Bengt Rasin

Rear Admiral Bengt Göran Rasin, né Larsson (17 April 1922 – 2 January 2013) was a Swedish Navy officer. His senior commands include Commander-in-Chief of the Coastal Fleet, commanding officer of the West Coast Military Command and commanding officer of the Western Military District. Rasin also served as chairman of the Royal Swedish Society of Naval Sciences.

Early life Rasin was born Bengt Göran Larsson on 17 April 1922 in , Gothenburg, Sweden, the son of chief physician Hjalmar Larsson and his wife Elsa (née Rasin). Both parents were employed at Gothenburg schools and were anxious that their son would receive a good education as a basis for the future. He passed studentexamen at the Vasa högre allmänna läroverk in 1941 and after mandatory military service became an officer candidate in the Swedish Navy on the 20 June the same year with number 6. At this time - with the threat of war and a navy in strong development - a couple of hundred young people applied for the Royal Swedish Naval Academy which only accepted 75 people. Rasin was accepted as number 2. Rasin graduated as an acting sub-lieutenant and was commissioned into the navy as number 4 of the 39 remaining sea cadets in the fall of 1944. In October 1944 he embarked on the submarine HSwMS Svärdfisken - a service that at that time entailed considerable risks. Rasin then attended submarine school. The best acting sub-lieutenants in each course also got to make long journeys, whereby Rasin temporarily had to stop his submarine service for a trip with the cruiser to Rio de Janeiro. Rasin's talent was also used in a training course in the Royal Navy in 1948, to bring home the new radar technology. He was trained in submarine and staff service and attended the staff course at the Royal Swedish Naval Staff College from 1951 to 1953. Rasin attended the Royal Naval College, Greenwich in the United Kingdom in 1961 and chief of staff of the Western Military District (Milo V) and was commanding officer of the 1st Submarine Flotilla from 1971 to 1972. He then served as the Commanding Admiral of the Western Military District from 1983 to 1985. into the Royal Swedish Society of Naval Sciences. He was its chairman from 1979 to 1984. In 1978, Rasin became a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences, Section II, Naval Studies. He was also Inspektor of the naval academies associations UppSjö and SjöBorg from 1978 to 1982. Rasin's great interest in sailing made, among other things, that he was chairman of the organizing committee for the Tall Ships' Races in 1986, when Gothenburg for the first time constituted final destination.

Personal life On 16 November 1947, Rasin married Gunnel Björklund (1922–2011), the daughter of Ernst Björklund and Edith (née Uhlén). He is buried at Nya Varvet Cemetery in Gothenburg.

Dates of rank 1944 – Acting sub-lieutenant 1946 – Sub-lieutenant 1954 – Lieutenant 1962 – Lieutenant commander 1963 – Commander 1970 – Captain 1973 – Senior captain 1977 – Rear admiral

Awards and decorations

Honours Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences (1978) Honorary member of the Royal Swedish Society of Naval Sciences (chairman 1978–1983)