Visby-class destroyer

Visby class was a Swedish World War II destroyer class. During the years 1942-1944 four ships, HMS Visby (J11), HMS Sundsvall (J12), HMS Hälsingborg (J13) and HMS Kalmar (J14), were built and delivered to the Swedish navy. The ships were a part of Sweden's military buildup during the war. Under this period the ships were used as neutral guards and escort ships. In 1965 the ships were modified and rebuilt as frigates. Two of the ships were decommissioned in 1978 and the last two followed in 1982.

Orders
During the first years off the War Sweden's defence went through a massive reinforcement. In 1941 as part of this build-up the Swedish government ordered four new destroyers for the Swedish navy. The new class would be based on the older Göteborg-class destroyer that was classified as a "City destroyer" and because of this classified as "Modified City destroyers", (modifierad Stadsjagare). In total four ships were built, two at the Götaverken-shipyard and two at the Eriksbergs-shipyard.

Design
The design was largely based on the Göteborg-class destroyer. The keel was made of steel, the upper parts and the superstructure of light metals. The Visby class was 3 meters longer than the Göteborg, and the stern was flatted out. Because of the new stern, the larger Visby class could keep the high speed of the smaller and lighter Göteborg class, 39 knots. The ships were powered by two steam turbines creating 36,000 hrp.

Rebuilds
In 1965 the ships were modified and redesigned as frigates. The ships had all of their 120 mm canons removed and replaced by two 57 mm anti-air canons and one anti-submarine rocket launcher. The ships were also modified to carry more mines and a helicopter pad was added. The ships radar and fire-leading central was also upgraded.

Decommissioning
In the 1970s the Swedish government decided that the navy would give up its Blue-water navy capacity and become a more coast-based navy. All frigates and destroyers were decommissioned. The first two Visby class frigates left the navy in 1978 and in 1982 the remaining two followed. HMS Visby and HMS Sundsvall were used as target ships before being sold to Spain for scrapping.