''Kalmar Nyckel'' (''Key of Kalmar'') was a Swedish ship built by the Dutch famed for carrying Swedish settlers to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

in 1638, to establish the colony of

New Sweden New Sweden ( sv, Nya Sverige) was a Swedish colony along the lower reaches of the Delaware River in what is now the United States from 1638 to 1655, established during the Thirty Years' War when Sweden was a great military power. New Sweden form ...

. The name Kalmar Nyckel comes from the Swedish city of

Kalmar Kalmar (, , ) is a city in the southeast of Sweden, situated by the Baltic Sea. It had 36,392 inhabitants in 2010 and is the seat of Kalmar Municipality. It is also the capital of Kalmar County, which comprises 12 municipalities with a total of ...

and nyckel meaning key in Swedish. The name was also a tribute to

Kalmar Castle Kalmar Castle ( sv, Kalmar slott) is a castle in the city Kalmar in the province of Småland in Sweden. History During the twelfth century a round defensive tower was built on Kalmarsund and a harbour constructed. At the end of the thirteen ...

which was a symbol of power during the time of the

Swedish Empire The Swedish Empire was a European great power that exercised territorial control over much of the Baltic region during the 17th and early 18th centuries ( sv, Stormaktstiden, "the Era of Great Power"). The beginning of the empire is usually ta ...

when

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

was a military

great power A great power is a sovereign state that is recognized as having the ability and expertise to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength, as well as diplomatic and soft power inf ...

. A replica of the ship was launched at

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington ( Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...

, in 1997.

History

''Kalmar Nyckel'' was constructed in about 1625, and was of a design called a

pinnace Pinnace may refer to: * Pinnace (ship's boat), a small vessel used as a tender to larger vessels among other things * Full-rigged pinnace The full-rigged pinnace was the larger of two types of vessel called a pinnace in use from the sixteenth c ...

. The ship was originally named ''Sleutel'' (Dutch for key), and to distinguish it from several other ships called ''Key'' it was known by the name of the city of

, which purchased the ship in 1629, as its contribution to a state-sponsored trading company, ''Skeppskompaniet''. It was later purchased into the

Swedish Navy The Swedish Navy ( sv, Svenska marinen) is the naval branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet () – as well as marine units, the Amphibious Corps (). In Swedish, vessels o ...

. When Sweden decided to establish a trading colony in the New World under the direction of

Peter Minuit Peter Minuit (between 1580 and 1585 – August 5, 1638) was a Wallonian merchant from Tournai, in present-day Belgium. He was the 3rd Director of the Dutch North American colony of New Netherland from 1626 until 1631, and 3rd Governor of New N ...

, ''Kalmar Nyckel'' was chosen for the voyage. A smaller vessel, ''

Fogel Grip ''Fogel Grip'' (''Bird Griffin'', Swedish: ''Fågel Grip'') was a Swedish sailing ship originally built in the Netherlands in the early 17th century. She was used on the first Swedish expedition in 1638 together with '' Kalmar Nyckel'' to establi ...

'' (''Griffin Bird''), accompanied her. The ships sailed from

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

in December 1637, commanded by Jan Hindriksen van der Water, but encountered a severe storm in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

and had to divert to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

for repairs. They departed on New Year's Day 1638, arriving in North America in March 1638. They built a fort on the present site of the city of Wilmington, which they named

Fort Christina Fort Christina (also called Fort Altena) was the first Swedish settlement in North America and the principal settlement of the New Sweden colony. Built in 1638 and named after Queen Christina of Sweden, it was located approximately 1 mi (1.6 ...

. A second voyage, which departed on February7, 1640, and arrived at Fort Christina on April17, brought additional settlers for New Sweden. One of them was

Reorus Torkillus Reorus Torkillus (1608–1643) was priest of the Church of Sweden and the first Lutheran clergyman to settle in what would become the United States. Biography Torkillus was born at Mölndal, near Gothenburg, Sweden in 1608. He studied for the ...

, the first Lutheran clergyman in New Sweden. The ''Kalmar Nyckel'' made four successful round trips from Sweden to North America, a record unchallenged by any other colonial vessel. Between colonial voyages, the ship was used by the navy as a transport and courier. She was sold out of Swedish service to Dutch merchants in 1651. At the outbreak of the

First Anglo-Dutch War The First Anglo-Dutch War, or simply the First Dutch War, ( nl, Eerste Engelse (zee-)oorlog, "First English (Sea) War"; 1652–1654) was a conflict fought entirely at sea between the navies of the Commonwealth of England and the Dutch Republic, ...

, she was employed as a fisheries protection vessel under Captain Dirk Vijgh. The ship was sunk off the coast of Scotland in action against Blake's squadron on July12, 1652. Delaware swedish tercentenary half dollar commemorative reverse

Delaware swedish tercentenary half dollar commemorative reverse

Modern replica

In 1986, a group of citizens of Wilmington, Delaware, established the ''Kalmar Nyckel'' Foundation, whose primary source of funding is from the taxpayers of the

State of Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

, plus donations from corporations and individuals. The foundation designed, built, and launched a replica of ''Kalmar Nyckel''. The modern ship, designed by naval architects Thomas C. Gillmer and Iver Franzen, with additional help from Melbourne Smith, Joel Welter, and Ken Court, was built at a shipyard in Wilmington on the

Christina River The Christina River is a tributary of the Delaware River, approximately 35 miles (56 km) long, in northern Delaware in the United States, also flowing through small areas of southeastern Pennsylvania and northeastern Maryland. Near i ...

near the original 1638 Swedish settlers' landing site at Fort Christina. She was launched on September28, 1997, and commissioned on May 9, 1998. The re-creation measures on deck and overall, with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

, a

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vessel ...

, and a

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and Physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

of 300

ton Ton is the name of any one of several units of measure. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses. Mainly it describes units of weight. Confusion can arise because ''ton'' can mean * the long ton, which is 2,240 pounds ...

s. The ship is operated and maintained by a volunteer staff, under the leadership of a paid captain,

boatswain A boatswain ( , ), bo's'n, bos'n, or bosun, also known as a deck boss, or a qualified member of the deck department, is the most senior rate of the deck department and is responsible for the components of a ship's hull. The boatswain supervi ...

, and

chief mate A chief mate (C/M) or chief officer, usually also synonymous with the first mate or first officer, is a licensed mariner and head of the deck department of a merchant ship. The chief mate is customarily a watchstander and is in charge of the shi ...

. In November 2006, the captain of the ''Kalmar Nyckel'', David W. Hiott, who had commanded her for nine seasons, died from the effects of recurring

melanoma Melanoma, also redundantly known as malignant melanoma, is a type of skin cancer that develops from the pigment-producing cells known as melanocytes. Melanomas typically occur in the skin, but may rarely occur in the mouth, intestines, or eye ( ...

. Captain Lauren Morgens took over on April1, 2007, with Sharon Dounce as Port Captain/Relief Captain. Volunteers maintain the ship, run the education program, and sail her from port to port. Since 2016, the ship has served as the official tall ship of Delaware. It was adopted as a state symbol for serving "as Delaware's seagoing ambassador both at home and at many ports of call, raising awareness of the First State for thousands who see her and come on board."

Ship's cats

Toolbox was the senior ship's cat and official warrant officer with the title of 'Captain's Assistant'. The offspring of a feral cat, she was born in a toolbox while the ship was under construction in 1997. She had always lived on the ship and therefore had the greatest accumulated sea time of any member of the crew. A celebrity in her own right, she is the star of two books. Unfortunately due to her failed eyesight, Toolbox retired from her position on ''Kalmar Nyckel'' in November 2012. A retirement party was thrown in her honor, and many past and present crew members came to celebrate her 16 years on the ship. In addition, a number of other cats have served with ''Kalmar Nyckel'' at various times, including Clew Garnet, Lagan, Sven, Timmynocky (nautical equivalent of thingamajig) and Ditty. The current ship's cat is called Chester, a full-grey American shorthair.

Symphony

In 1986, composer

Benjamin Lees Benjamin Lees (January 8, 1924 – May 31, 2010) was an American composer of classical music. Early life Lees was born Benjamin George Lisniansky in Harbin, Manchuria, of Russian-Jewish descent. Lees was still an infant when his family emigra ...

was commissioned to write a symphony to honor the founding of Wilmington, Delaware. Lees named the resulting work ''Symphony No. 5: Kalmar Nyckel''. The piece was nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

in 2003, following release of a recording by the German orchestra

Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz The Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz (State Philharmonic of Rhineland-Palatinate) is the largest and leading symphony orchestra of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, based in Ludwigshafen am Rhein. It gives concerts in Rhineland-Palati ...

Gallery

File:Kalamar Nycel bow figurehead.jpg, The bow of the replica ''Kalmar Nyckel'' including a two-tailed lion

figurehead In politics, a figurehead is a person who ''de jure'' (in name or by law) appears to hold an important and often supremely powerful title or office, yet ''de facto'' (in reality) exercises little to no actual power. This usually means that they ...

, one tail symbolizing the old ship and one symbolizing the new ship. File:Kalmar Nyckel Chesapeake Bay.jpg, In

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...

, 2008, flying from foretop to stern the Finnish, Swedish naval, Dutch and American flags. File:Kalmar Nyckel stern.JPG, Stern of the replica File:Toolbox of the Kalmar Nyckel.JPG, "Toolbox", former senior ship's cat of the ''Kalmar Nyckel'' File:Wilmington Riverfront.JPG, The ''Kalmar Nyckel'' with the Wilmington Skyline in the background

Notes

References

Other Sources

* *

External links

*
''Kalmar Nyckel'' ship's boat, the shallop "Little Key"

Iver Franzen, naval architecture & marine consulting
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