Stig Bergelin

Rear Admiral Stig Olof Bergelin (20 September 1905 – 5 October 1983) was a Swedish Navy officer. Bergelin captained both destroyers and cruisers as well as the 1st Destroyer Division and the 2nd Squadron. He also headed the Navy Schools at Berga from 1956 to 1958, Karlskrona Naval Yard from 1960 to 1961, and served as acting commanding officer of the Naval Command South in Karlskrona from 1963 to 1966. Furthermore, Bergelin was chairman of the Royal Swedish Society of Naval Sciences from 1963 to 1966. He was murdered in central Karlskrona by a mentally ill person in 1983.

Early life Bergelin was born on 20 September 1905 in Karlskrona, Sweden, the son of 1st naval stores officer (1:e marinintendent) Oscar Bergelin and his wife Sigrid Hallström. He had a sister, Ingegärd. He passed studentexamen in Karlskrona in 1924 and became a cadet the same year.

Career Bergelin was commissioned as a naval officer in 1927 with the rank of acting sub-lieutenant. He was promoted to sub-lieutenant in 1930. Bergelin attended the general course at the Royal Swedish Naval Staff College from 1934 to 1935, after which he chose a higher nautical course. This led to a multi-year service in the Nautical Department of the Royal Swedish Naval Materiel Administration, combined with service as a teacher of navigation at the Royal Swedish Naval Academy and - in summer - as navigation officer on the seaplane cruiser , also flag adjutant at the Naval Academy Department. In all, during his career as a naval officer, he served more than 15 years at sea, except for six months in 1936–1937 in civilian shipping company under temporary employment in . and captain of the destroyer from 1942 to 1944, The position as commander of the 1st Destroyer Division (1. jagardivisionen) in the Coastal Fleet was held by Bergelin from 1950 to 1951. On 16 April 1956, he took over as head of the Navy Schools at Berga. At Berga he received a visit from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in June 1956. Bergelin attended the Swedish National Defence College in 1957 and for the next two years, he served as head of Section 2 in the Naval Staff. In 1959, Bergelin returned to his hometown and to the technical-administrative position as head of the Karlskrona Naval Yard (Karlskrona örlogsvarv), where his authority and organizational skills were, among other things, an asset during the thorough reorganization of the administrative service and the creation of a civilian shipyard. After leaving active duty, he quite logically ended his career as the first chief executive officer of from 1967 to 1969. On 9 June 1959, he married Marianne von Otter (née Nyqvist; born 1922), the daughter of colonel and Zelma (née Håkanson). He was the father of Magnus (1933–2006), Agneta (1936–2001), Olof (born 1940) and Christina (born 1940). The man tried to open one of the car doors. It was locked. He ran around the car and tore open the other door. There he pulled a knife, which he aimed at Bergelin with several stabs. When Bergelin collapsed, the man surrendered to Bergelin's wife. She was stabbed four times in the neck and cheeks before a witness managed to disarm the perpetrator. A few minutes later, both Bergelin and his wife were taken to the hospital. There, the doctors could confirm that Bergelin was dead. The wife received minor injuries. During questioning, it emerged that it was pure coincidence that it was Bergelin who was stabbed. The man and the Bergelin's had never been in contact with each other before. The man had been armed with two knives to protect himself. He had felt persecuted. About an hour before the crime, the man had agreed with a doctor at Gullberna Mental Hospital that he would be allowed to come there for treatment. The man had rejected the offer of a ride to the hospital. He wanted to get there on his own, which ended up with him going to central Karlskrona, where the crime was committed.

On 9 November 1983, the sentenced a 46-year-old resident of Karlskrona to closed psychiatric care for aggravated assault and involuntary manslaughter.

Dates of rank 1927 – Acting sub-lieutenant 1930 – Sub-lieutenant 1939 – Lieutenant 1944 – Lieutenant commander 1949 – Commander 1955 – Captain 1963 – Rear admiral

Awards and decorations

South Coast Naval Base's Gold Shield (1969)

Honours Member of the Royal Swedish Society of Naval Sciences (1943) Grandmaster of the Order of Amarante Chairman of the board of Marinmuseum Inspector Emeriti of the SjöLund naval academy association Chairman of the interim board of the Stiftelsen Harald af Cristiernins invalidinrättning ("Harald af Cristiernin Foundation for Invalids") (until 1 Oktober 1974)