Friendly Swedes
This image looks head-on at P158 Mysing, a Hugin-class guided-missile patrol boat. It was taken in the summer of 1985 off the-then Soviet port of Liepaya in what was is now Latvia. A group of three Hugins cruised past us whilst we loitered off the port.
The Hugins were 150-ton, 35-knot guided-missile patrol boats that could carry up to six Penguin surface-to-surface missiles (Swedish RB-12s) - a container for one can just be seen aft on the port side (the squared-off pyramid nose). Mounted on the bow was a 57mm gun, with rails strapped on either side of it for 103mm rocket flare launchers.
Visible low on the bow forward of the gun are four nine-barrel Elma ASW-600 multiple grenade launchers. These fire 5.5kg grenades designed to penetrate a submarine's hull and thus sink it, in the least lethal manner (according to Swedish advertising!). The grenades fire shaped charges that the Swedes claim were capable of penetrating even the inner hull of a double-hulled submarine. The initial system had a range of 300m and was upgraded to reach a range of 500m. The grenades could be fired in patterns of nine, 18, 27 or 36 grenades in a salvo and could be used in very shallow water (less than 10m depth, presumably for use against midget submarines).
Each Hugin was 36.5m long, 6.2m in the beam and had a draught of 1.6m. They were manned by three officers and 19 men. Surprisingly, their diesel engines were retreads, having been taken from the earlier Plejad-class torpedo boats.
Mysing was retired in 1995 after 15 years's service.
I took this from aboard HMS Boxer. The image has been scanned from a B&W negative.
Friendly Swedes
This image looks head-on at P158 Mysing, a Hugin-class guided-missile patrol boat. It was taken in the summer of 1985 off the-then Soviet port of Liepaya in what was is now Latvia. A group of three Hugins cruised past us whilst we loitered off the port.
The Hugins were 150-ton, 35-knot guided-missile patrol boats that could carry up to six Penguin surface-to-surface missiles (Swedish RB-12s) - a container for one can just be seen aft on the port side (the squared-off pyramid nose). Mounted on the bow was a 57mm gun, with rails strapped on either side of it for 103mm rocket flare launchers.
Visible low on the bow forward of the gun are four nine-barrel Elma ASW-600 multiple grenade launchers. These fire 5.5kg grenades designed to penetrate a submarine's hull and thus sink it, in the least lethal manner (according to Swedish advertising!). The grenades fire shaped charges that the Swedes claim were capable of penetrating even the inner hull of a double-hulled submarine. The initial system had a range of 300m and was upgraded to reach a range of 500m. The grenades could be fired in patterns of nine, 18, 27 or 36 grenades in a salvo and could be used in very shallow water (less than 10m depth, presumably for use against midget submarines).
Each Hugin was 36.5m long, 6.2m in the beam and had a draught of 1.6m. They were manned by three officers and 19 men. Surprisingly, their diesel engines were retreads, having been taken from the earlier Plejad-class torpedo boats.
Mysing was retired in 1995 after 15 years's service.
I took this from aboard HMS Boxer. The image has been scanned from a B&W negative.