Karlskrona, the most important and best-equipped of Sweden’s three full-size naval bases, is now the center of rousing activity in connection with the rapid expansion of the Swedish Royal Navy after many years of idleness as a result of the idealistic Swedish disarmament policy.
This policy now has changed to “a new naval vessel every week—more if possible.” As the chief base for more than two and a half centuries, Karlskrona naturally plays a great part in keeping men and material in highest fighting trim.
The naval station is located at the eastern corner of the Blekinge Archipelago on Sweden’s southern Baltic coast, about 275 miles south of Stockholm and some 60 miles from the nearest point on the Baltic coast of Germany.
The base of Karlskrona is very well situated to serve its intended purpose. Roughly 2 miles from the coast a string of five larger islands and numerous smaller ones form a sheltered stretch of water about 10 miles long. Protruding from the coast in the center of this is a peninsula, where some of the newer sections of the city of Karlskrona are situated, and outside this is the island of Trossoe, which houses the main part of the naval base and almost all of the city.
At the southern tip of this island the large naval shipyards are located, which at present include seven dry docks, blasted down into the granite rock. The yards also build warships, as for instance the new destroyer Karlskrona, named for its native city. There are repair shops and other service facilities, supply depots, ammunitions dumps, hospitals, barracks, and officers’ quarters here, while many of the men are accommodated on ships in the harbor.
The Swedish defense program spent 2,400,000 kronor ($600,000,000) or $100 for every person in the country during the year ending June 30, 1941. When the war started in 1939, the Navy received 70,000,000 kronor ($18,000,000) for new equipment, 23,000,000 kronor ($6,000,000) for the strengthening of fortresses, and 2,600,000 kronor ($650,000) for coastal batteries. Half a dozen forts guard the Karlskrona naval base, and naturally a large part of this money was spent in the Karlskrona Naval District, which stretches 22 miles along the coast, 8 miles inland, and 8 miles out to sea.
The main navigation channel to the sea is opposite the naval station, where the distance between two of the larger islands is a little more than a mile. This entrance is guarded by a fort on each island. A valuable secondary navigation channel exists at the west end, guarded by a fort on a small island in the center of the channel.
About half of the Swedish Royal Navy is stationed at this base. It is steadily gaining in strength and is comparable to the Russian or German Baltic fleets. The number of submarines, now about 30, is being doubled and 36 mine sweepers have so far been put to work. Seven capital ships, 26 destroyers, 5 cruisers, and 20 motor torpedo boats, with more coming, are now in service. Two light cruisers are being built and the Navy is proud of its airplane cruiser, the Gotland.
The Navy has some 2,000 officers, noncommissioned officers, and naval cadets, who have a school in Karlskrona. About 5,000 enlisted men and as many inducted into the fleet under Sweden’s compulsory military service system comprise the rest of the personnel. Under full war-time conditions, these forces will be increased.
A part of Sweden’s Second Air Corps is stationed at the Karlskrona naval base. The air force is expanding faster than the Navy. The aircraft industry is now one of Sweden’s greatest industries, working full time to supply the needs of the air force. Sweden has about 500 planes and a trained personnel of some 5,000.
The city of Karlskrona is very proud of being the country’s largest naval base. During the years between 1925 and 1930 the population decreased by almost 2,000, but by 1940 it had increased by the same amount to a total of 28,000. During 1939 the increase had been exactly 39 persons. In 1940 there was an influx of over 2,000 persons because of the defense program, which caused the city fathers some anxiety, as the city just then was in the midst of a rehousing program and was caught quite unprepared. A housing commission was formed, which was able to start a great building drive by appropriating some 150,000 kronor (§40,000) for housing subsidies. Now the city fathers have started a great long-range housing program in the belief that Sweden will have a bigger and better Navy for a long time to come.
The history of the Karlskrona naval base goes back to the time when Sweden was at the height of her political power during the seventeenth century. The Swedes controlled part of Norway, all of Finland, Estonia, and Latvia, and also the part of Russia around the Gulf of Finland where Leningrad is now located. Sweden also owned the land around practically all continental river mouths on the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, where the German city of Bremen is situated.
When Charles XI, who ruled Sweden from 1655 to 1697, was a minor, the governing clique entered into an alliance with France in 1672. As a result, Sweden was dragged two years later into a war with Holland, Denmark, and several other countries. The war did not go well for the Swedes, but a catastrophe was averted through the great personal valor of the king. When France concluded a victorious peace, that country intervened on behalf of Sweden, which thus did not have to cede any of its territory.
Warned by these reverses, the king and his ministers realized the need of a thorough reorganizing of the fighting forces. For the Navy a new base was sought somewhere in the southern part of the country, which would not be icebound as long during the winter as Stockholm.
The king selected the cluster of rocky islands which now constitute the city of Karlskrona and ordered the inhabitants of two near-by towns to move to this new locality. The naval station was rushed to completion under the energetic supervision of one of the king’s most trusted advisers.
Many memorials of the old days are still to be found in the city. The Admiralty Church, which was built of wood in 1680, is still there. Another church dates from 1709 and a third from 1744. Some buildings at the naval station date also from the old times. The Navy maintains a museum showing the development of the Swedish fleet from the earliest days.
The province of Blekinge, where Karlskrona is located, was carved out of the province of Scania in 1680 and Karlskrona was made the seat of the government of the new province. In the ninth century these parts belonged to Sweden, but were later taken by Denmark. In 1332 Blekinge was, together with Scania and the island of Ven, sold to Sweden when the inhabitants of these provinces rebelled against the rulers on the other side of the Sound. Thirty years later the provinces were conquered by the Danes and remained Danish until 1658, when Charles X, father of Charles XI, after a victorious war received these and other provinces.