Swedish Coastal Artillery
| Swedish coastal artillery | |
|---|---|
| Kustartilleriet (KA) | |
Coat of arms.
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| Active | 1901–2000 |
| Country | Sweden |
| Allegiance |
Krigsmakten (1901–1974) Swedish Armed Forces (1975–2000) |
| Branch | Swedish Navy |
| Role | Coastal artillery |
| Size | Five regiments |
| March | "För kustartilleriet" (Dohlin) |
The Swedish coastal artillery (Swedish: Kustartilleriet, KA) has its origin in the Archipelago Artillery that was raised in 1866. The Coastal Artillery was formed from the Archipelago Artillery, the Marine Regiment and parts of the Artillery in 1902. Kustartilleriet, abbreviated KA, was an independent branch within the Swedish Navy until July 1, 2000, when the Swedish Coastal Artillery was disbanded and reorganised as the Amfibiekåren (Swedish Amphibious Corps). The changed name and new structure were to reflect the new tasks that the old Coastal Artillery had moved to after the end of the Cold War and the demise of the Warsaw Pact.
KA or Kustartilleriet can trace its traditions as far back as the old coastal fortresses that were in use around Sweden since the 15th century. In the old days these would have been under the command structure of the fortress artillery department. The real first move to an independent branch was the creation of the Vaxholm Artillery Corps in 1889. Before this all coastal artillery units that were stationed on coastal defence fortresses or city fortresses were under the command of the fortress artillery department which in turn was a branch of the Artillery. Since the establishment of the fixed mine defence units during the 19th century, the question of an independent branch of the Swedish Armed Forces was again raised. This resulted in the creation of the modern Coastal Artillery in 1902 as an independent branch within the Royal Swedish Navy through a merge of Vaxholm Artillery Corps, Karlskrona Artillery Corps and the fixed mine defence units.
The units created out of the Fortress artillery corps from the army at Vaxholm and Karlskrona fortresses were merged with the Navy’s fixed mine companies and elements of the disbanded Marine Regiment. This resulted in the creation of the first two regiments, Vaxholm Coastal Artillery Regiment (KA 1) and Karlskrona Coastal Artillery Regiment (KA 2).
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Wikipedia