Hårsfjärden disaster

The Hårsfjärden disaster was an event in the Swedish Navy during World War II. A series of accidental explosions, it caused by far the worst damage to Swedish Navy units during the era of that war, in which Sweden was not a combatant.

The disaster occurred on 17 September 1941.^[1] Three Swedish Navy destroyers were berthed in Hårsfjärden fjord near Stockholm when the torpedoes^[2] or oil tanks^[3] of Göteborg exploded; flames then also enveloped Klas Horn and Klas Uggla in an inferno.^[2]^[4]

The three destroyers were sunk,^[4] and thirty-three sailors killed, a major blow to the Swedish Navy. All three ships were later raised. Klas Uggla never again saw service; the other two ships did, after repairs.^[2]^[1]

An investigation into possible sabotage commenced. Theories also emerged that the cause was a bomb dropped accidentally by a Swedish plane on training maneuvers, or a torpedo demonstration gone wrong. But the cause was never established.^[2]^[5]

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b Adrian English (May 2012). "The Swedish Navy". Maritime History and Archaeology. Histarmar Foundation. Retrieved February 11, 2016.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Tursten, Helene (2015). The Treacherous Net (An Irene Huss Investigation). Translated by Marlaine Delargy. Soho Crime. p. 85. ISBN 978-1616954024. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
^ "Newsweek". Newsweek. Vol. 18. September 1941. Retrieved February 11, 2016. ^{[dead link]}
^ ^a ^b Gilmour, John (2011). Sweden, the Swastika and Stalin: The Swedish experience in the Second World War. Societies at War. Edinburgh University Press. p. 222. ISBN 978-0748627479. Retrieved February 11, 2016.
^ Lindgren, Astrid (2016). War Diaries, 1939–1945. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300220049. Retrieved May 23, 2023.

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