Wrangel-class destroyer


The Wrangel class was a class of four destroyers built for the Royal Swedish Navy during World War I of which two were cancelled before they were laid down. Completed in 1918, they were in service until shortly after the end of World War II in 1945. Wrangel served as a target ship before she was sunk in 1960 and Wachtmeister was broken up for scrap in 1951.

Background and description

The Wrangel class completed a line of Swedish destroyers, originating from. Compared to contemporary destroyers in other navies, the ships were significantly smaller and more lightly armed, but they were improved versions of the preceding and were the first Swedish destroyers to use single-reduction geared turbines. The Wrangel class had a standard displacement of and at full load. The destroyers measured long at the waterline and overall with a beam of and a mean draught of.
The Wrangels were powered by a pair of de Laval geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam provided by four coal-fired Yarrow boilers. The turbines were designed to produce a total of, but actually produced that gave them a maximum speed of. The ships carried of coal. The destroyers had a complement of 81 officers and ratings.
The destroyers were armed with four 50-calibre m/12 guns in single mounts. One gun was situated fore and aft of the superstructure and the other two were on the broadside amidships. The guns fired shells at a muzzle velocity of. They also mounted two M1914 machine guns. The torpedo armament of the Wrangel-class destroyers consisted of 457 mm torpedoes fired from two twin-tube mounts located on the centreline aft of the funnels and one single tube on each broadside between the second and third funnels.

Modifications

The boilers of the Wrangels were converted to use fuel oil in 1927. They were rearmed in 1940, adding one Bofors M/32 anti-aircraft gun and two M36 machine guns while having their two single torpedo tube mounts removed. This increased their standard displacement to.

Construction and careers

Four ships were authorised in 1914 at the beginning of World War I. However, the final two ships of the class were cancelled due to economic reasons. Constructed in Sweden, HSwMS Wrangel and HSwMS Wachtmeister were both laid down in 1916 and completed in 1918. They were initially given the pennant numbers 9 and 10 respectively, but in 1940, these were changed to 25 and 26 respectively. Both destroyers saw little action during their service due to Sweden's neutrality during both world wars beyond sailing on neutrality patrols. Wrangel was stricken from the Navy Directory on 13 May 1947. The vessel was used as a target ship for tests and was sunk in 1960. Wachtmeister was stricken on 13 June 1947 and sold for scrap in 1951.