Dalarö wreck

The Dalarö wreck is a shipwreck of a 17th century ship lying in the waters off Dalarö, southeast of Stockholm, Sweden. It is the remains of a three-masted sailing cargo-carrying vessel. It was found in 2003, but the find was not made public until March 2007.

History

Christine af Bro, a modern Swedish replica of a boyer, similar to the Dalarö wreck.

The exact identity of the ship is not known, but there are several theories. One is that it is a ship called Krönta Lejonet ("The Crowned Lion"), the main ship in the private merchant fleet of Swedish nobleman Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie believed to have been lost in an unknown location sometime in 1660. It would have been headed for Stockholm after loading merchandise in Reval (modern day Tallinn) in Estonia. The figurehead of the ship is indeed a lion, and since it had holes drilled into its head it is likely to have once worn a crown made of metal that has since rusted away. Since 17th century ships were often identified by their figurehead, this supports the theory that it belonged to De la Gardie. The Dalarö wreck was once a relatively elegant and fast-sailing ship, rather than an average cargo carrier, which also indicates that it could have been Krönta Lejonet.^[1]

Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie, possible owner of the Dalarö ship.

But it may also have been an English ship, since a glass flask or bottle brought up from the ship bears an impressed crest of the Boynton or Ogle family, who both were based in Northumberland in northern England. Through dendrochronological analysis it has been determined that the timber used for the ship was cut no later than 1628 in Northern Europe, perhaps in Northumberland. A trade route linked Stockholm, Newcastle and Amsterdam in the mid-17th century. In this triangular trade, Swedish brass was exported to England where, among other things, Newcastle coal was taken on. The coal, for which the local market in Stockholm was too small, would have been sold in part at Amsterdam where products like imported wine were loaded for export back to Sweden. When the ship sank it was carrying coal originating from England or Germany and stoneware Bartmann jugs that most likely contained wine. The glass bottle is believed to have been manufactured sometime between 1640 and 1670. One of the Bartmann jugs brought up from the ship for analysis bears the seal of the city of Amsterdam. Though most likely built in England by English shipwrights, it could have been contracted by Swedish or even Dutch owners. Analysis of a pistol found on the weather deck found that it bore close resemblance to a 1683 pistol model manufactured for the Swedish navy. The wood used for the pistol, though, is walnut, an expensive material in Sweden, making it less likely that it was part of a larger production series.^[2]

The wreck lies with a slight list to starboard, and objects belonging to the ship that have been found on the sea floor have all been found on the starboard side. The current theory as to how the ship sank is that she was hit by a sudden squall in rough weather, heeled to starboard, took on water and then sank. The base of the windlass attached to the foredeck, a very sturdy construction, seems to have been torn off, which suggest the sinking happened suddenly. The presence of weapons and equipment on the weather deck supports the theory that the sinking occurred suddenly. No remains of the crew have been found.^[1]

Design

The Dalarö wreck was a type of small maneuverable sailing vessel similar to a sloop or snow. Its hull is about 20 m long and relatively slim, indicative of English shipbuilding style, rather than the Dutch style, which featured broader hulls. It was armed with several cannon, one of which still lies on the ship, and had a small cargo hold for transporting goods on the waters of the Baltic and North Sea. Due to its maneuverability and small size, such a ship would also have been suitable for piracy. The ship once had three masts, two of which are still standing. The beakhead was adorned with a figurehead in the shape of a lion.^[1]

Archaeology

The comparatively cold and brackish waters of the Baltic Sea are free from the "shipworm" Teredo navalis, which rapidly destroys submerged wood in most other seas. This means that the Baltic waters have an exceptional ability to conserve wrecks for hundreds of years, and has left the wooden construction of the Dalarö wreck largely intact. As on the Vasa, metal objects such as bolts have rusted away, but the wooden construction itself remains largely intact.^[3]

The wreck has been the object of several investigations by marine archaeologists. Since the hull is intact and the sinking occurred suddenly, the wreck contains a multitude of objects that are interesting to archaeologists and historians. On the top deck there are several interesting finds, both ship equipment and other assorted items, including a musket. Two of the three masts are still standing, and the damaged windlass (used to winch up the anchor) can be clearly seen. There is an intact cabinet containing carpenter's tools, including an axe, a plane and an awl. Of the several cannon with which the ship was once armed only one remains, complete with its gun carriage.^[1]

The cargo hold has not been excavated and thoroughly examined, but in it are coal and a large quantity of stoneware Bartmann jugs, probably containing wine destined for the Swedish market. The divers who first located the wreck brought up the glass bottle that bore the crest of the English Boynton or Ogle families, a bowl, a drinking cup and one of the Bartmann jugs. Since the official announcement of the find in 2007, only two further objects have been brought up for analysis. One, the wooden butt of a flintlock pistol, helps date the find. The 1.9 meter-long lion figurehead lying next to the ship was also brought up and recorded in a 3D scanner. Both objects were then returned to their original positions on or near the wreck.^[1]

Discovery and current status

The wreck was discovered in 2003 by a group of professional divers, who notified the Swedish National Maritime Museums (SNMM) and showed some objects that were brought up from the wreck, but the find was not made public until 28 March 2007 through a press release from SNMM.^[4] The wreck has not been moved from its current location and in order to preserve it, there are no plans to raise it, as was done with the warship Vasa in 1961. The difficulties in preserving the ship are considered by archaeologists to be too expensive and complicated. A salvage operation would also risk damaging the ship and the many related artefacts as well as disturb the site, making it more difficult to conduct further research.^[1]

The SNMM in cooperation with Haninge Municipality intend to turn the site of the Dalarö wreck into a wreck-diving park. The objective is to encourage cultural tourism by allowing the public access to the wreck site. Hobby divers are to be allowed to visit the wreck accompanied by licensed guides while non-divers are to be offered trips over the site that are to be enhanced by sonar and underwater cameras.^[5]

In May 2008 SNMM revealed that some time between October 2007 and April 2008 the Dalarö wreck site had been disturbed. Some items had been removed while others had been disturbed or damaged.^[6] Among the objects that have disappeared so far is the wooden frame of a pistol that was located on the weather deck. The ship is monitored by the coast guard, and the residents of Dalarö have been notified to be wary of attempts to plunder the wreck. As of 2009, objects recorded by archaeologists have disappeared and the wreck has been disturbed and to some extent damaged. Known wreck sites in the Baltic are inevitably plundered, and there have been public appeals to somehow protect the Dalarö wreck. Though illegal, there is little preventing individuals from performing private covert diving operations in order to bring up objects from the ship in order to sell them on the black market.^[1]

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} (Swedish) SVT, Vetenskapens Värld, "Tidskapsel", aired 6 April 2009.
2. ^ (Swedish) Sjöhistoriska museet, Dalarövraket. Retrieved 16 May 2009.
3. ^ Cederlund & Hocker in Vasa I, pp. 172–180.
4. ^ (Swedish) Statens maritima museer, "1600-talsvrak funnet – i bättre skick än Vasa", 24 March 2007. Retrieved 16 May 2009.
5. ^ Managing Cultural Heritage Underwater (MACHU), "Dive park project Sweden", 26 October 2008. Retrieved 16 May 2009.
6. ^ (Swedish) Statens maritima museer, "Skadegörelse på Dalarövraket, 9 May 2008. Retrieved May 2009.

References

• Cederlund, Carl Olof (2006) Vasa I, The Archaeology of a Swedish Warship of 1628, series editor: Fred Hocker ISBN 91-974659-0-9

External links

• (Swedish) Dalarövraket - drawings and photographs of the wreck
• (Swedish) [1] - a short film from diving expeditions to the wreck site