HSwMS Orion (A201)

History
Class and type: Signals Intelligence Gathering vessel
Name: Orion
Builder: Kockums
Launched: June 1984
Homeport: Karlskrona
Identification: A201
Status: In active service
General characteristics
Displacement: 1,400 tons
Length: 61.2 m
Beam: 11.7 m
Draft: 3.8 m
Propulsion: 2 x Hedemora diesels
Speed: 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement: 8 officers and 18 conscripts

HSwMS Orion (A201) is a signals intelligence gathering vessel in the Swedish Navy.[1]

HSwMS Orion was first launched in 1984. She was built with extensive support from the United States National Security Agency.[2] In November 1985, the HSwMS Orion was rammed by a Soviet minesweeper after she got too close to a Soviet naval exercise.[3] In 1998 Orion received a false bomb threat, which was widely covered in the Swedish newspapers. The ship is manned by Swedish Navy officers and sailors, as well as personnel from the National Defence Radio Establishment (FRA). HSwMS Orion belongs to the 1st Submarine division. Orion shares a hull design with the Fiskeriverkets vessel Argos, an official fishing control vessel.

Replacement

On 22 April 2010 the government of Sweden approved the acquisition of a new ship to replace HSwMS Orion since it no longer meets current sea safety rules.[4]

References

  1. "Försvarets radioanstalt (National Defence Radio Establishment) website". Archived from the original on June 11, 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-30.
  2. Secrets of Signals, Intelligence during the Cold War and beyond, p. 235; Matthew M. Aid, Cees Wiebes, Published 2001 by Taylor & Francis, ISBN 0-7146-8182-2
  3. Secrets of Signals, Intelligence during the Cold War and beyond, p. 235; Matthew M. Aid, Cees Wiebes, Published 2001 by Taylor & Francis, ISBN 0-7146-8182-2
  4. "Regeringskansliet (Government Offices of Sweden) website". Retrieved 2010-09-29. (In Swedish)
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