HSwMS Oden

HSwMS Oden was the lead ship of the Oden-class coastal defence ship of first-class coastal defence ships (Pansarskeppen) constructed for the Swedish Navy. The ship was armed with two 25 cm guns provided by the French manufacturer Société Nouvelle des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée. The vessel was launched in 1896 and was first upgraded with additional 12 cm guns after running aground in 1901. In 1913, the warship accidentally sank the gunboat HSWMS Urd (1877) and was taken out of service the following year to be updated with new boilers and an upgraded armament. Most noticeably, during this rebuild, one funnel was fitted to replace the two that had been a feature of the ship from the start. Oden was retired from front-line service in 1937 and broken up in 1943.

Design and development
Oden was the lead of the Oden-class coastal defence ships, a development of the earlier Svea-class coastal defence ship mounting the same primary armament on a larger hull. Although the subsequent HSWMS Niord and HSWMS Thor differed in details, the three vessels are considered members of the same class. As all the vessels were named after characters in Norse mythology, the ships are also knowns as the mythological class.

Oden had an overall length of 86.3 m and measured 84.78 m at the waterline, a beam of 14.77 m and a maximum draught of 5.6 m. Displacement was 3600 t normal and 3775 t full load. Power was provided by six cylinder boilers feeding steam to two sets of triple-expansion steam engines and rated at 5330 ihp driving two shafts, giving a design speed of 15 kn. During sea trials, on 25 May 1897, Oden achieved a speed of 15.54 kn from 3887.67 ihp and, on 25 September, while operating with a forced draft, the vessel achieved 16.82 kn. Two funnels were fitted. The ship had a complement of 239 officers and ratings. A full load of 280 LT of coal was carried, which gave a design range of 2500 nmi at 10 kn. After reconstruction in 1915, coal capacity was expanded to 300 LT, which gave a design range of 2530 nmi at 10 kn and the complement increased to 254 officers and ratings.

Armament consisted of two single Canet 25 cm M1894 B guns mounted in turrets on the ship's centreline, one fore and the other aft. Each of the guns weighed 28.160 t. The guns had an actual calibre of 25.4 cm and were manufactured by Société Nouvelle des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée in France as the capacity did not exist in Sweden to manufacture weapons of this size. They could fire a 450 lb shell at a muzzle velocity of 2362 ft/s. The mounting, designated M1894, used electric training and manual elevation. Secondary armament initially consisted of four Bofors 12 cm guns mounted singularly in casemates amidships that could fire from 3 to 8 shots a minute at a muzzle velocity of 740 m/s. The ship was also armed with four single Bofors 5.7 cm guns in casemates and two 8 mm were mounted on the fighting mast. A single 25 mm machine gun was carried by each of the two steam sloops carried. A single submerged 17.7 in torpedo tube was mounted in the bow. Four 90 cm searchlights were carried.

Armour included an armoured belt that was 243 mm thick and 1.48 m high. The main armament was protected by barbettes that were 247 mm thick and turrets 200 mm thick with a roof 30 mm thick. The secondary armament sat on barbettes protected by 100 mm armour, the turrets having a face 125 mm thick, sides 60 mm thick and a roof 48 mm thick. The armour on the casemates was 91 mm thick. The conning tower was protected by 247 mm armour while armour that was 49 mm thick protected the deck and the rooms housing the steering gear and torpedoes. The thickest armour was provided by Schneider-Creusot while the remainder came from Bofors. The nickel-steel was produced by Domnarvet.

Construction and career
Oden, named after the Norse god, was ordered from the Bergsund Finnboda shipyard in Stockholm and named on 6 October 1894 and laid down in the same year. The design was altered on 11 October 1895 when the stern fighting mast was replaced by a wooden beam with a signalling mast. Launched on 9 March 1896, the ship was exhibited at the General Exhibition of Art and Industry in Stockholm the following year before being commissioned on 8 June 1897. The total cost of the construction was SEK 3,194,000. On 11 August 1898, the vessel led a flotilla of ships that also included the coastal defence ships HSWMS Svea (1885) and HSWMS Thule (1893) to Copenhagen. While there, the flotilla hosted Christian IX, Crown Prince Frederick, Prince George of Greece and other royalty, returning to Karlskrona on 19 August.

While taking part in exercises near Sandhamn on 17 September 1901 with other vessels of the Swedish Navy, Oden ran aground. Swift action from the crew of sister ship Thor, which was following, narrowly avoided a collusion. Despite that, damage to the ship's hull and torpedo tubes led to Oden returning to Stockholm for repairs. On 6 December, funds were released to also upgrade the vessel's armament at the same time as the repairs were completed, with an additional pair of 12 cm guns replacing two of the casemate-based 5.7 cm guns and an additional four single 5.7 cm guns were placed on the superstructure. The following year, the warship represented Sweden at the coronation revue for Edward VII at Spithead. Between 6 July and 30 September 1903, the ship sailed to Larvik.

On 20 February 1904, Oden was briefly activated in response to activity from the Imperial Russian Navy during the Russo-Japanese War but saw no action. Between 19 and 24 August 1906, the vessel joined sister ship Niord and other ships of the Swedish Navy to host the British Cruiser Squadron under Admiral Day Bosanquet at Gothenburg. On 22 August 1913, Oden struck the gunboat HSWMS Urd (1877) while operating near Hven on manoeuvres. Urd had been acting as a target ship for the coastal defence ship to test torpedoes near to the lighthouse on Hven, but the limited range of the weapons and primitive rangefinders mounted on the larger ship had meant that the vessels had underestimated the distance between them. The gunboat sank, but no-one died.

The ship was taken out of the service and rebuilt at Karlskrona between 1914 and 1915. The fighting mast was replaced by a much smaller three-legged mast and the two funnels were replaced by one. The remaining casemate-mounted 5.7 cm guns were removed and those mounted on the superstructure upgraded. The machine guns and torpedo tubes were removed and new boilers installed, which improved performance. Oden resumed service, and briefly provided support to Sweden's neutrality in the First World War. After the Armistice of 11 November 1918, the ship was placed in reserve. Attempts the sell the vessel for scrap failed. In the 1920s, the Navy had plans to rebuild the coastal defence ship as a seaplane carrier but instead the newer HMS Dristigheten was converted. On 16 July 1937, Oden was withdrawn from service and transferred to the Lagef, or storage area, in Karlskrona. In 1941, it was decided that the ship was no longer required. Oden was retired and broken up two years later.