HSwMS Manligheten

HSwMS Manligheten was a Äran-class coastal defence ship that served with the Swedish Navy. A development of HSWMS Dristigheten, the Äran class mounted the same 21 cm main guns, but differed in the layout of the secondary armament. The vessel was launched in 1903 and served on neutrality patrols in the First World War. During the two decades following the conflict, the ship undertook a number of international tours that called at ports in Britain, the Netherlands and Spain. Manligheten ran aground in 1930 and was freed by an ingenious manoeuvre by the destroyer HSWMS Wachtmeister (10), which created waves by speeding past the stranded vessel. While serving in the Second World War, the vessel was damaged by a paravane in 1939 and modernised between 1940 and 1941. Decommissioned in 1950, Manligheten was broken up, although the ship's hull remaining in use as a pontoon until 1984.

Design and development
Between 1880 and 1905 the Swedish Navy launched 12 coastal defence battleships, to counter the Imperial Russian Navy. The Äran-class coastal defence ship was a development of HSWMS Dristigheten retaining the same main armament but with the secondary armament mounted to improve protection and angles of fire. Originally three Äran-class ships were ordered but, in 1901, additional funding for a fourth was agreed. Manligheten was the last of the class to be laid down, and the second from Kockums of Malmö. Originally designated armoured boats (pansarbaater) in Swedish, the vessels were reclassified as armoured ships (pansarskepper) in the 1920s.

Manligheten had an overall length of 89.7 m and 87.5 m at the waterline, a beam of 15.02 m and a maximum draught 5.3 m. Normal displacement was 3840 LT although, in 1912, displacement was reported as 3612 LT. Eight Yarrow boilers fed steam to two sets of triple expansion steam engines rated at 5500 ihp driving two screws, giving a design speed of 17 kn. Two funnels were fitted. A full load of 300 LT of coal was carried, which gave a design range of 2000 nmi at 10 kn. The ship had a complement of 285 officers and ratings.

Armament consisted of two single Bofors 21 cm guns mounted in turrets on the ship's centreline, one fore and the other aft. Each of the guns weighed 10.73 LT and could fire a 276 lb shell at a muzzle velocity of 750 m/s. The mounting, designated M1894, used electric training and manual elevation. Secondary armament consisted of six Bofors 15 cm guns mounted singularly in turrets amidships. These guns, which had an actual calibre of 15.24 cm and weighed 7630 kg, could fire a 43.4 kg shell at a muzzle velocity of 750 m/s. The M1899 mounting was manually trained and elevated. The guns were upgraded to M1899B mounts with additional elevation for anti-aircraft warfare in 1916. The ship was also armed with eight single Bofors 5.7 cm guns distributed around the superstructure and two submerged Elswick torpedo tubes for 45.7 cm torpedoes.

Armour included an armoured belt that was 50.43 m long and 175 mm thick amidships. It consisted of surface-hardened Krupp armour backed by 100 mm of teak. The main armament was protected by barbettes 190 mm thick and turrets that had an armoured face 190 mm thick and were otherwise armoured 140 mm thick. The secondary armament sat on barbettes protected by 100 mm nickel-steel armour, the turrets having a face 125 mm thick, sides 60 mm thick and a roof 48 mm thick. The conning towers were protected by 175 mm armour. Flat to the belt was deck armour that was 2 in thick. Two 90 cm searchlights and a 2 m rangefinder were later fitted.

Construction and career
Manligheten was ordered from Kokums on 22 November 1901 at a cost of SEK 5,026,000. The vessel was the second to be named Manligheten, meaning masculinity, the first being a ship of the line constructed by the same shipyard and retired in 1864. Laid down on 21 December, the ship was launched on 1 December 1903 and commissioned on 3 December the following year. The vessel joined the coastal defence fleet based at Gothenburg.

During the dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden in 1905, the ship served as part of the First Armoured Division under Admiral Wilhelm Dyrssen. On 24 September 1912, the crew hosted the British Second Cruiser Squadron led by the battlecruiser HMS Indomitable (1907). The vessel had facilities for 24 cadets added the following year. During the First World War, the warship served on patrols to protect the country's neutrality. After the war, the ship was retained in service and, in 1920, went on a visit to Amsterdam, returning with sister ship HSWMS Tapperheten (1901) in May 1926 and, from there continuing to Portsmouth, Guernsey and Vlaardingen, returning to Sweden the following month. During the next year, the vessel revisited Plymouth, sailed on to Bilbao and San Sebastian, before returning to the Netherlands for a stop at Rotterdam. On 24 August 1930, Manligheten ran aground while sailing between Stockholm and Horsfjärden in poor weather. Despite efforts by the minelayer HSWMS Clas Fleming and coastal battleship HSWMS Drottning Victoria, the vessel could not be removed. However, the destroyer HSWMS Wachtmeister (10), by sailing past at full speed over and over again, succeeded in freeing the battleship using successive bow waves.

In May 1937, Manligheten left on another tour, first calling at Amsterdam. The vessel then visited Newcastle upon Tyne, England, on 3 June, staying four days and then proceeded to Cardiff, Wales, for three days from 18 June and then Oban, Scotland, two days later, staying for five days. During the following October, the ship became the flagship of the reformed Gothenburg Squadron and remained in the role at the start of the Second World War. Manligheten underwent a refit on 26 August 1939, at which it was discovered that the main armament, boilers, engines and electrical equipment had all deteriorated. On 13 December, six crew were killed while trying to disarm a loose German paravane. On 9 April 1940, the ship was deployed in response to the German invasion of Norway but saw no action. This experience reinforced the need for an upgrade, so the vessel was taken out of service in December to be modernised.

The update at Götaverken was extensive. The bow was lengthened and an extension to the stern added to improve seakeeping. The boilers were replaced, the main armament was given a higher elevation and the barrels rebored, the secondary armament was replaced with four 57 mm anti-aircraft guns and the torpedo tubes were removed. Additional lighter-calibre anti-aircraft weapons, a pair each of Bofors 40 mm and 25 mm guns, and a centralised fire control system were added. After the alterations, the hull was 90.2 m long at the waterline and displacement was increased by 35 t. The modernised warship was recommissioned on 21 July 1941. The vessel coordinated the rescue operation for the survivors of the Swedish submarine HSWMS Ulven (1930), sunk on 14 April 1943.

After the war, Sweden decided to retire the whole fleet of coastal defence ships. Manligheten was decommissioned on 24 February 1950 and sold to be broken up to Marinverkstadema in Karlskrona for SEK 350,000. The hull was towed to Gullmarsbasen, where it acted as a pontoon until being scrapped in 1984.