Royal Swedish Navy

Swedish Royal Navy
Coat of arms of the Swedish Navy.
Founded	June 7, 1522; 494 years ago (1522-06-07)
Country	Sweden
Part of	Swedish Armed Forces
Garrison/HQ	Karlskrona Gothenburg Berga
March	Kungliga Flottans paradmarsch by Wagner
Anniversaries	9th of July (Battle of Svensksund)
Engagements	Swedish War of Liberation (1510-23) Count's Feud (1534-36) Russo-Swedish War (1554–57) Nordic Seven Years' War (1563-70) Russo-Swedish War (1590–95) Polish–Swedish War (1600–29) Ingrian War (1610–1617) Kalmar War (1611-13) Thirty Years' War (1630–1648) Torstenson War (1643-45) Second Nordic War (1657-60) Scanian War (1675-79) Great Nordic War (1700-1721) Russo-Swedish War (1741–43) Seven Years' War (1756-1763) Russo-Swedish War (1788–90) First Barbary War (1801–1802) War of the Fourth Coalition (1805–1810) Finnish War (1808–1809) Dano-Swedish War of 1808-1809 Swedish-Norwegian War (1814) Cold War (1970 - 1991) Operation Atalanta 2008 – ongoing
Commanders
Chief of Navy	Rear Admiral Jens Nykvist
Insignia
Naval Ensign and Jack
Naval Ensign 1844–1905
Naval Ensign 1815–1844

The Swedish Royal Navy (Swedish: Svenska marinen) is the naval branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet (Kungliga Flottan) – as well as marine units, the Amphibious Corps (Amfibiekåren).

In Swedish, vessels of the Swedish Navy are given the prefix "HMS," short for Hans/Hennes Majestäts Skepp (His/Her Majesty's Ship). In English, this is often changed to "HSwMS" ("His Swedish Majesty's Ship") to differentiate Swedish vessels from those of the British Royal Navy.

Early Swedish kings (c. 9th–14th centuries) organised a Swedish Royal Navy along the coastline through ledungen. This involved combined rowing and sailing ships (without artillery). This system became obsolete with the development of society and changes in military technology. No later than in the 14th century, the duty to serve in ledungen was replaced by a tax. In 1427, when Sweden was still part of the Kalmar Union (with Denmark and Norway), Swedish warships did however participate in the naval battle of Öresund (the Sound) against the Hanseatic League. It is unclear how this force was organised and exactly on what basis.

On June 7, 1522, one year after the separation of Sweden from the Kalmar Union, Gustav Vasa purchased a number of ships from the Hanseatic town of Lübeck - official Swedish histories since the 19th century have often recorded this day as the birth of the current Swedish Navy. (The museum ship Vasa in Stockholm was a 17th-century ship of the Royal Swedish Navy (Kungliga flottan)).