Evening star., 1950-06-11

Over the last eight years, ant
has been actively increasing and
modernizing her small but effi-
cient navy, Cooperation with the
air force (now being supplied with
British jet flghters) has been in
uensifled. the Swedish Admiralty
having been quick to recognize
the necessity for air cover for war
ships in the confined waters OF
the Baltic. In shipbuilding. the
tendency has been toward faster
and more lightly armed ships. to
give the navy the speed and mo-
bility which modern sea warfare
demands.
Modern Requirements
Elderly warships have progress
sively been replaced by modern
ones. so that now the average age
of Swedish naval vessels has been
reduced from 20 years, in 1889, 10
something under nine. Two OF
Sweden's new cruisers, the Tire
Kronor and the Gotta Lejon. each
of $500 tons. as we'll as a number
of destroyers and smaller ships
have been completed since l945
and thus are fully up to date. I'm
provementS in ornaments include
guns manufactured by the Swedish
firm of Bofors. which are not only
more rapid firing than before. but
are also capable of being more
quickly directed to their targets.
Today the Swedish Navy, which
also includes a highly organized
coastal artillery. comprises 5 coast
defense battleships. 4 light cruis-
ers, 81 destroyers. 18 motor tor
pedo boats, Is submarines. 10
minelayers, As minesweepers and
27 patrol boats,
Under construction in l949 were
2 more destroyers, II motor tor
pedo boats, 3 submarines. 2 mine
layers and 2 patrol boats, Alto
gether. Sweden is now scheduled
to spend something like 800 mil
lion crowns-s222 million-an-
nually on her permanent defense
system.
But recently a greatly increased
activity by the Soviet Union in
naval matters has led to a grow
ing fear in Sweden, especially in
naval circles. that even these prep
arations are insufficient to meet
what is regarded as a long term
Russian plan to turn the Baltic
into a Soviet Mare Nostrum,
Swedes have noted with something
more than academic interest the
Kremlin's decision two months age
to create a special ministry oi
the navy. separate from the de-
fense ministry, under Admira,
Yumachev. They have also re-
garded as a somewhat dubious
compliment the fact that the Rus
slams have this spring sent to
Stockholm as the new Soviet AM
bassador such high naval per-
sonage as 49-year-old Admiral K
K. Rodionov, who was Soviet Am
bassador in Greece when the civil
war began, has served with the
Red fleet and has also been a
member of several Russian dele
cations to the United Nations.
Coastal Activity
But the Swedes have been even
more disturbed by signs Of Soviet
naval activity along the great area
of Baltic coast which the Russians
now control. from Porkkala and
Viipuri in the Gulf of Finland to
Wismar, in the Bay of Lubbock. due
south of Denmark.
This coast has, of course, ira
ditionally been the site Of many
famous naval bases. form Lenin-
grad and Kronstadt to Tallinn.
Memel. Windau, Konigsberg (now
KaliningradD. Danzig, Swine
munde and Rostock. A number
Of smaller harbours were also de-
veloped by the Germans for naval
use during the war. such as Kol-
berg, SassnitZ and Wismar.. Al
though much material destruction
was carried out by the Germans
in the last days Of the war, Swedes
believe that all this great chain
of naval bases has now been set in
order by the Russians, and that a
number of them, especially
Kaliningrad and Swinemunde
have been considerably extended.
Heavy Notifications have ap-
parently been carried out, too, on
the islands Of Osel and Dago. of
the Gulf of Riga. which are also
believed to have been prepared as
bases for possible V-weapon at
tacks on the Swedish coast. Re-
ports from German refugees ar
riyiNo In SweIc0 Sav that VI