Kronan (ship)

Reconstruction by Jacob Hägg.
Career
Name:	Kronan
Builder:	Francis Sheldon, Stockholm
Laid down:	October 1664
Launched:	31 July 1668
Commissioned:	1672
Fate:	Sunk at the Battle of Öland, 1 June 1676
General characteristics
Type:	sailing ship
Displacement:	2,300 tonnes (approximate)
Length:	54.5 m (179 ft)
Beam:	13.1 m (43 ft)
Height:	66 m (217 ft) (keel to mast, approx.)
Draft:	6.23 m (20.4 ft)
Propulsion:	sail, three masts
Troops:	300 soldiers
Complement:	500 sailors
Armament:	planned for 126 guns from 6 to 36 pound actual armament around 105 guns

Kronan, also called Stora Kronan, was a Swedish warship that served as the flagship of the Swedish navy in the Baltic Sea in the 1670s. When she was built she was one of the largest seagoing vessels in the world. The construction of Kronan lasted 1668-1672, delayed on account of difficulties with financing and conflict between her shipwright Francis Sheldon and the Swedish Admiralty. After only a few years of service she sank in the battle of Öland on 1 June 1676. The loss was caused by her turning too hard with too much sail in rough weather. During the ensuing foundering her powder magazine ignited and exploded, blowing off most of the bow structure on the right, starboard, side. About 800 men died during the sinking and over one hundred heavy guns were lost along with valuable equipment, private possessions and large quantities of cash in the form of silver and gold coins.

The loss of Kronan was a hard blow against Sweden during the Scanian War (1675–79). Besides being the largest and most heavily armed ship in the Swedish navy, she had also been an important prestige symbol for the monarchy of the young Charles XI. When she sank she took with her close to 10% of the active manpower of the navy, its acting commander in chief, the Admiral of the Realm Lorentz Creutz, a large number of high-ranking fleet officers and the chief of the navy medical staff. Since the battle of Öland and the preceding naval campaign had been major failures for Sweden, a commission was set up to investigate whether any individuals could be held responsible. No one was held accountable, but Creutz is often blamed by historians for the sinking of Kronan because of his general naval and command inexperience. Recent research has attempted to provide a more nuanced picture, and points to Sweden's general lack of a well-developed naval organizational and officer corps at the time.

The wreck of Kronan was located in 1980 by the amateur researcher Anders Franzén, who also discovered the location of the 17th century warship Vasa in the 1950s. Each year since then diving operations have been conducted to survey and excavate the wrecksite and to salvage artifacts. Kronan has become the most widely publicized shipwreck in the Baltic after Vasa. So far over 30,000 artifacts have been brought up and many of them have been conserved and put on display for the general public at the Kalmar County Museum in Kalmar. The museum is today responsible for the maritime archaeological operations and the permanent exhibitions about Kronan.

Historical context

In 1660, Sweden reached its zenith as a European Great Power. In the Dano-Swedish War of 1657-58, Swedish King Charles X made a bold march across the Small and Great Belts and struck right at the heart of Denmark, threatening to capture the capital of Copenhagen. His intent was to end Denmark's existence as an independent state and to take control of a greater part of the lucrative toll from traffic passing through the Öresund. This move threatened the trade interests of other European powers with large investments in the Baltic Sea trade. These were best served by keeping the Baltic politically divided without any one player dominating the scene. England and the Netherlands, the leading shipping nations of 17th century Europe, allied themselves with Denmark and intervened against Sweden. The Swedish attempt to crush Denmark once and for all had failed, but at the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658, Sweden nevertheless received considerable concessions: all of the eastern Danish provinces of Blekinge, Halland and Scania (or Skåne), as well as the Norwegian Bohuslän on the west coast of Sweden. Holding all of Finland, most of the Baltic States and Pomerania in northern Germany, Sweden became the leading Baltic power.

In the early 1670s, Sweden was governed by a regency council that was internally weak, having difficulties in asserting Swedish power abroad. The Chancellor of the Realm, Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie, successfully argued for strengthened ties with France, which resulted in a Franco-Swedish treaty in 1672. The same year, France attacked the Netherlands, causing diplomatic unrest. In April 1674, the French ambassador to Sweden presented an agreement that stipulated that Sweden had to increase its military presence in Pomerania to 22,000 men in exchange for considerable financial support.

The Swedish position was difficult, as the French were pressuring for action against Brandenburg; in December 1674 a Swedish army under the command of Carl Gustaf Wrangel opened up an offensive in Germany. War had not begun in earnest, but about six months later, the Netherlands declared war on Sweden. Soon after, the Swedish army in Germany was defeated at the battle of Fehrbellin, only a minor setback tactically, but one which lead to a major loss of prestige. The Swedish army had enjoyed a reputation of near-invincibility after its successes in the Thirty Years' War, which was tarnished after the defeat against Brandenburg. On September 2, 1675, Denmark joined the war against Sweden and at the end of June a Danish army landed in Scania. A strong fleet became essential for defending Swedish interests at home and overseas.

Fleet expansion

From the 1650s onwards European navies were going through major changes. Previously, naval tactics had focused on a system of combat that was based on individual ships or, at most, small groups of ship within the frame of what has later been dubbed the melee tactic. The first Anglo-Dutch War in the 1650s had seen the development of the line of battle, a new tactic that formed ships in a long line, presenting their broadsides towards the enemy. The commander was placed in the middle of the line to allow him to better overview and control his forces. Previously, decisive action in sea battles had been achieved through boarding, but after the middle of the 17th century, tactical thought stressed superior firepower from a distance as the means of disabling or sinking an opponent. The primary task for a commander became the ability to hold his line together while at the same time trying to break that of the opponent so that he could concentrate on a weak spot in the enemy defenses. This tactic was further developed and codified during the first half of the 18th century and dominated naval warfare right up until World War I.

The line of battle favored very large ships that sailed steadily and that could maintain their place in the line in the face of heavy fire. The new type of warfare that developed during the early modern period was marked by a successively stricter organization. The new tactics were also dependent on an increased disciplining of society and the demands of powerful centralized governments that could maintain large, permanent and loyal fleets lead by a corps of professional officers. Battle formations became standardized, based on mathematically calculated ideal models. The increased power of the state at the expense of individual landowners lead to increasingly larger armies and navies, and in the late 1660s, Sweden also experienced an expansive shipbuilding program.

Design

File:Kalmar museum Kronan (shipp) deck.JPG

A full-scale mockup of a section of one of the gundecks of Kronan as part of the exhibition at Kalmar County Museum.

Kronan was one of the most heavily armed warships of its time, a triple-decker with 105 guns. She had three gundecks with guns from bow to stern. Altogether there were seven separate levels divided by six decks. Furthest down in the ship, above the keel, was the hold and immediately above it, but still below the waterline, lay the orlop; both were used primarily for storage. Above the orlop were the three gundecks, two of which were covered while about half of topmost gundeck was open to the elements in the middle, or waist, of the ship. The bow had one deck, making up the forecastle, and the stern had two deck, including a poop deck.

During the first half of the 17th century, Swedish warships were built according to the Dutch manner, with a flat, rectangular bottom with a small draft. This was a shipbuilding style adapted for the shallow coastal waters of the Netherlands, and allowed for quick construction and tended towards smaller ships. The drawbacks was that the vessels had relatively light, less sturdy structures that were somewhat unstable in rough seas, aspects generally unsuitable for warships. When Kronan was built, the English manner, with a more rounded bottom and greater draft, giving it a sturdier frame and more stability. The underwater part of the stern was also more streamlined below the waterline, which lessened resistances.

Kronan displacement, a ship's weight calculated by how much water it displaces while floating, is not known precisely since the ship's exact dimensions are not known. By using contemporary documents describing its approximate measurements, it has been estimated to around 2,300 tonnes. In relation to the number, and sheer weight, of guns, Kronan was heavily over-gunned. It wasn't until after 1650 that European shipwrights had begun building triple-deckers on a large scale, and the designs were by the 1660s still quite experimental. Both English and French triple-deckers were known to be unstable since they were built high, narrow and crammed with too many guns. The distance between the lowest gunports and the waterline was also quite small. In rough seas these ships were often forced to close the lowest row of gunports, and were thereby deprived the use of their heaviest guns, their most effective weapons. In the 18th century, ships with the same amount and weight of guns as Kronan were built much heavier, usually from 3,000 up to 5,000 tonnes, which made them much more stable. When Kronan was built she was ranked as the third or fourth largest ship in the world, but as the trend moved towards ever greater ships. At the time she sank, she was down to seventh place, shared with several other ships.

Armament

File:Kronans Kanoner.JPG

Salvaged cannons of various types from Kronan on display at Kalmar County Museum.

According to the official armament plan Kronan was to be equipped with 124-126 guns; 34-36 guns on each of the gundecks and a further 18 in the forecastle and the decks in the stern. Guns were classed by how heavy cannonballs they fired, varying between 3 and 36 pounds (1.3-15.3 kg). The guns themselves weighed from a few hundred kg up to four tonnes with the heaviest pieces placed in the middle of the lower-most gundeck with successively lighter ones on the decks above. Kronan's most lethal weapons were the 30- and 36-pounders on the lowest gundeck which had a range and firepower that outclassed the armament of just about any other warship. Much of the armament under 18 pounds was primarily designed to inflict damage on the enemy's crew and rigging rather than ship's hulls.

According to modern research it is considered more likely that the number of guns was considerably less than the official armament plan from the 1670s. Official plans at the time regularly overstated the actual armament that was available. They are today considered to be ideal figures that seldom reflected actual conditions, either because of a lack of ordnance or because they were impractical when tested. The heavy 30- and 36-pounders were particularly difficult to find in sufficient numbers and lighter guns were used instead. Going by the number of guns that were salvaged from Kronan in the 1680s (see "History as a shipwreck") and during the excavations in the 1980s the total comes to around 105. This also matches calculations of the number of gunports and how many guns that could practically fit on each deck, based on the remains of the wreck.

File:Kalmar museum Kronan handguns.JPG

Firearms, including muskets, on display at Kalmar County Museum.

There were several types of ammunition available for different uses: round shot (cannonballs) against ship hulls, chain shot against masts and rigging, and canister shot (wooden cylinders filled with metal balls or fragments), which had a devastating effect on groups of men. For boarding actions Kronan was equipped with 130 muskets and 80 matchlock or flintlock pistols. For close combat there were also 250 pikes, 200 boarding axes and 180 swords. During the excavations large-caliber hakebössor, firearms were found, similar to blunderbusses. They were equipped with a small catch underneath which allowed it to be hooked over a railing so that it would absorb the recoil of the massive charges. One hakebössa was still loaded with a small canister containing 20 lead balls that would have been used to clear enemy decks before boarding.

Ornamentation

Expensive ornamentation was an important part of a ship's appearance in the 1660s, even though it had been considerably simplified since the early 17th century. It was considered important to enhance the authority of the absolute monarchs and to portray the ship as a projection of his martial prowess and power. There are no contemporary illustrations of what the ornamentation of Kronan looked like, but according to common practice, it was most lavish on the transom, the flat surface facing backwards. There are two images of Kronan shown from stern, both by Danish artists. Both were commissioned many years after its sinking in order to commemorate the crushing Danish victory. Claus Møinichen's painting at Fredriksborg Palace from 1686 shows a transom dominated by two lions rampant holding up a huge royal crown. The background is blue with sculptures and ornaments in gold. Swedish art historian Hans Soop, who has previously studied the sculptures of Vasa, built 1626-28, has suggested that Møinichen may have intentionally exaggerated the size of the ship in order to enhance the Danish victory. A tapestry at Rosenborg Castle shows Kronan as a two-decker, and here the transom is dominated even more by the image of the crown.

Archaeologist have not been able to recover enough of Kronan's sculptures for any detailed overview of her ornamentation. The mascarons (architectural facemasks) and putti (images of children) that have been salvaged so far show, however, have shown considerable artistic quality according to Soop. One large sculpture of a warrior figure was found in 1987 and is an example of high-quality workmanship, and possibly a symbolic portrait of King Charles himself. Since nothing is known of the surrounding ornamentation and sculptures is known, however, the conclusion remains speculative.

Construction

In the early 1660s, a building program was initiated that was intended to expand the fleet and replace a number of old capital ships that were getting on in years. A new flagship was also needed to replace the old Kronan from 1632 that had by then gotten on in years. The vast quantities of timber that were required for the new admiral's ship began to be felled already in the winter of 1664-65. Swedish historian Kurt Lundgren has estimated that 7-10 hectares of oak forest of hundred-year-old trees were required for the hull and several tall, stout pines for the masts and bowsprit. The construction of Kronan began in October 1665, but it took until July 31, 1668 before her hull was launched. The Englishman Francis Sheldon was the shipwright and frequently came in conflict with the Admiralty over the project. The navy administrators complained that he was delaying the project unduly and that he was spending too much time on his own private business ventures. The most aggravating was an extensive and lucrative export of mast timber to England. Sheldon in turn complained about constant delays and a lack of funds. When the ship was finally launched, the slipway turned out to be too small and the rear section of the keel broke off during the launching. The Admiralty demanded an explanation, but Sheldon's reply was that the damage was easily mended and that the problem was that the timber had been allowed to dry out too much. The conflict between the Admiralty and Sheldon went on for several years and caused constant delays. The final sculptures were finished 1669 but the rigging, tackling and arming was drawn out a further three years, to 1672. The first occasion that the ship was used was during the celebrations of Charles XI's accession as monarch in December 1672.

Crew

Being one of the largest ships of its time, Kronan had a large crew. When she sank there were 850 people on board, 500 sailors and 350 soldiers. Historians working with the excavation of the wrecksite have compared the ship with a middle-sized Swedish town of the late 17th century, describing it as a "miniature society". There were representatives of both the lower and upper classes on board, though only male. Women were allowed on navy vessels, but only within the limits of Stockholm archipelago; before reaching open water they had to disembark. As a community afloat Kronan mirrored the contemporary social standards of military and civilian life, two spheres that were not strictly separated in the 17th century. The entire crew dressed in civilian clothing and there were no common navy uniforms. Clothing was differentiated according to social standing, with officers from the nobility dressed in elegant and expensive clothing while the crew dressed in clothing of ordinary common laborers. The only exceptions were the soldiers of the Västerbotten infantry regiment. By the 1670s it is believed that they had been equipped with the first "Carolingian" uniforms in blue and white. The crew was sometimes assigned clothing or cloth with which to prepare a "sailor garb" (båtmansklädning) which set them apart from the usual dress of the general populace. Officers maintained a large collection of fine clothing for use on board, but its is not known if they were actually used during everyday work. Quite likely they owned a set of clothes made from simpler, more durable and more comfortable fabrics which were more practical at sea.

Recruitment was done by forced musters as a part of the earlier form of the so-called allotment system. Sailors and gunners were supplied by a båtsmanshåll (literally "sailor household"), small administrative units along the coast that were assigned the task of supplying the fleet with one adult male for armed service. The soldiers on board came from the army equivalent, knekthåll or rotehåll, ("soldier -" or "ward household") from inland areas. Officers were for the most part from the nobility or from the upper middle class, paid through the allotment system or the income from estates designated for the purpose. Higher-ranking officers also most likely brought their personal servants on board. A valuable red jacket in bright red cloth that was worn by one of those who drowned on the ship could have belonged to one of these retinues.

Military career

Main article: Scanian War

After the Swedish loss at the battle of Fehrbellin on 18 June 1675 the fleet was required to support transports of reinforcements to the Swedish Pomerania. It had the potential for success as it was large with several large, well-armed ships: Svärdet ("the sword") of 1,800 tonnes, Äpplet ("the orb") and Nyckeln ("the key"), both 1,400 tonnes, and the enormous Kronan ("the crown"). Altogether there were 28 large and medium warships and almost the same number of smaller vessels. The supply organization, however, was lacking, there were few experienced high-ranking officers and internal cooperation was poor. Danish contemporaries also scornfully described the Swedish crews as consisting of "farmhands dunked in saltwater". The fleet went to sea under the leadership of Admiral Gustaf Otto Stenbock during the autumn of 1675, but got no farther than Stora Karlsö off Gotland. The weather was unusually cold and stormy and the ships could not be heated. The crew were poorly clothed and soon many of them fell ill. Supplies eventually dwindled and after Kronan lost a sorely needed bow anchor, Stenbock decided to turn back to the Dalarö anchorage north of Stockholm. Nothing came of the reinforcements of the North German provinces. King Charles was reacted with anger and held Stenbock personally responsible for the failed expedition, forcing him to pay over 100,000 dalers out of his own pocket.

The situation for the Swedish army in Pomerania deteriorated during the winter and the fleet, along with Kronan, was ordered out to sea once more in a desperate attempt to relieve the hard-pressed forces. The winter of 1675-76 was unusually cold and large parts of the Baltic was iced in. When the fleet, now under the command of the veteran sea officer Claas Uggla, reached Dalarö on January 23, it was blocked by ice. The Privy Councilor Erik Lindschöld had been assigned to the navy by the King to assist with the winter expedition, and it was he who came up with the idea of literally cutting the fleet out of the ice to reach the open sea. Hundreds of local peasants were ordered out to saw and hack open a narrow channel through the ice to reach the anchorage at Älvsnabben, over 20 km (12.5 miles) away. Upon reaching the naval station on February 14, three weeks later, it turned out that most of the sea was frozen as well. A storm hit the tightly packed ships and the ensuing movement of the ice crushed the hull of the supply vessel Leoparden and sank it. A Danish force had also managed to reach the open waters farther off and observed the immobilized Swedish ships. When temperatures fell even further, the situation was declared hopeless and even the energetic Lindschöld gave up the attempt.

Early in March 1676 a Danish fleet of 20 ships under Admiral Niels Juel left Copenhagen. On April 29 it landed troops on Gotland, which soon surrendered. The Swedish fleet was ordered out on May 4, but experienced adverse winds and was delayed until May 19. Juel had by then already left Visby, the principal port of Gotland with a garrison force. He headed for Bornholm to join with a small Danish-Dutch squadron to cruise between Scania and the island of Rügen to prevent any Swedish seaborne reinforcement from reaching Pomerania. On May 25–26 the two fleets encountered one another in the battle of Bornholm. Even though the Swedes had a considerable advantage in ships, men and guns, they were unable to inflict any losses on the allied force, and lost a fireship and two minor vessels. The battle revealed the serious lack of coherence and organization within the Swedish ranks and soured relations between the Admiral of the Realm Lorentz Creutz and his officers.

After the unsuccessful action, the Swedish fleet anchored off Trelleborg where King Charles was waiting with new orders to recapture Gotland. The fleet was to refuse combat with the allies at least until they reached the northern tip of Öland, where they could fight in friendly waters. When the Swedish fleet left Trelleborg on May 30, the allied fleet soon came in contact with it and began pursuing the Swedes. By this time the allies had been reinforced by a small squadron and now totalled 42 vessel, with 25 large or medium ships of the line. The reinforcements also brought with them a new commander, the Dutch Admiral General Cornelis Tromp, one of the ablest naval tacticians of his time. The two fleets sailed north and on June 1 they passed the northern tip of Öland in a strong gale. The rough winds were hard on the Swedish ships. Many lost masts and spars. The Swedes, formed in a battle line held together with great difficulty, tried to get ahead of Tromp's ships to get between them and the shore to get on their lee side, holding the weather gage, and thereby gaining an advantageous tactical position. The Dutch ships of the allied fleet, however, managed to sail closer into the wind faster than the rest of the force slipped between the Swedes and the coast, taking up the valuable weather gage. Later that morning the two fleets closed in on each other and were soon within firing range.

Sinking

Main article: battle of Öland

File:Slag bij Öland - Battle of Öland in 1676 (Romeyn de Hooghe).jpg

A contemporary depiction that divides the battle into three phases: (1) the two fleets sailing northwards along the coast of Öland, just passing the southern tip of Öland, (2) Kronan exploding and Svärdet surrounded, and (3) the Swedish fleet fleeing in disorder, pursued by allied ships. Copper engraving by Romeyn de Hooghe, 1676.

Around noon, some distance northeast of the village of Hulterstad, the Swedish fleet made what the military historian Ingvar Sjöblom has described as "a widely debated maneuver". Because of misunderstandings and poorly coordinated signalling, the Swedish fleet attempted to turn and engage the allied fleet before they had sailed past the northern end of Öland, which had been agreed upon before the battle. A sharp turn in rough weather was known to be perilous, especially if a ship was known to be somewhat unstable. Kronan turned to port (left), but with too much sail and heeled so far over that she began to flood through the open gunports. The crew was unable to correct the imbalance and she laid over completely with her masts parallel with the water. After a short while the gunpowder store in the forward part of the ship was for some reason ignited and exploded violently, ripping apart a large section of the starboard side forward of the mainmast. The remaining section rose with the stern pointing up in the air and the broken-off front part toward the bottom. It then rapidly sank with the port side down. When the wreck hit the seabed, the hull suffered a major fraction along its side which further damaged is structure.

During the sinking, discipline and social cohesion appears to have collapsed completely. The skeletal remains of those who died on Kronan have deep, unhealed lacerations on skulls, vertebrae, ribs and other limbs. Around 10% of all upper arm bones (humerus) and almost 20% of the thigh bones (femur) show signs of violence caused by sharp objects and in many cases there are repeated blows aimed at the same area. There has been no definite explanation for these wounds and none of the testimonies provide an explanation. There are no indications that any type of boarding action occurred before the sinking and forensic analysis has precluded that they were the result of the explosion. Historian Ingvar Sjöblom has interpreted the finds as the aftermath of a "bloody scuffle" that broke out as the men fought among themselves as they tried to save themselves. Osteologist Ebba Düring has suggested that in the disparate struggle to get out, the men of the sinking ship resorted to "all the means at their disposal, both physical as well as psychological" to escape the catastrophic situation.

File:Slaget vid Öland Claus Møinichen 1686.jpg

A painting by Danish painter from 1686, showing how Kronan explodes while foundering. On the right Svärdet is engaged on both sides by the allied generals. In reality, the two events were much distinctly separated in both time and space.

After the sinking of Kronan, the battle raged on for a few more hours, and quite unsuccessfully for the Swedish side. The loss of the Admrials flagship threw the Swedes into disorder, and soon Svärdet, the new flagship, was surrounded by the allied admirals and set ablaze by a Dutch fireship. Only 50 of the 650-strong crew escaped the gun battle and the inferno, and among the dead was the acting Swedish Admiral Claes Uggla. After losing two of its highest ranking commanders along with the two largest ships, the Swedish fleet fled in disorder. Solen later ran aground, Järnvågen, Neptunus and three smaller vessels were taken. Äpplet was later wrecked after breaking its moorings off Dalarö and sank.

Aftermath

According to Anders Gyllenspak only 40 men, including himself, survived the sinking: Major Johan Klerk, 2 trumpeters, 14 sailors and 22 soldiers, which means that over 800 perished in the sinking. Among them were half a dozen navy and army officers as well as the Admiralty chief physician and the fleet apothecary. Altogether around 1,400 men died when Kronan and Svärdet were lost and in the days following the battle, hundreds of corpses were washed up on the east coat of Öland. According to the vicar of Långlöt parish, 183 men were taken from the beaches and buried at Hulterstad and Stenåsa graveyards. Lorentz Creutz's body was identified and eventually shipped to his estate in Savolaks, Finland, where he was buried.

Within a week, the news of the failure at Bornholm and the complete fiasco at Öland reached King Charles, who immediately ordered that a commission be set up to investigate what had happened. Charles wanted to see if Bär and other officers were guilty of cowardice or incompetence. On June 13 the King wrote "some of our sea officers have shown such cowardly and carelessly behavior" that they "have placed the safety, welfare and defense of the kingdom at great peril" and that "such a serious crime should be sternly punished". The commission began its work on June 7, 1676 and was not finished until October 1677, but without passing any sentences. However, Admiral Johan Bär of Nyckeln and Lieutenant Admiral Christer Boije who ran aground with Äpplet, were never given a command in the navy again. One of the accused, Hans Clerck of Solen, fared considerably better, being promoted by the King even before the commission presented its findings.

Causes of sinking

The direct cause for the sinking of Kronan was instability and inappropriate handling in rough weather. Unlike Vasa, which had sank during its maiden voyage almost fifty years earlier, her sailing characteristics were not generally flawed and the ship had served for several years in considerably worse weather. During the work of the commission there were also direct comparisons to Vasa mentioned by the artillery officer Anders Gyllenspak. He testified that the ballast had been lightened at Dalarö at the beginning of the campaign and that she had not replenished its supply of drink, though he did not blame Creutz. The ship consequently had less draught and rode less stable the water than usual.

Why the Swedish fleet deviated from the original plan of engaging the allied force in home waters north of Öland has not been satisfyingly explained. According to Rosenberg and Gyllenspak, both on Kronan, Creutz made a turn because Uggla had signalled that he was turning. Rosenberg believed that Bär on Nyckeln, Admiral of the first squadron, had begun to turn and that Uggla considered it necessary to turn with him in order to keep the fleet together, even though it was an unplanned maneuver. Officers Anders Homman and Olof Norman, both survivors of Svärdet, on the other hand, claimed that only Creutz as fleet commander could make such a decision and that Uggla was only Kronan's lead. The witnesses who were heard by the commission testified that the necessary precautions were not taken before Kronan came about due to conflict between the officers. Rosenberg also testified that Lieutenant Admiral Arvid Björnram and Major Klas Ankarfjäll had openly disagreed on how much sail should be set and how close to land the ship should run. According to Gyllenspak, senior fleet pilot Per Gabrielsson had voiced his concerns against turning in the rough weather, but that no one had heeded his advice.

Creutz has quite consistently been blamed for the loss of his ship by several historians and described as an incompetent sea officer and sailor who, through lack of naval experience, single-handedly brought about the sinking. Historian Gunnar Grandin has suggested that the intent of the maneuver was to take advantage of the scattered allied fleet, but that many of the officers on Kronan opposed the notion; Creutz and Björnram urged that the ship turn quickly to gain a tactical advantage while Ankarfjäll and Gabrielsson were concerned about the immediate safety of the ship. Grandin has also suggest that Creutz may have suffered a mental breakdown after the failure at Bornholm and his open conflict with his officer, and made a rash and ultimately fatal decision.

More recently, historians have stressed that the question of blame is more complex and that Creutz can not be singled out as solely responsible for the catastrophe. Historians Ingvar Sjöblom and Lars Ericson Wolke have stressed that Creutz' position in as Admiral of the Realm was more comparable to a chief minister. He would have primarily been an administrator who did not need to have intimate knowledge of practical details—turning the ship in rough weather would have been the responsibility of his subordinates. Maritime archaeologist Lars Einarsson believes that Creutz's "choleric and willful temperament" probably played a part, but that it could just as well be blamed on an untrained and unexperienced crew and open dispute among the officers.

History as a shipwreck

A reconstruction of a diving bell of the same type that was used for salvaging cannons from Vasa and Kronan in the second half of the 17th century. Exhibition at Marinmuseum in Karlskrona.

The total cost of Kronan was estimated at 326,000 silver dalers in contemporary currency, and about half of that sum, 166,000 dalers, lay in the armament. It was therefore in the interest of the Swedish navy to salvage as much as possible of the cannons. In the early 1660s almost all of the guns from Vasa had been brought up though greatly improved salvaging technology. Commander Paul Rumpf and admiral Hans Wachtmeister were put in charge of the salvage of Kronan's cannons. With the help of diving bells, they were able to raise 60 cannons worth 67,000 daler in the eight short diving seasons during the summers of 1679-86, beginning as soon as the war with Denmark had ended. In the 1960s diving expert Bo Cassel made some successful descents to Vasa with a diving bell made according to 17th century specifications. In the summer of 1986, further experiments were done on Kronan. The experiments proved successful and the conclusion was that the 17th century operations must have required considerable experience, skill and favorable weather conditions. Though the conditions off Öland were often difficult, with cold water and unpredictable weather, and required a large crew, they were highly profitable. Historian Björn Axel Johansson has calculated that the total cost for the entire crew for all eight diving seasons was less than 2,000 dalers, a sum that was covered by just one of the large 36-pound guns.

Rediscovery

File:Kalmar museum Vrakplatsen.JPG

Model depicting underwater work at the wreck site at the Kalmar County Museum.

The marine engineer and amateur historian Anders Franzén had searched for old Swedish wrecks in the Baltic and became nationally renowned after he located Vasa, a prestige ship of Gustavus Adolphus's navy that sank only 20 minutes into its maiden voyage in Stockholm in 1628. Kronan was one of several famous shipwrecks that was on a list of potential wrecksites that he had compiled. For almost 30 years Franzén and others scoured archives and the seabed off the west coast of Öland. During the 1950s and 60s the team searched off Hulterstad by dragging, and later followed up with sonar scans. In 1971 planks believed to belong Kronan were located, but the lead couldn't be followed up properly at the time. Later in the '70s the search area was limited with sidescan sonar in combination with a magnometer, an instrument that detects the presence of iron, which resulted in a hit. In early August 1980, underwater cameras were sent down and showed the first pictures of Kronan.

Archaeology

File:MS Calmare Nyckel.jpg

MS Calmare Nyckel has been used as a diving platform for the excavations of Kronan since 1991, and is one of several vessels that has been used so far.

The remains of Kronan lie at a depth of 26 meters, 6 km east of the village Hulterstad on the east coast Öland. Since its discovery in 1980, there have been annual diving expeditions to the wrecksite in the summers. Judged by Baltic Sea standards, the conditions are in many ways advantageous for underwater archaeological work; the wrecksite is some distance from land, away from the regular shipping lanes, and has not been affected by pollution either from land or excessive growth of marine vegetation. The line of sight, especially in early summer, is good and can be up to 20 meters. The seabed consists of mostly unfertile sand, which reflects much of sunlight from the surface. This factor has greatly improved the possibilities for surveying and documenting the site with the help of underwater cameras. Around 85% of the wrecksite has been charted so far and Kronan has become one of the most extensive and well-publicized maritime archaeological projects in the Baltic.

Finds

File:Kalmar museum Kronan violin.JPG

The remains of one of the violins and two drumsticks on display at Kalmar County Museum.

Since the discovery of Kronan in 1980 over 30,000 artifacts have been salvaged and cataloged. The variation has been considerable, with everything from bronze cannons of up to four tonnes to small eggshell fragments. There have been several discoveries of considerable importance, often of unique historical and archaeological value. One of the first finds was a small table cabinet with nine drawers containing navigational instruments, pipe-cleaning tools, cutlery and writing utensils, objects that most likely belonged to one of the officers. Since Kronan was the fleet flagship, large amount of cash was carried on board as coins. Besides wages for the crew, a war chest was needed for large, unforeseen expenses. In 1982, a collection of 255 minted gold coins was found, most of them ducats. The origin of the individual coins varied considerable, with locations such as Cairo, Reval (modern-day Tallinn) and Seville. Another 46 ducats were found in the summer of 2000. The coin collection is likely the largest gold treasure ever encountered on Swedish soil, though it was not quite enough to cover large expenses, which has led to the assumption that they were Lorentz Creutz' personal property. In 1989, over 900 silver coins were found in the remains of the orlop, at the time the largest silver coin collection ever found in Sweden. In 2005, a still larger treasure consisting of almost 6,200 coins was discovered and in 2006 yet another with over 7,000 coins.. The silver treasure of 2005 consisted almost entirely of 4 öre-coins minted in 1675, which represented over 1% of the entire production of 4 öre-coins of that year.

A number of musical instruments have been found, including a trumpet, three violins and a viola da gamba, all relatively expensive objects which belonged either to the officers or the trumpeters. One of the latter was most likely equipped with a particularly fine instrument made in Germany since he was a member of the admirals musical ensamble. Another remnant of the officers' personal stores was discovered in 1997, consisting of a woven basket filled with tobacco and expensive imported foodstuffs and spices, including ginger, plums, grapes and cinnamon quills.

Approximately 7% of the finds consist of textiles. Much of the clothing, particularly those of the officers and their personal servants, is well-preserved and has provided information on clothing manufacture during the late 17th century, something that has otherwise been difficult to research based only on depictions.

See also

• Mary Rose, an English 16th century carrack that was salvaged in 1982
• La Belle (ship), the wreck of a French merchant ship salvaged in 1997

References

• (Swedish) Björlin, Gustaf, (1885) Kriget mot Danmark 1675-1679: läsning för ung och gammal. Norstedt, Stockholm.
• During [Düring], Ebba, (1997) "Specific Skeletal Injuries Observed on the Human Skeletal Remains from the Swedish Seventeenth Century Man-of-War, Kronan" in International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, Vol. 7, s. 591-594.
• (Swedish) Einarsson, Lars (2001) Kronan. Kalmar läns museum, Kalmar. ISBN 91-85926-48-5
• (Swedish) Einarsson, Lars (2005) Likplundring i Hulterstad år 1676 i Kalmar län s. 52-58.
• (Swedish) Einarsson, Lars (2005) Ännu en silverskatt påträffad i vraket av regalskeppet Kronan i Myntstudier vol.3, s. 14-16.
• (Swedish) Einarsson, Lars (2008) Kronanprojektet. Rapport över 2007 års marinarkeologiska undersökningar vid vrakplatsen efter regalskeppet Kronan. Kalmar läns museum, Kalmar.
• (Swedish) Ericsson Wolke, Lars (2009) En helt ny flotta – sjökrigen under 1600-talets sista årtionde, in Ericson Wolke & Hårdstedt, Svenska sjöslag. Medströms förlag, Stockholm. ISBN 978-91-7329-030-2
• (Swedish) Gainsford, Sara & Johansson, Kenneth (2008) 2005 års skatt från regalskeppet Kronan in Myntstudier vol.3, s. 3-17.
• (Swedish) Glete, Jan (1999) Hur stor var Kronan? Något om stora örlogsskepp i Europa under 1600-talets senare hälft in Forum Navale Sjöhistoriska samfundet, Stockholm., s. 17-25
• Glete, Jan (1993) Navies and Nations: Warships, Navies and State Building in Europe and America, 1500–1680, Volume One. Almqvist & Wiksell International, Stockholm. ISBN 91-22-01565-5
• Golabiewski Lannby, Monica, (1985) The goldtreasure from the royal ship Kronan at the Kalmar County Museum. Kalmus, Kalmar. ISBN 91-85926-09-4
• (Swedish) Gyllengranat, Carl August (1840) Sveriges sjökrigs-historia i sammandrag Karlskrona, Ameen.
• (Swedish) Isacsson, Glaes-Göran (2000) Skånska kriget 1675-1679, Historiska media, Lund. ISBN 91-88930-87-4
• (Swedish) Johansson, Björn Axel (redaktör) (1985) Regalskeppet Kronan. Trevi, Stockholm. ISBN 91-7160-740-4
• (Swedish) Lundgren, Kurt (1997) Stora Cronan: Byggandet Slaget Plundringen av Öland En genomgång av historiens källmaterial. Lenstad Bok & Bild, Kristianstad. ISBN 91-973261-5-1.
• (Swedish) Lundgren, Kurt (2001) Sjöslaget vid Öland. Vittnesmål – dokument 1676-1677. Lingstad Bok & Bild, Kalmar. ISBN 91-631-1292-2
• (Swedish) Pousette, Mary (2009) "Klädd ombord" in Skärgård och örlog: nedslag i Stockholms skärgårds tidiga historia Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien, Konferenser 71. Stockholm. ISBN 978-91-7402-388-6
• (Swedish) Rystad, Göran (redaktör) (2005) Kampen om Skåne Historiska media, Lund. ISBN 91-85057-05-3
• (Swedish) Sjöblom, Olof (2003) "Slaget vid Öland 1676: Kronan går under" in Ericsson [Wolke], Hårdstedt, Iko, Sjöblom & Åselius, Svenska slagfält. Wahlström & Widstrand, Stockholm. ISBN 91-46-20225-0
• (Swedish) Unger, Gunnar (1909) Illustrerad Svensk Sjökrigshistoria omfattande tiden intill 1680. Bonnier, Stockholm.
• (Swedish) Zettersten, Axel (1903) Svenska flottans historia åren 1635-1680 Norrtälje tidnings boktryckeri, Norrtälje.

Further reading

• Lars Einarsson, "Present maritime archaeology in Sweden: the case of Kronan" in Schokkenbroek, J.C.A. (editor), Plying between Mars and Mercury: political, economic and cultural links between the Netherlands and Sweden during the Golden age: papers for the Kronan symposium, Amsterdam, 19 November 1993., pp. 41–47
• Franzén, Anders, HMS Kronan : the search for a great 17th century Swedish warship Stockholm : Royal inst. of technology library [Tekn. högsk:s bibl.], 1981

External links

• Officiell website – hosted by Kalmar County Museum
• Kalmar läns museum – organizers of the Kronan Projekt and the site of several permanent exhibitions of finds from the ship
• Osteological and Microanalytical Investigation of the Human Skeletal Remains (a presentation of the study)
• Kronan at the Nordic Underwater Archaeology website