensions and machinery

The ships of the class were 87.48 metre long, had a beam of 15 metre, a draught of 5 metre, and had a displacement of 3,592 ton. The ships were equipped with 2 shaft reciprocating engine

Reciprocating engine

A reciprocating engine, also often known as a piston engine, is a heat engine that uses one or more reciprocating pistons to convert pressure into a rotating motion. This article describes the common features of all types...

s, which were rated at 6500 ihp and produced a top speed of 17 kn (33.3 km/h).

Armour

The ships had belt armour of 7 in (17.8 cm) and 7.5 in (19.1 cm) turret armour.

Armament

The main armament of the ships where two 8.2 in (20.8 cm) single turret guns. Secondary armament included six single 6 in (15.2 cm) guns and ten 5.7 cm (2.2 in) single guns.

Construction

Äran was laid down at the Lindholmen At Goteborg shipyard and launched in 1902. Wasa was laid down at the Bergsund At Finnboda shipyard and was also launched in 1902. Tapperheten and Manligheten where both laid down at Kockums At Malmo shipyard and were launched in 1904.

External links

• Description of class