The submarine design combined the best properties from the preceding Sjöormen and Näcken classes.

The submarines in the Västergötland class were able to fire up to six heavy and six light wire-guided torpedoes at the same time against different targets, a world record of perhaps dubious benefit that probably still stands today.

The submarine served in the Swedish Navy for almost 25 years and was then sold to Singapore in 2005 together with HSwMS Hälsingland.

More than 20 years old and previously in reserve with the Swedish Navy, the submarines were transferred to the RSN on completion of the modernisation and conversion for operation in tropical waters.

[3] In November 2018, the Republic of Singapore Navy announced on its official Facebook page that RSS Swordsman successfully conducted a live torpedo firing in the Andaman Sea.