Lease To The United States Navy
In 2004, the Swedish government received a request from the United States of America to lease Gotland – Swedish-flagged, commanded and manned, for a duration one year for use in anti-submarine warfare exercises. The Swedish government granted this request in October 2004, with both navies signing a memorandum of understanding on 21 March 2005.
Gotland was loaded on board the Norwegian semi-submersible heavy-lift ship, MV Eide Transporter, on 10 May 2005, for a month-long voyage over the Atlantic Ocean and through the Panama Canal to Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego, California, where it arrived on 27 June 2005. After a couple weeks of getting accustomed to the new environment, the exercises with United States 3rd Fleet began on 18 July 2005. The lease was extended for another 12 months in 2006.
Gotland managed to penetrate the defensive measures of Carrier Strike Group Seven undetected and snap several pictures of the USS Ronald Reagan during the December pre-deployment Joint Task Force Exercise 06-2 (JTFEX 06-2) in the Pacific Ocean (probably in the California Operating Areas), effectively "sinking" the aircraft carrier. The exercise was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the US Fleet against modern diesel-electric submarines, which some have noted as severely lacking.
In July 2007, Gotland departed San Diego for Sweden.
Read more about this topic: HMS Gotland (1995)
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