Wrecks East of Oland, Sweden
since they lying in brackish water, "nothing" have happened to them from the day they sunk.
# The Logboat out of the Deep. In February 2002, a log boat followed with the fishing net from a depth of 50 meters off Öland. It is well preserved and has been C14-dated to AD 1000-1250. It is conserved at the Kalmar county museum.
# Fotevik ships. Viking Age ships sunk in the 12th century to form a barrage at Foteviken in Scania, perhaps in connection with a Danish-Scanian battle in 1134. They were excavated by Swedish and Danish archaeologists in the 1980s. Only the bottom parts remain. One of the wrecks has been salvaged and is preserved in the Malmö museum. Described in Marine Archeology by Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg. A reconstruction, Erik Emune, has been built by Fotevikens Museum. Photo by Erik Emune from Fotevikens Museum.
# The Richman wreck. Found north of Skanör in 1982, surveyed in 1992. Only the 17 m long bottom remains, dendrodated to 1148. Appears to be a Viking type ship.
# Oskarsham's forest. Discovered at Bossholmen near Oskarshamn. Excavated and partially salvaged and conserved 1984-1992. Only the bottom remains of this cog dated to around 1240. Ref The sunken ship of the Baltic Sea by Johan Rönnby & Jonathan Adams, Ny Teknik 1986:43, IJNA 19.3 1990.
# The Kogg in Västergarn, Kronholmen. Gotland. Surveyed and excavated on land in 1996, by RA UV, to make way for golf course. Dated to the 13th century.
# The Falsterbo boat. About 12 m long clinker-built ship found in the sandy beach at Falsterbo in 1932. The parts were salvaged, bones were preserved or not well preserved. In 1947, the pieces were studied by Harald Åkerlund who made a reconstruction. The reconstructed find is displayed in the Falsterbo museum, with the pieces mounted on a steel skeleton. Later C14- and dendrodated to around 1265. Was never preserved and according to Birger Enoksson (1999) risks being pulverized. Ref FOOD 3/2002.
#Falsterbo barges. Six barges were found in 1911. One more was found in 2000. Dated to the beginning of the 14th century. Ref FOOD 1/2001.
# The Klintehamn Ship. Found on Gotland in the 1970s. Possibly a cog. Researched by Liselotte Teir.
# The wrecks in Kalmar castle fjord, 13th to 16th century. In the 1930s, Kalmar castle fjord was to be dredged. The entire bay was first drained. Several well-preserved wrecks, submerged in the mud, were then discovered and excavated. One of them now lives on as the replica Aluett. The finds themselves have since been stored in Kalmar Castle, where they were badly damaged by mold and poor storage.
# Skanor' s kogg. Found in 1992 in the bottom sand at a depth of about 4 m. The keel is 18 m long and the ship may have been 27 m long. Examined by the Foteviken museum and dendrodated to about 1390.
# Warships at Ronneby. Found by the local diving club Doppingen at a depth of 12 m. About 20 m long and brick-built. Dendrochronologically dated to the 1480s. Seems to have been fitted with a breech-loading cannon. Source: TT 2001-06-29 and MAT 1/2002.
# The brick's wreck. Boat from the 16th century. Examined and described by the Foteviken museum.
The Ringer. In the 1970s, a merchant ship was found near Västervik. The length is 23 m and the depth 19 m. It is probably a carrack from the 1540s.
# The Elephant. Swedish flagship built in Stockholm, approx. 50 m long. After a battle against Danes and Lübeckers in 1564, she ran aground off Bornholm and began to leak. Shortly before arriving at the shipyard for repairs, the large ship sank outside Kalmar at a depth of 5-6 m. A salvage attempt at the time failed. The well-preserved wreck was excavated under the direction of Carl Ekman in 1933-39 when the stern was salvaged. Part of the stern is on display in the Maritime History Museum, Stockholm. Reconstruction drawing by Axel Nelson. Ref The sunken ship of the Baltic Sea by Johan Rönnby & Jonathan Adams and the Sport diver 3/2000.
# Mars. Swedish warship and Erik XIV's flagship. Built in 1563 and had as many as 107 cannons. During the Nordic Seven Years' War, 30 May 1564, she met the Danish-Libyan fleet between Gotland and Öland. The powder keg on Mars exploded, the ship was sunk and the commander, Admiral Jacob Bagge, became a Danish prisoner. The wreck was found in 2011. Ref Alexej Smirnov: Swedish history under the water.
# Danish-Lyubian fleet. In 1566, the Nordic Seven Years' War prevailed. The hostile Danish-Lybian fleet was at anchor off Visby and was surprised by a storm. 14 or 15 ships were wrecked and perhaps 5-7000 men died. After the disaster, a number of cannons were salvaged, but then the whole thing was forgotten. Since the 1960s, the area has been investigated. Single cannonballs, cannons and other smaller objects have been recovered. In 1983, a hoard of 233 silver coins was found. Probably no large hull parts are preserved. Drawing by Axel Nelson. Described in Wrecks in Swedish waters by Claes-Göran Wetterholm.
# The New Sword. Merchant ship sunk in 1658 off Landskrona. The remains are a popular diving destination.
#Constantia. Swedish three-masted flute ship with approx. 40 guns. Sunk in battle in April of the difficult year 1676 at Brånnaren, near Lungskär, Karlskrona. Found by Åke Jansson at a depth of 4 m, investigated 1970-72.
# The Crown. Swedish 126-gun warship; the length at the waterline was 53 m. She exploded and sank in battle off Öland on June 1, 1676. Found in 1980 and excavations are ongoing.
# The Sword. Swedish 86-gun vice admiral ship. Was hit by a burner, burned and sank in battle off Öland on June 1, 1676, during the same battle as when the Kronan sank. The wreck was found in 2011.
# The Key. Swedish warship that exploded in battle in 1679 and sank in the Kalmar Sound. Cannons were salvaged in 1686, 1766, 1841 and 1908/09. Ref Günter Lanitzki: Drowned in the Ostsee.
# Enighed [Unity]. This Danish warship was built about 1650 and was about 50 m long. It was equipped in 1679 as a burner to be used against the Swedish fleet. During the attack on 2 July, Enighed was sunk at a depth of 12 m east of the island of Grimskär in the Kalmar Sound. Ten guns were salvaged in 1908. Ref Günter Lanitzki: Versunken in der Ostsee and the Sport diver 5/00.
# "The Dutchman". Single-masted 29 m long yacht of Dutch type sunk in 40 m depth 7-8 nautical miles south of Trelleborg. Probably sunk in the early 18th century. The salvaged ship's clock is dated Amsterdam 1709 and is now in the Malmö museum. The ship is well preserved. When it was found in the late 1980s, it was a complete hull. Unfortunately, it has since been badly damaged by fishing trawlers and reckless divers. The deck has been broken open and divers have blown clean with compressed air to loot.
# La Confidence, sailing vessel built in 1782 in Västervik. Lies shattered at a depth of 50m. Nothing more known. Ref Erik Bjurström, Ocean Discovery.
# Vasa. 60-gun ship of the line built in 1778 by Chapman in Vasaskjulet, Karlskrona. Converted to East Indiaman, finally sunk in 1836 in Djupasund between Tjurkö and Sturkö, Karlskrona. The place is a popular diving destination and is called ## # ¤ #
# "Wreck Cemetery". There are a total of about 20 wrecks that have been sunk to block the approach to Karlskrona. For example, the brig # King Fredrik, formerly Enigheten, built by Charles Sheldon.
# Tver. Russian military transport ship built in 1841 in France. Captain: Alexeyev Ivanovich Geling. Run aground in 1852 off # Reval (Tallinn) The crew abandoned the ship but she drifted more than 200 nautical miles to eastern Öland where she sank. The Prosper Wreck was recovered in 2001 by members of Ocean Discovery at a depth of 50m, badly damaged with the cargo of French luxury goods spread over the bottom. Ref Erik Bjurström, Ocean Discovery.
# Prosper. Schooner sunk in 1865. Very well preserved wreck at 15-20 m depth in Spårösund, Västervik.
# Orkney. According to this German newspaper article, this ship could have been wrecked in the Baltic Sea in 1867 loaded with money for the US payment to Russia for Alaska. However, the information is uncertain.
# Emmy Hasse. 79 m long British steamer built in 1880. In 1887 she disappeared without a trace in the Baltic Sea, en route with coal from Newcastle. In Lloyd's Register, was registered as missing. In 1999, she was found by Ocean Discovery at a depth of 58 m off Öland. The ship has an intact hull but is lying on its side. Both masts remain. Photo from Ocean Discovery.
# Livonia. Steamer, 983 Br.t 63m long, built in 1880. Sailed in thick by the English steamer "Napier" on Oct. 9, 1895 outside Bläsinge on Öland. Sank in a few minutes with the loss of 14 men, 8 saved. The wreck was recovered in 2000 by members of Ocean
#Discovery. Stands completely intact at a depth of 70m. Not definitely identified but all findings point to Livonia. Ref Erik Bjurström, Ocean Discovery.
# Ares. Cargo steamer built in 1883. She transported hard coal from England to Sweden. In dense fog she collided in 1906 with the Dutch steamer Hilversum. The ship sank quickly but everyone was saved. The well-preserved wreck lies at a depth of 35 m near Trelleborg.
# Ariel. Built 1883 in England 1673 Br.t. 80m long. Sealed on 31 Oct 1912 by the Finnish steamer Tamperfors. All saved. Found in 2001 by members of the diving club Kalmarsund. Lies broken down at a depth of 51m south of Öland's southern cape. Ref Erik Bjurström, Ocean Discovery.
# Director Reppenhagen, Nicomedia, Gutrune and Walther Leonhardt. German steam cargo ships sunk on the same day in 1915 by the English submarine E19. The place is south of Öland and the event is called the "Submarine Massacre". The well-preserved wrecks were discovered in 1982-84. Good beer salvaged from Nicomedia has since been re-brewed by Slottskällans brewery.
# Auguste Helmerich. 63 m long steamer, depl 875 tons, built 1886, sank in 1919 after collision with steamer Normandie, found east of Öland in 2000 by Ocean Discovery at 60 m depth with sidescan and filmed by divers. A large collision hole is visible on the port side, otherwise the ship is completely intact. Visibility at the site is so good that daylight penetrates to a depth of 60 m! Photo from Ocean Discovery.
# Margret, Steamer, 1363 br.t. Sank 24 Nov 1919 east of Utklippan after taking on water and the cargo of pulp swelled and blew up the ship. All saved. Recovered in 2000 by members of the Kalmarsund Diving Club. Standing upright in 50m depth with the bridge destroyed by trawlers. Ref Erik Bjurström, Ocean Discovery.
# Lilly. Finnish cargo steamer which, while being towed, sank in 1925. Located between 26-35 m deep, is intact and standing upright, approx. 5 nautical miles east of Källa harbour. Visibility often good. Ref Dykarklubben Kalmarsund.
