Äran-class coastal defence ship

The Äran class was a class of coastal defence ships of the Swedish Navy. The class comprised HSWMS Äran, Wasa, Tapperheten and Manligheten.

Dimensions and machinery
The ships of the class were 87.48 m long, had a beam of 15 m, a draught of 5 m, and had a displacement of 3,592 tons. The ships were equipped with 2 shaft reciprocating engines, which were rated at 6500 ihp and produced a top speed of 17 kn.

Armour
The ships had belt armour of 7 in and 7.5 in turret armour.

Armament
The main armament of the ships where two 8.2 in single turret guns. Secondary armament included six single 6 in guns and ten 5.7 cm single guns.

Ships
Äran was laid down at the Lindholmens shipyard in Gothenburg and launched in 1902. Wasa was laid down at the Bergsund shipyard in Finnboda and was also launched in 1902. Tapperheten and Manligheten were both laid down at Kockums Shipyard in Malmö and were launched in 1904.

Service
Tapperheten ran aground on rocks near Stockholm in January 1914. The vessel was refloated in July by blasting the rocks out from under her, repaired and returned to service by the end of 1915.