Built on the bend at Karlskrona, HMS Västervik was launched in September 1974. She was one of the twelve torpedo boats of the so-called Norrköping class built in the years 1973–1976. From the beginning, the ship was armed with a 57 millimetre cannon and six 53 centimetre torpedo tubes. Västervik has an impressive top speed of 40 knots, is 43.6 meters long and weighs 240 tonnes. She is powered by three gas turbines with 4,300 horsepower each and in active service, had a crew of 30 people (14 professional officers and 16 national service men).
In 1981, when U137's captain Gustjin was interrogated on board the Västervik, the ship was still a torpedo boat. From 1982, she was rebuilt into a guided-missile boat and was equipped with eight marine missiles.
When Västervik left on its last journey – a test expedition in December 1997 – the Naval Museum understood that this was an opportunity to preserve a ship, which shows in a unique way what it was like to work on a Swedish missile boat at the end of the 1990s.
When Västervik's last journey in the marine service was over, the entire crew received an order to leave behind their own equipment and inventories as well as their personal belongings.
Now moored to the dock of the Naval Museum, Västervik invites visitors to go on a fascinating on-board tour. The name signs on the crates have remained unchanged, in the captain's room there is still a children's drawing on the wall, the waste paper baskets have remained unemptied, and things from 1997 are still there on the table. Today the ship belongs to the Naval Museum. It is partly laid up, and confidential equipment has been removed but much about the ship is precisely the way it was when her crew went ashore for the last time.
Going on board on the Västervik for a guided tour is like embarking on a time journey and entering a frozen moment in history.
