HSwMS Orion (A201)

HSwMS Orion
History
Sweden
NameOrion
BuilderKockums
LaunchedJune 1984
HomeportKarlskrona
Identification
StatusIn active service
General characteristics
TypeSignals intelligence gathering vessel
Displacement1,400 tons
Length61.2 m (200 ft 9 in)
Beam11.7 m (38 ft 5 in)
Draught3.8 m (12 ft 6 in)
Propulsion2 x Hedemora diesels
Speed12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement26

HSwMS Orion (A201) is a signals intelligence gathering vessel of the Swedish Navy.[1]

HSwMS Orion was launched in 1984. She was built with extensive support from the United States National Security Agency.[2] In November 1985, HSwMS Orion was rammed by a Soviet minesweeper after she got too close to a Soviet naval exercise.[3] In 1998 Orion received a false bomb threat, which was widely covered in the Swedish newspapers. The ship is operated by Swedish Navy officers and sailors, as well as personnel from the National Defence Radio Establishment (FRA). HSwMS Orion belongs to the 1st Submarine Division. Orion shares a hull design with the Fiskeriverkets vessel Argos, an official fishing control vessel.

  1. ^ "Försvarets radioanstalt (National Defence Radio Establishment) website". Archived from the original on June 11, 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-30.
  2. ^ Secrets of Signals, Intelligence during the Cold War and beyond, p. 235; Matthew M. Aid, Cees Wiebes, Published 2001 by Taylor & Francis, ISBN 0-7146-8182-2
  3. ^ Secrets of Signals, Intelligence during the Cold War and beyond, p. 235; Matthew M. Aid, Cees Wiebes, Published 2001 by Taylor & Francis, ISBN 0-7146-8182-2