HSwMS Sjölejonet (Sle)

For other ships with the same name, see HSwMS Sjölejonet.

HSwMS Sjölejonet (Sle), (Sw. meaning sea lion), was the second ship of the Swedish submarine class Sjöormen, project name A11.

HSwMS Sjölejonet being launched on 29 June 1967
History
Sweden
Name	Sjölejonet
Namesake	Sjölejonet
Ordered	1965
Builder	Karlskrona
Launched	29 June 1967
Commissioned	16 December 1968
Decommissioned	1997
Motto	In omnia paratus (Ready for anything)
Nickname(s)	Sle
Fate	Sold to Singapore in 1997
Singapore
Name	Conqueror
Namesake	Conqueror
Acquired	28 May 1999
Commissioned	26 June 2004
Homeport	Changi
Status	Active
General characteristics
Class and type	Sjöormen-class submarine Challenger-class submarine
Displacement	1,130 t (1,112 long tons) surfaced 1,210 t (1,191 long tons) submerged
Length	50.5 m (165 ft 8 in)
Beam	6.1 m (20 ft 0 in)
Draught	5.8 m (19 ft 0 in)
Propulsion	2 × Hedemora Diesel generators 1 × electric motor 1 shaft
Speed	20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement	25 officers and enlisted
Armament	4 × 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes 2 × 400 mm (16 in) torpedo tubes

Development

The planning of the class included a number of different AIP solutions including nuclear propulsion. However, the ships where finally completed with for the time extremely large batteries. The ship was a single-hulled submarine, with hull shape influenced by the American experimental submarine USS Albacore. The hull was covered with rubber tiles to reduce the acoustic signature (anechoic tiles), at this time a pioneer technology. The Sjöormen class also pioneered the use of an x-shaped (as opposed to cross-shaped) rudder as a standard (as opposed to experimental) feature.

Service in Sweden

The submarine served in the Swedish Navy for almost 30 years and was then sold to Singapore in 1997 together with its four sister ships.

Service in Singapore

HSwMS Sjöbjörnen was renamed RSS Conqueror and Singapore reacquired the boat on 28 May 1999. She was commissioned into the Republic of Singapore Navy on 26 June 2004 after a major refit and remains in active service as of December 2022.

Gallery

• HSwMS Sjölejonet & RSS Conqueror Gallery
• 
  HSwMS Sjölejonet being towed out of harbor after her being launched in July 1967.
• 
  RSS Conqueror with other RSN and US Navy ships during Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) 2009.