''Svärdet'' (
Swedish: "the sword") was a
Swedish warship that sank on 1 June 1676 at the
Battle of Öland
The Battle of Öland was a naval battle between an allied Danish-Dutch fleet and the Swedish navy in the Baltic Sea, off the east coast of Öland on 1 June 1676. The battle was a part of the Scanian War (1675–79) fought for supremacy over th ...
during the
Scanian War
The Scanian War ( da, Skånske Krig, , sv, Skånska kriget, german: Schonischer Krieg) was a part of the Northern Wars involving the union of Denmark–Norway, Brandenburg and Sweden. It was fought from 1675 to 1679 mainly on Scanian soil, ...
, with most of its crew.
[
]
History
''Svärdet'' was, during the Scanian War
The Scanian War ( da, Skånske Krig, , sv, Skånska kriget, german: Schonischer Krieg) was a part of the Northern Wars involving the union of Denmark–Norway, Brandenburg and Sweden. It was fought from 1675 to 1679 mainly on Scanian soil, ...
, under the command of Claes Uggla, and fought in the Battle of Öland
The Battle of Öland was a naval battle between an allied Danish-Dutch fleet and the Swedish navy in the Baltic Sea, off the east coast of Öland on 1 June 1676. The battle was a part of the Scanian War (1675–79) fought for supremacy over th ...
.fireship
A fire ship or fireship, used in the days of wooden rowed or sailing ships, was a ship filled with combustibles, or gunpowder deliberately set on fire and steered (or, when possible, allowed to drift) into an enemy fleet, in order to destroy sh ...
accidentally set her ablaze. The fire eventually reached the gunpowder store, which set off an explosion that sank the ship. Only about 50 of a crew of nearly 650 men survived.[
On 15 November 2011, it was announced that a wreck believed to be ''Svärdet'' had been found by divers off the island coast of ]Öland
Öland (, ; ; sometimes written ''Øland'' in other Scandinavian languages, and often ''Oland'' internationally; la, Oelandia) is the second-largest Swedish island and the smallest of the traditional provinces of Sweden. Öland has an area ...
.
General characteristics
*Displacement: 1700 tonnes[
*Width: 12.5 meters][
*Armament: 86 cannons][
**12 36-pounders (lower gun deck)
**4 30-pounders (lower gun deck)
**14 24-pounders (lower gun deck)
**26 12-pounders (upper gun deck)
**4 8-pounders (upper gun deck)
**20 8-pounders (weather deck)
**6 3-pounders (weather deck)
*Crew: 650 (both sailors and soldiers)][
]
See also
* ''Vasa'', a Swedish warship which foundered and sank in 1628, was rediscovered in 1956, and was subsequently recovered
* ''Kronan'', a Swedish warship that foundered in rough weather in 1676, was rediscovered in 1980, with artefacts on display in Kalmar County Museum
* ''Mars'', a Swedish warship which sank in 1564, and was rediscovered in 2011, and is under active exploration
References
External links
Discovery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Svardet
Shipwrecks in the Baltic Sea
Maritime incidents in 1676
1660s ships
Ships of the line
Age of Sail ships of Sweden
Shipwrecks of Sweden