Gunnar Bjurner

Knut Gunnar Bjurner (10 January 1882 – 28 January 1964) was a senior Swedish Navy officer. Bjurner commanded three different coastal defence ships, headed Karlskrona Naval Yard (1931–1936) and commanded the Winter Squadron (1933–1934) as well as the South Coast Naval District (1936–1938). Bjurner is mostly known for his work within the Royal Swedish Naval Materiel Administration, which he headed from 1938 to 1943.

Early life Bjurner was born on 10 January 1882 in Hedvig Eleonora Parish, Stockholm, Sweden, the son of Gustav Adolf Carlsson and his wife Ellen Hallström. Bjurner enrolled as a cadet at Royal Swedish Naval Academy in 1895 and was appointed at the age of 19 years to second lieutenant (underlöjtnant) in the navy in 1901.

Career Bjurner was promoted to sub-lieutenant in 1903. Richly gifted, especially in the mathematical field, he received the highest grades from the Royal Swedish Naval Staff College (1906–1908) and the Artillery and Engineering College's higher course (1908–1910). chairman of the Society for Swedish Culture Abroad's (Riksföreningen för svenskhetens bevarande i utlandet) local branch in Karlskrona from 1932 to 1938 and president of the Rotary Club in Karlskrona from 1936 to 1938. Furthermore, Bjurner was chairman of the Naval Pension Fund (Flottans pensionskassa) from 1936 to 1938, the Swedish Sailing School Association (Stiftelsen Svenska seglarskolan) in 1944 and member of the board of the Maritime Museum from 1939 to 1943. and served as investigator at the Ministry of Defence regarding the naval materiel from 1943 to 1945.

Dates of rank 1901 – Underlöjtnant 1903 – Sub-lieutenant 1910 – Lieutenant 1919 – Lieutenant commander 1923 – Commander 1931 – Captain 1936 – Rear admiral 1947 – Vice admiral

Awards and decorations

Swedish

Foreign

Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences (1927)