HSwMS Wachtmeister (10)

HSwMS Wachtmeisterwas the second and last of the Wrangel-class destroyers built for the Royal Swedish Navy during World War I. Completed in 1918, the ship was rammed by another Swedish destroyer four years later. At the beginning of World War II in 1939 she was assigned to the Gothenburg Squadron. Wachtmeister was decommissioned in 1947 and was subsequently sold for scrap in 1950.

Background and description
The Wrangel class ships were improved versions of the preceding Hugin-class destroyer and were the first Swedish destroyers to use single-reduction geared turbines. The Wrangel class had a standard displacement of 415 t and 498 t at full load. The destroyers measured 69.6 m long at the waterline and 72.0 m overall with a beam of 6.9 m and a mean draught of 2.8 m.

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 11000 shp, but actually produced 13000 shp that gave them a maximum speed of 34 kn. The ships carried 105 t of coal. The destroyers had a complement of 81 officers and ratings.

The destroyers were armed with four 75 mm 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. They also mounted two 6.5 mm M1914 machine guns. The torpedo armament of the Wrangel-class destroyers consisted of 457 mm (18 in) 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 25 mm M32 anti-aircraft gun and two 8 mm M36 machine guns that replaced the 6.5 mm weapons while having their two single torpedo-tube mounts removed. In addition, two depth charge racks were added with 16 M/24 depth charges. This increased their standard displacement to 498 t.

Construction and career
Wachtmeister, named after the Wachtmeister noble family, was authorized in 1914 and was launched on 19 December 1917 by the Lindholmens Shipyard in Gothenburg. After fitting out and trials she was commissioned on 19 October 1918.

During an exercise on the evening of 8 June 1922, Wachtmeister was rammed just forward of the bridge by the destroyer HSWMS Vidar (23). Three men aboard Vidar were seriously injured; one later died during transport to the hospital. 20 meter of Wachtmeister's hull was damaged; three men were knocked into the water, but were quickly rescued. Vidar had to be towed into Bergkvara while Wachtmeister reached Karlskrona under her own power. Both destroyers were repaired and returned to service the following year.

From 28 June to 2 July 1923, Wachtmeister and her sister ship HSWMS Wrangel (25) escorted the three Sverige-class coastal defence ships from Karlskrona to Sheerness, England to celebrate the engagement of Crown Prince Gustav Adolf to Lady Louise Mountbatten. A few days later, the squadron proceeded to Rosyth, Scotland, where they were hosted by the British Atlantic Fleet before returning to Sweden.

On 24 August 1930, the coastal defense ship HSWMS 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 towed off. Wachtmeister, by sailing past at full speed over and over again, succeeded in freeing the ship using her bow wave.

World War II
At the beginning of World War II, Wachtmeister was assigned to the Gothenburg Squadron. During the winter of 1940–1941, the ship was re-boilered, but by late autumn 1943, she was put into material reserve in Stockholm. Wachtmeister was stricken from the navy list on 13 June 1947 and she was sold for scrap in 1950 to a company in Karlstad.