Sweden in world war 2: The Navy - procurement, modernization and doctrine 1925-1945.
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- Опубліковано 29 чер 2024
- A film about the Swedish Navy.
This is the second part in the series about procurement for the Swedish armed forces during World War 2
Correction: In case It was not clear, a viewer pointed out the following. Flottan/Marinen=Navy Kustflottan=Coastal Fleet.
For the Swedish army and airforce procurement: • Sweden in world war 2....
I love this episode because it’s hard to find info on the Swedish navy and it really helped , have a good day commarade
I am glad you enjoy it. It was interesting to see what the Navy did, and what they wanted to do. I mean, the grand fleet some naval staff wanted would have been throwing away resources and getting very little in return. They had some many areas that needed modernization.
Great video, thanks for this!! Small correction: Flottan/Marinen=Navy Kustflottan=Coastal Fleet (similar to British Home fleet)
Thanks mate! I will add the corrections in the description.
Thank you for this informative video, a very complicated and involved subject I can imagine and difficult to find accurate information.
I was surprised by how hard it was to find the actual doctrine the Swedish nay would have used. In the cold-war, it started to get more formalized.
I would like to know more about Irish neutrality during WW2, a topic that is not at all covered enough, maybe Mr Maccann would do a video? That I would watch directly.
@@jmsww2 I'm afraid making a video would be beyond my abilities but I would be happy to give you any information I can find on the matter. Irish neitrality was complicated by the existence of Northern Ireland on the same island as Éire (The irish Free State pre1937/ Irish Republic after 1948) and the fact that a long and bloody war of independence had been fought against Britain less than two decades before WW2 in which British military and paramilitary forces had perpetrated war crimes which went unpunished. Any Irish government advocating entering another 'British war' would have unleashed civil war in Ireland. Many people in Ireland supported the German side - not from any love of Germany or Nazism but out of hatred of Britain (as Churchill himself said 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'.) Many of the Anglo-Irish (former aristocracy and 'quality') quietly went to Britain and fought for her in the war without drawing any great attention to themselves or endangering their safety in Ireland.
I have it in my pipeline to do such a video, it really is something that I have not thought about any deeper than Ireland was neutral. Of course read some about the civil war and how that played out, but not in detail, and so much more should be told I think.
When I have something more in detail (many films being made at the moment so will take some time) I will send you a script and let you have a gander at it if you want. Correct any obvious errors or you can add anything you think I have missed before i start filming it.
Thank you for this great video! There is very little in English about Sweden's armed forces during WWII. From the perspective of German invasion, whereas it is true the German fleet possessed proper battleships that far outclassed the Sverige Class, in reality, during the prime years of German threat, late 1940-1942, the Germans rarely had more than one of the Bismarck or Scharnhorst Class ships available at the same time. All other ships, including the Deutschland Class Large Cruisers, were not superior to the coastal battleships or heavy cruisers. The Invasion of Norway crippled the German Fleet to the point that in Fall 1940 the Germans had only 10 operational destroyers and for the rest of the War the Germans were chronically short on them. So at any given time during the above window thanks to constant British harassment of German capital ships, the Germans operationally never had a numerical advantage over the Swedish fleet and would have been outnumbered by a fair margin in destroyers. And while the German ships were generally newer and superior, that advantage was mitigated by the environment with the heavy Swedish ships were purpose built. So without superior numbers, and without even the guarantee of air superiority, any invasion of Sweden supported by the Kriegsmarine would have been an enormous risk. And by 1943, the Swedish fleet had grown to the point, and the German surface fleet degraded, that the real threat of invasion had grown minimal.
Thanks mate, appreciate hearing that.
Any German attack on Sweden was unlikely, and especially after 1940, the strategic reasons were not really there.
As the Swedish navy goes, we should remember it was really old except for smaller ships. That said, in a fleet vs fleet engagement Sweden would have done some damage. The Swedish fleet in being was probably more of a deterrent than its actual fighting capability.
But world war 2 was seldom fleet vs fleet engagements, air power would have been the decisive factor, and there Germany outclassed Sweden.
But as you say, German resources were not really there after 1943, or rather spending those resources on Sweden would not have made any military sense.
@@jmsww2 I think that afterr the invasion of Norway. The German navy wasnt too keen on putting their modern naval units in situations where close combat with older enemy units could happen. The 28cm guns that took part in the sinking of the heavy cruiser Blucher was from 1890...(and made in Germany)....sure two old torpedoes did the final job but she was pretty messed up already.
Using some good tactics that could have been the case if the germans went for Sweden, a Sverige-class Pansarskepp could have been lurking in the dark and fired its 28cm guns and a destroyer or MTB could have sealed the deal with torpedoes.....how good was the coastal artillery at the time? I know of the battery in Helsingborg guarding the inlett to the Baltic.
Really liked this video, because the representation of ww2 swedish navy warships and doctrine on youtube is pretty much non existent.
It is true, not so much is said in detail about Sweden, and its armed forces, during world war 2. It is fascinating to study i must say.
Operation Stella Polaris was something i never heard about, something i recommend to read about if you haven´t
Nice video really hope war thunder gives Sweden a coastal/Blue water fleet
Glad you liked it. Never really played that game, but every game needs a Swedish fleet i would say :)
Well, maybe not including the ship Vasa, was just a bit too unstable.
Good job here, they wouldve been able to have a massive delaying impact on a german invasion if it had come - also combined with the decent swedish air force at the time they were to be reckoned with ...but the germans always had surprise
I think Sweden could have damaged any German invasion, but they could not have done much more than that. As you say the Germans would have had the surprise if they would have invaded.
Nazi Germany has occupied much of Europe during WWII (except for Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal and Ireland, where five other European countries are under neutrality).
Realistically Germany wouldn’t because Sweden was the donater of German suplies for the war effort
Well maybe not donator, they sold iron ore and imported coal. As Hitler Invaded Norway to keep the iron ore flowing, had Sweden taken a hard stance they could have invaded, and Sweden could have done little about it. Navy would have been the one service that could have inflicted some damage.
I agree I think it might be a possibility that Sweden would join the axis but… it’s still not In there best interest as Great Britain could easily take control over the declining situation of the Swedish armed forces
Sweden was never really close to join anyone, and not the Axis if it had any choice. We had a joint government but the Social democrats were the biggest party by far. That is not to say that on the right wing they were very much more friendly to Germany.
The exports gives a hint. Before 1940 Sweden exported more to the Allies and less to Germany, after 1940 when Norway was occupied, trade with Germany was the only possibility.
The only realistic, by still far fetched scenario, was a war against Soviet Union in 1939 when they attacked Finland, but not as part of the Axis.
The geography, sentiments, and armed forces would not have seen Sweden join the allies either.
During world war 1 there were more German friendly sentiments, and mostly as they were fighting Russia, the archenemy of Sweden.
Trading partners were not immune from German invasion.