Swedish stuff......

[GoneToTheCanner]

Hi all,
Im just back from two weeks in Sweden, which has a very impressive military history.First, we went to see the Vasa, a 17th century warship which was salvaged from the waters of Stockholm in the 1960s and now resides in a special museum near the city centre.It is absolutely stunning and is 95% original.Attendance is practically compulsory for any student of naval history. After that, I had a look at three moored ships, which are located behind the Vasa's position. One is a 1915 icebreaker, a type of ship I'd never seen before, called the "Saint Erik" and which is in mint condition, including a fully intact steam engine room, all of which is freely accessible. The second ship is a lightship, again a first for me. Again, mint condition and access is for free and wide open. The third ship, not a permanent resident of the Vasa dock, was HMS YSTAD, a Fast Attack Boat, which is operated by the Maritime Museum that keeps the icebreaker and lightship and three boathalls, full of loads of interesting boats and artifacts. The YSTAD, which features a 57mm gun, two torpedo tubes and four missile boxes, was retired in 2005 and is,in all respects, fully operational(except for the missile boxes, which are welded shut) and is kept seaworthy.
Much much more to be seen and highly recommended.
regards
GttC

[Buck]

Sweden are pretty proud of their military, and they've always been pretty well equipped with the latest kit, if they can't buy it, they'll make it!

[GoneToTheCanner]

Hi there,
There are plenty of Military Museums around Sweden. Anyone flying into Skavsta with Ryanair can visiit the F11 (fighter Squadron) Museum on the airport(signs on the road out from the carpark). Also, boat lovers can visit the two boat halls, owned by the Maritime Museum, behind the Vasa Museum, which hold the Royal Boats and a fine collection of small craft, such as Naval working boats, civilian work boats, small fishing boats and lots of other interesting stuff. The main Maritime Museum is about a mile away.The main Air Force Museum is South at Linkoping.The three Tank Museums are being integrated into one new site which is under construction (easily found on Google).
regards
GttC

[Jetjock]

How did you convince Mrs Canner to let you do all that??!

BTW we at FR appreciate the plug Next time you come over to the dark side, be sure to give me a call first.

Recently flew a Skavsta flight from a continental base. The scenery is spectacular. Hundreds of little islands and greener than Ireland.

I spent an extended period in north of Stockholm in winter a couple of years back. It looks a completely different country in the summer.

Finally Gttc...any pics??

[GoneToTheCanner]

Hi there,
I didn't manage to fit in much in the way of aviation but had a good hol all the same. It's a beautiful country,too. Quite different, visually, from here. I'll get some pics on in a while.
regards
GttC

[Stoker]

Some years back I spent a few days in Gothenburg doing acceptance trials on Alarm and monitoring equipment. sharing a table at lunch one day with a Swede and a Finn, the Finns were the main contractors, the Swede told us he had been in the Swedish air force and asked the Finn " have you still got those old MIGs ?" the Finn told him no they had F18s, they talked for a while about jet fighters and then asked me " and what have you got ?" Members will understand what I mean when I say that I then had a Kevin Myers moment as I tried to explain that we had no jets and not much to defend our country with on land or sea either.
While as a tax payer I am happy that we are not buying F18s it was not my proudest moment.

[paul g]

Some years back I spent a few days in Gothenburg doing acceptance trials on Alarm and monitoring equipment. sharing a table at lunch one day with a Swede and a Finn, the Finns were the main contractors, the Swede told us he had been in the Swedish air force and asked the Finn " have you still got those old MIGs ?" the Finn told him no they had F18s, they talked for a while about jet fighters and then asked me " and what have you got ?" Members will understand what I mean when I say that I then had a Kevin Myers moment as I tried to explain that we had no jets and not much to defend our country with on land or sea either.
While as a tax payer I am happy that we are not buying F18s it was not my proudest moment.

Then again Finland shares a border with the Russians and fought three wars with them in the 20th Century, while we didn't

[Stoker]

"Cold Will" by Tomas Ries is a really good read on the emergence of Finland as a modern nation, their civil war, and the three wars they fought 1939 to 1945. Their history, what they suffered and lost to come to where they are now, makes our" 800 years of oppression" seem like a picnic, except for the Famine that is.

[sofa]

"Cold Will" by Tomas Ries is a really good read on the emergence of Finland as a modern nation, their civil war, and the three wars they fought 1939 to 1945. Their history, what they suffered and lost to come to where they are now, makes our" 800 years of oppression" seem like a picnic, except for the Famine that is.

Like most Counties in Europe who were invaded and re-invaded many times

down through history and suffered badly from the invading forces, With us,

in around about way, were "lucky" to have been invaded only once by the same gang

that conquered England. and were strong enough to keep all others at bay.

[paul g]

And Sweden is a Neutral country, which doesn't share a border with Russia, and didn't fight any ways with or against them in the 20th century. While Sweden doesn't have any F-18s, it does have its own indigineous arms industry, and the Swedish Air Force fly the Saab Gripen.

nope but during the cold war the russians were just across the water from sweden, and they found their submarines lurking around their ports.

As for finland, I'd strongly advise a trip to Tampere via Ryanair, just south of it you've got Hamelinna, which has an old castle with the Finnish army's artillery museme, while just outside the town is the armour museme, both well worth a visit.

[RoyalGreenJacket]

nope but during the cold war the russians were just across the water from sweden, and they found their submarines lurking around their ports.

As for finland, I'd strongly advise a trip to Tampere via Ryanair, just south of it you've got Hamelinna, which has an old castle with the Finnish army's artillery museme, while just outside the town is the armour museme, both well worth a visit.

sounds like a decent trip Paul, i know very little about that neck of the woods but what you are saying might be a decent eye opener.

did you go there for that purpose or was it just something you came across? can you get to Sweden easily from there or would it mean a long trip north?

[Jetjock]

nope but during the cold war the russians were just across the water from sweden, and they found their submarines lurking around their ports.

I can almost guarantee that if we ever had the means to, russian and other submarines would have been detected off our shores on a regular basis during the cold war.

[Flamingo]

I can almost guarantee that if we ever had the means to, russian and other submarines would have been detected off our shores on a regular basis during the cold war.

Given that the most effective submarine detection we had was the fishing fleet, and the number of fishing boats that caught something too big to haul aboard, you're probably right!

[sofa]

I can almost guarantee that if we ever had the means to, russian and other submarines would have been detected off our shores on a regular basis during the cold war.

In the bad old days of the cold war, I was told a Polish warship was spotted in a bay

off the west coast and refused to id itself when challenged by a NS ship.

[Jetjock]

In the bad old days of the cold war, I was told a Polish warship was spotted in a bay

off the west coast and refused to id itself when challenged by a NS ship.

So there was a Polish invasion attempt before the Celtic Tiger?!