HMS Belos

HSwMS Belos (A214). Submarine rescue ship at Skeppsbrokajen for a few days. After a short visit at Skeppsbrokajen where I took the first photo I biked over to the nearby island Skeppsholmen or Ships' Islet. It was used by the navy for 300 years. I then walked up to the highest point of the island for the second photo. In the foreground masts from the Af Chapman ship. In the background buildings along Skeppsbron in the old town. Both photos taken with my Canon 77D, using the 24 mm lens.

Dupuy de Lôme (A759)

The French Navy visiting. Dupuy de Lôme (A759) at Skeppsbrokajen a couple of days ago. Two of these photos are big panoramic images that I have stitched together. Always a bit tricky to do that with big watercrafts, but I do like challenge. Funny story also. There is a walking photographer in one photo. Spotted him twice in the last week or so. On his way to the ship. And here, spotting me in the window reflection at Sergelgatan. Oh, and a day or two later I took another photo of the ship from Skeppsholmen, but I am yet to look at the photos from that day.

If you could move just a little

Photographers, never happy. The poor soldiers from the Swedish army all had to take orders from the Canon guy, as they should of course. As witnessed at Skeppsbron a couple of days ago.

Uniformed

These guys are a bit higher up in the military hierarchy compared to the duo in yesterday's post. They all noticed me, and at least the guy in the middle gave me a little smile. They were walking up Slottsbacken at the Royal Palace. Since I know very little about full dress uniforms I can't tell you the ranks of these three, all I can say is that they must be from the Swedish Navy.

Permission to come aboard

I guess those smiles means, no you can't come aboard the ship! This is HMS Nyköping. Anchored at Skeppsbrokajen in Stockholm where I took three of the photos. I took the second photo while going for a walk at the little island Skeppsholmen to give you a better look of the ship with Gamla stan as a backdrop. There are many more ships in and around Stockholm today, getting ready for BALTOPS 22.

Beware of jet blast and rotors

Fourteen NATO Allies, two NATO partner nations, over 45 ships, more than 75 aircraft, and approximately 7,000 personnel will participate in BALTOPS 22. This is USS Kearsarge, anchored in Stockholm since Thursday. An amphibious assault ship. A bit too big so it had to anchor out on the bay. I decided to photograph it from every possible angle and here are three photos. I took the top photo from the best location, from Katarinavägen on Södermalm, it is a panorama, made from four photos, taken through a fence! The second shot was a balancing act. Photographed one-handed from the golden bridge at Slussen. The third shot is also a four-photo panorama, snapped from Skeppsholmen. Big interest from locals and tourists as there were several military ships at Skeppsbrokajen. People were sitting down by the water, eating, and looking at all the ships. I will show you two more ships tomorrow. Busy day today, I will jump on the bike now and pedal to Stockholm to watch the Marathon race with 15 000 runners.

Blackhawk UH-60

A Blackhawk UH-60. Known in Sweden as Helikopter 16. A Sikhorsky used by the Swedish forces in Afghanistan, mainly as an ambulance helicopter. Made an appearance during Veterans Day last weekend at Gärdet in Stockholm.

Training Ships

HMS Antares and HMS Astera passing by the Gröna Lund amusement park on their way to Skeppsbrokajen. Two training ships belonging to the Swedish Naval Warfare Centre, or Sjöstridsskolan in Swedish. Photographed from Fjällgatan, a popular lookout point on Södermalm.

Artillery battery

ERSTA-batteri at Norrhamn on Öja. A four-story facility used during the cold war. 25 people lived and worked underground here 24/7. Supposedly it could withstand a nuclear blast. There to protect the inlets to Nynäshamn, Stockholm and Södertälje. In operation between 1977-2000. There are guided tours daily during the Summer. It will set you back 100SEK. Today this is a listed building.

Anti submarine exercises

There's been a big military operation in Haninge during the last week. It's an annual war game that the Swedish military does together with the US and Finland. Anti submarine exercises in the archipelago where it is really easy for subs to hide so obviously I didn't spot any submarines during my stakeout at Hårsfjärden.

Combat Boat 90

A Combat Boat 90 from the 1st Marine Regiment at Berga, also known as the Amphibious Regiment. As seen during a visit to the beach, Årsta Havsbad, Hårsfjärden earlier in the week.

Autumn at Haninge garnison

The military base at Berga seen from a pier at my favorite beach.

Marching On

Not sure about the pace here. I tried to pass them, (I was on the bike of course), but they immediately turned left so I had to stop and wait until they had passed me, which they thought was quite funny. I'm guessing they came marching from the Haninge Garnison.

Hovercraft

Took a bike ride down to my favorite beach at Årsta Havsbad yesterday. Too early for the sunbathers, but I did count three cyclists, myself included. The military at the amphibious battalion will be busy with a war game here at Horsfjärden over the next two weeks. Chasing submarines. I noticed a few ships and one plane during my visit. This is a Griffon 8100.

Armored Modular Vehicle

Made in Finland by Patria. This is the armoured wheeled vehicle in the Swedish defence force known as Pansarterrängbil 203. This is an ambulance version. I spotted it in Handen yesterday as I was shooting a panorama at a building site and managed to get a few shots before it passed me, the driver waved at me so I waved back.

Observations at the beach

It's getting colder. But the sun is still warming us up a few hours every day. I had to put on the tuque on yesterdays bike ride down to the beach where I met Ulla and Nils Olofsson from Brandbergen. I told them about my blog but Nils already knew about it. Behind them you can see an approaching sailboat and behind that the former mine layer HMS Visborg, today a command ship for the 4th Naval Warfare Flotilla. Next photo shows a Combat Boat 90 heading home to the 1st Marine Regiment at the Berga base. If you remember I visited the regiment a few months ago. I shot the big panorama from one of the jetty's. As you can see the beach is empty. Quite a difference from my summer panorama from July where you could identify a few hundred people!

HMS Loke

This is HMS Loke. At first sight the ship may not look that impressive. But impressive it is. Built at Oskarshamnsvarvet in 1994, it is the only ship of it's kind in the world. Thirty-six meter long and nine meter wide it can carry 150 tonnes. It can do 12 nautical mile per hour. It is based at the 1st Marine Regiment at the Haninge garrison at Berga. It is a very flexible vessel. It can carry 90 m3 diesel and produce fresh drinking-water. It is used to carry supplies like fuel, vehicles, ammunition and water. It is also used as a military kitchen, repair unit, medical facility and it can assist with firefighing. And can also be used in a Search and Rescue situation. In my book that is quite impressive.

How to hide in plain sight

Some of the soldiers from the Amphibious Regiment at the Haninge garrison were nearly impossible to spot. And that's how they like it. But I decided to prove them wrong! Proof No. 1 is the marine on the first photo. He is there, but you can't really see him, so you can't be 100% sure that he really is there! For that he can thank his ghillie suit. The diver on the second photo is also tricky to spot. He is a frogman. And is often out on dangerous underwater operations. But I was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of him and that is proof No. 2.

Haninge Garrison

Here are a few photos of some of the soldiers and civilians that I met at the Haninge garrison on Saturday. On the first photo you can see four members of the Swedish Amphibious Corps. In Swedish that is the Amf 1. They are part of the navy and have their headquarters here at Berga. Hands-on approach might be a good title for the second photo. Everyone that wanted to have a closer look at some of the weapons used by all the different soldiers could do so as proved here. And as the garrison is big and there was a lot of walking around to do it was nice to be able to try some of the freeze-drying food that the military had on offer. The meal here that I ate contained 800 calories according to the smiling soldier that served it to me.

The 4th Naval Warfare Flotilla

Here are a few photos from my visit to the Haninge garrison yesterday. Top photo shows HMS Sundsvall. It is a corvette based at Berga. It belongs to Fjärde sjöstridsflottiljen. The ship took part in an UN operation after the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.
On the second photo you can see one of three Combat Boat 90 that took part in a show yesterday. The boat is a fast military assault craft and has been sold to many navies around the world.
Third picture shows two vessels from the Swedish Amphibious Corps. They are rebuilt Combat Boat 90 ships that today serves as medical treatment ships. More military stuff to come.