Program and Abstracts
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Monday 3rd of June 2024
09:00 – 10:00 Coffee and registration
10:00 – 10:45 Ilari Kurri, The Governing Body of Suomenlinna, Elina Laavi, Ministry of Education and Culture and Ulla Salmela, The Finnish Heritage Agency
SESSION 1 Chairs Minna Koivikko and Hannu Matikka
10:50 – 11:35 Elaine Murphy ‘Come my fellow sufferers’: the experiences of women on Stuart warships (keynote)
11:40-12:00 Juha Flinkman Echoes of conflicts: Environmental legacy of Baltic Sea wrecks
12:00 – 13:00 Lunch Break
13:00 – 13:20 Ivar Treffner Lost British warships near Saaremaa island during Estonian Independence war (1918–1920)
13:25 – 13:45 Niklas Eriksson Drafted for the Scanian war and sunk by its crew: Historical Archaeology of the armed fluit Constantia
13:50 – 14:10 Anna Maria Forssberg Being a sailor’s wife in 17th century Sweden
14:10 – 14:40 Coffee Break
SESSION 2 Chairs Leos Müller and Niklas Eriksson
14:40 – 15:10 Mikko Huhtamies The Mulan Wreck - Something new
15:15 – 16:10 Jim Hansson & Patrik Höglund Purposes, Phases and Preparations-Aspects on intentionally sunk warships at Karlskrona and Vaxholm
Tuesday 4th of June 2024
SESSION 3 Chairs Jim Hansson and Patrik Höglund
10:00 – 10:20 Riikka Alvik Naval Battles of Svensksund and Consequences of War: Lessons learned?
10:25 – 10:45 Ingvar Sjöblom Siege Warfare at Sea 1555–1570
10:50 – 11:10 Benjamin Asmussen Where Warberg Went
11:15 – 11:35 Rolf Warming Forgotten Soldiers, Forgotten Practices: Close-Quarters Combat at Sea, c.1450–1650
11:40 – 12:00 Mikko Meronen A fleet that lost the offensive operations but won the defensive campaign
12:00-13:00 Lunch Break
SESSION 4 Chairs Anna Maria Forssberg and Ingvar Sjöblom
13:00 – 13:20 Leos Müller Swedish Naval Ships Beyond the Skagerrak. In the service of neutrality 1755–1815
13:25 – 13:45 Minna Koivikko Wrecks in Peace, Work in Progress
13:50 – 14:10 Jyrki Paaskoski Russian Naval Base in Sveaborg, 1809–1850
14:10 – 14:40 Coffee Break
SESSION 5 Chairs Sari Mäenpää and Simon Ekström
14:40 – 15:00 Peter Swart Searching for the crew of the Huis te Warmelo (1715)
15:05 – 15:25 Immi Wallin and Maili Roio Research at the wreck site of the Huis te Warmelo
15:30 – 15:50 Hannu Matikka Suomenlinna's "ancient cargo boat"
Wednesday 5th of June 2024
SESSION 6 Chairs Mirja Arnshav and Riikka Alvik
9:00 – 9:45 Aoife Daly Timber resources for Scandinavian shipping– a dendro-archaeological miscellany (keynote)
9:50 – 10:10 Simon Ekström Arthur Hazelius's Guns
10:15 – 10:35 Markku Luoto 25 Years of Kronprins Gustav Adolf Wreckpark - Resurfacing the Visitor Experience
10:40 – 11:00 Mirja Arnshav Upcycling ship wood – a shunned heritage of the Swedish navy
11:05 – 11:25 Dan Johansson Scepter, a story of a forgotten ship
11:25 – 12:25 Lunch Break
12:25 – 13:15 Panel discussion, Chairs Sari Mäenpää and Kalle Virtanen
13:15 – 13:30 Closing remarks for the Conference, Niklas Eriksson
OBS! Changes are possible
Warships Resting in Peace Conference
Program and Abstract Book
Monday 3rd of June 2024
Session 1 / Session chairs Minna Koivikko & Hannu Matikka
Time: 10.50–12.00 / lunch / 13.00–14.10
Keynote speaker
‘Come my fellow sufferers’: the experiences of women on Stuart warships
Elaine Murphy / University of Plymouth
Elaine Murphy is Associate Professor of Maritime History at the University of Plymouth where she teaches naval and pirate history. She is currently researching the experiences of women and the seventeenth-century navy. Her publications include Ireland and the War at Sea, 1641-1653 (RHS, 2012) and The British Civil Wars at Sea (Boydell and Brewer, 2018, with Richard J. Blakemore). She is co-editor of Volume II of a new edition of the Letters, Writings and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell (OUP, 2022). She was also a research fellow on the 1641 Depositions Project.
‘Come my fellow-sufferers, we that have had a tryal of ten days tribulation in our Sea Voyage’ . In January 1650 Frances Cook, the wife of the regicide John Cook, made the relatively short journey from Wexford to Kinsale by sea on board the 22 gun fifth rate warship the Hector. She wrote an account of her travels that showed the voyage was anything but tranquil. This paper aims to explore the presence of women on board warships in the 17th century. It will look at why women spent time on board Stuart men-of-war and the problems historians encounter in finding them and uncovering their stories. It will also explore the experiences of women like Frances Cook who visited and travelled on these vessels and investigate how they were perceived by sailors and admiralty officials.
Echoes of conflicts: environmental legacy of Baltic Sea wrecks
Juha Flinkman / Finnish Environment Institute, Badewanne dive team
Ever since the Migration Period coinciding with the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Baltic Sea, and especially her easternmost appendix The Gulf of Finland has been one of the most vital trade routes of the Northern Hemisphere. The Baltic trade has been fundamental for the Hanseatic League, Sweden, and subsequently the emerging Russia of Peter the Great. Ever since, all the wars fought in the Northern Hemisphere have also been fought in the Baltic. Abundant naval warfare combined with strong, sub-arctic seasonality and challenging navigational conditions have resulted in an unimaginable wealth of wrecks, which the Baltic Sea, due to its hydrographical properties, keeps exceptionally well. During modern times, in both World Wars the Gulf of Finland has been the most heavily mined sea areas in the world. This, combined with less-well known naval operations during the wars has resulted in which, in addition to their historical value, they contain also a significant threat to the marine environment. Rust never sleeps, and during the hundred years of their existence, these wrecks have become increasingly unstable. Subsequently, they are now considered potentially polluting wrecks (PPW), with an ever-increasing possibility of collapsing and releasing their harmful innards to the fragile environment. Most important of these compounds are fuel oils, but also unexploded ordnance form an important threat, containing toxic substances and being a hindrance to wreck salvage. The time ticks away mercilessly, making the challenge of clearing these wrecks very imminent not only in the Baltic, but also the entire World Ocean.
Lost British warships near Saaremaa Island during the Estonian Independence war (1918 - 1920)
Ivar Treffner / Estonian Maritime Museum
By the fall of 1918 the situation in Estonia, a young state that had declared independence from Soviet Russia a mere half a year ago, had worsened so much that the fall of the state was possible. However, Estonia had sent out ambassadors to Europe with a request for help. Luckily for the young state the Brits considered helping the Baltic states important and one of the measures was to send a squadron of Navy vessels to patrol the Baltic Sea. It has been said that because of the British naval blockade of the Gulf of Finland that kept the Soviet navy in Kronstad, played a major role in the outcome of the Independence War. This help did not come without casualties, unfortunately. Already in the first weeks of operations the British navy lost a light cruiser HMS Cassandra off the western coast of Saaremaa Island. Next year resulted in another two losses in the same region - HMS Myrtle and HMS Gentian. All three wrecks have been found and documented, with HMS Cassandra finally documented in 2023. All three ships have been declared National monuments. This is the story of these ships and what has become of them today.
Drafted for the Scanian war and sunk by its crew: Historical Archaeology of the armed fluit Constantia
Niklas Eriksson / Stockholm University
Armed merchantmen have played an important role in most European navies, not least in the Swedish. In 1645 the Swedish production of merchant ships suitable for war use was stimulated through a new custom policy that favored Swedish-owned and Swedish-built vessels that could be armed with at least 14 guns. Later it was added that they should be at least 110 feet long if they were to receive a full reduction of the custom duties.
The system with the armed merchantmen is well-known and relatively well-researched, but until now our understanding of how the ships were adjusted and adapted for war use has been limited. This is what makes the wreck of the Constantia so unique and interesting.
The Constantia was built as an ordinary merchant fluit in 1672 and was used as such until the outbreak of the Scanian war. In 1675 the ship was drafted for the Swedish navy and converted into a 32-gun warship. During patrol in the Southern Baltic together with another armed merchant ship, Constantia got chased and finally encircled by enemy vessels. In this hopeless situation, the ship was set to flames by its crew.
Constantias wreck was surveyed by maritime archaeologists in shallow water in 2023. Despite that the hull has been seriously damaged by fire, salvage operations, and ice movements, it still provides a lot of information on how merchant ships were converted into naval vessels. Through comparing with wrecks of merchant fluits it is possible to detect and sort out the components that were added when the ship was converted for its new task. The cargo hold was divided into compartments, and loaded with ballast, and as the size of the crew increased tenfold, a large stove was built up to prepare their food. Altogether the Constantia has provided a new view of living conditions aboard an armed merchantman that is not readily accessible in other sources.
Being a sailor’s wife in 17th century Sweden
Anna Maria Forssberg / Vasa Museum, Swedish national Maritime and Transport Museums
The navy, as it is portrayed both in old paintings and written sources and in modern popular culture, comes across as an exclusively male environment. Yet we know that women were present on war ships. One renowned example is the Vasa that sank in 1628 with women and children on board. The fact that the ship carried sailor’s wives also is part of a bigger picture: namely that the great majority of the sailors were married.
There were great benefits to marriage (beyond the opportunity to experience love and have children). Having a wife brought status and an extra income, and it also meant that there was someone to look after your possessions and look after your interests when you were at sea. It wasn't just an advantage for the individual: the navy also appreciated the fact that sailors were married because it gave them greater financial security and made them less likely to run away. Various 17th-century regulations show that the authorities expected sailors to be married and also gave sailors' wives certain benefits. Who were these women? What can written sources tell us about where they came from, how they lived and how they supported themselves?
In my paper I try to show that seamen’s wives played an important role and that being part of the navy was a family affair, just like a lot of other professional activities in 17th century Sweden.
Session 2 / Session chairs Leos Müller & Niklas Eriksson
Time: 14.40–16.10
The Mulan Wreck – Something new
Mikko Huhtamies / University of Helsinki
New findings on the Mulan wreck at Hanko based on archival research. The Mulan wreck, which sank possibly in the 1610s, is one of the most important wrecks in Finnish waters. It is located at Mulan, a skerry near Hanko. The wreck was excavated by the Finnish Heritage Agency in 1988–1996. The badly distorted wreck contained a variety of well-preserved items such as pistols, powder containers, coins, skeletons and church bells – and an ink bottle and someone’s eyeglasses. Archival work has brought up new considerations regarding the ship, its last voyage and passengers.
Purposes, Phases and Preparations Aspects on intentionally sunk warships at Karlskrona and Vaxholm
Jim Hansson &Patrik Höglund / Vrak, Swedish national Maritime and Transport Museums
In maritime and naval history literature there has long been information of deliberately sunk warships in locations around Karlskrona and Stockholm. Some have never been verified or visited by maritime archaeologists or sport divers, others have been known for decades. But even in the cases where there are known wrecks, the identity and number of ships has been uncertain. There have been reports of well-preserved wrecks as well as wrecks lying scattered in piles of planks or buried beneath heaps of stone. Sonar mappings have verified that there indeed are wrecks in some locations, but for others there exists very scarce or no information at all.
In the Lost Navy´s Atlas Module, maritime archaeologists from the Swedish National Maritime and Transport Museums (SMTM) have investigated several places and mapped, documented and identified more than 20 wrecks at various locations in Sweden. In many cases, the lifecycles of the ships have been highlighted as a contribution to research and to increase the historical status and attractiveness of a specific location and/or wreck. In connection with the Atlas Module a methodology for identifying intentionally sunk warships has developed which has proven very successful. But the investigations have also provided new knowledge about why the ships were sunk and how the sinkings were arranged. This research is made in connection with the sub-project Wrecked, Sunk, Discarded or Broken up? Life-cycles of ships in the Swedish navy 1620-1840, which among other things aims to research the final phases of a ship’s life-cycle and how the decommissioned ships were sunk.
The presentation will outline some of the results obtained so far, with focus on the ongoing investigations of Äpplet near Vaxholm and the many wrecks at Smörasken and Bollösund in the Karlskrona archipelago. During 2023 and 2024 the investigations on Äpplet have concentrated on creating a 3D-model of the complex wreck site, as well as a reconstruction of the ship’s stern and its sculptural splendour. At Smörasken and Bollösund, the focus has been on identifying the ships, but also on understanding the different phases and purposes of the sinkings and how they took place.
Tuesday 4th of June 2024
Session 3 / Session chairs Jim Hansson & Patrik Högblom
Time: 10.00–12.00
Naval battles of Svenksund and consequences of war: lessons learned?
Riikka Alvik / Finnish Heritage Agency
The war started at the initiative of the Swedish king, Gustav III. Its first event, the so-called Puumala skirmish, was apparently staged by the Swedes, and it justified the attack on Russia and the start of the war without the permission of the parliaments. Part of the nobility opposed the war in Sweden, and this even led to attempts at rebellion. The most significant battles of the war were fought between the Swedish and Russian Navies at sea. The most recent of them, the second naval battle of Ruotsinsalmi in 1790, ended with Sweden's victory. The Russian empress Catherine II signed the Värälä peace treaty with King Gustav III in 1790. This did not include territorial cessions. The benefits achieved by the king of Sweden were domestic political.
Traces of the naval battles in the Strait of Ruotsinsalmi can be seen on the seabed as numerous wrecks. Hundreds, if not thousands of people perished along with them, some of whom were certainly not there of their own free will. The conditions of the war also exposed people to diseases. The captured Russian warship was not a great catch, but a source of fever, which resulted in more people being lost than in the battles. The disease spread throughout Sweden with those returning from the war. Before long, the naval battles and their marks in the underwater landscape were forgotten, until the wreck of St. Nikolai was found in connection with the channel improvement works in 1948. The historical significance of the wrecks has opened since then, and now their significance is being opened, e.g. In the Finnish Maritime Museum's Kohtalona Ruotsinsalmi -exhibition. In my presentation, I considered the following questions: What do the wrecks and the human destinies entwined in them tell and what can we learn from them? What happened after the war and what do we think about it now? Is the war related to today?
Siege warfare at sea 1555–1570
Ingvar Sjöblom / Stockholm University
What was the impact of introducing heavy siege guns into the navy? This subproject focuses on the transformation of naval warfare in the Baltic between 1470 and 1570. It examines the introduction of land warfare siege artillery on warships and the consequences this technical innovation had for naval warfare and fighting power. Warships with large siege guns and gun decks emerged as a result of this transformation. The classic medieval carrack warship style, featuring fighting platforms such as fighting tops and fore- and stern castles, had to adjust to accommodate the new guns and gun decks. This marked a shift from manpower-based fighting power to a combination of gun and manpower-based fighting power, significantly altering naval warfare and impacting the strategic situation in the Baltic Sea.
The subproject has studied this transformation in two distinct periods: the manpower-based period (1470–1530) and the period combining siege artillery with manpower-based fighting power (1555–1570). This presentation focuses on the main results from the latter period. Two methodological pillars—the life cycle perspective and the fighting power concept—were used for operationalization and selecting research topics. This approach resulted in four studies from 1550 to 1570: Siege Warfare at Sea(Fästningskriget till sjöss, Swedish monograph, manuscript), Supplying Fighting Power (chapter, in print), Building the Elephant (article, manuscript), and Military Chaplains and Pastoral Care at Sea (Swedish article, manuscript). These studies will be in print between 2024 and 2025.
Where Warberg went
Benjamin Assmunsen / Maritime Museum of Denmark
The Swedish warship Warberg carries very different narratives within it. It is likely the sailing ship of the Swedish navy that has traversed the longest distance, including three trips to Asia. The ship went through four major phases during the more than forty years of service to various owners. Warberg was built in Karlskrona in 1699 as a part of an expansion of the Swedish navy leading up to the Great Northern War. As a frigate it carried 40 cannons and measured 36 meters overall. After twenty years of service, the ship was captured by Danish-Norwegian forces at the eventful battle of Marstrand in the summer of 1719 after an unsuccessful attempt to sink it by its own crew. Under the same name, the ship continued to serve another ten years in the Danish navy, with a crew of 200. In 1730, the ship was given to the newly formed Chinese Society in Copenhagen and renamed Cron Printz Christian. The old ship was refurbished, received a new outer layer and additional knees to strengthen the hull for a grand expedition ahead. The restored navy ship sailed to Canton on the first direct Danish expedition to China. The expedition was a huge success and led to the final foundation of the Danish Asiatic Company in 1732. After further repairs, the ship, which had been renamed to the more generic Cron Printzen after the ascension to the throne by Christian VI, completed two further expeditions to Asia, this time to the colony of Tranquebar in India. After these expeditions, the ship was almost 40 years old and likely worn out by the long voyages and the shipworms of the tropical waters. What happened to the Swedish warship from 1738 onwards has until now been a mystery. The Danish historian Knud Klem noted in his dissertation from 1985 that the ship was lost at the Orkney Islands in 1745, but this seems to be an error, and instead the ship entered a fourth phase in private ownership, perhaps even returning to Sweden. In this paper, I will highlight the long and varied life of a single frigate of the Swedish navy, using relevant and varied sources to describe its four phases and provide a close description of the extreme utility of the versatile frigate-class of ships of the 18th century as well as point towards areas of further research.
Forgotten soldiers, forgotten practices: close-quarters combat at sea, c.1450-1650
Rolf Warming / Stockholm University
While the transformative impact of the ‘Military Revolution at Sea’ on naval warfare during the Early Modern Period is widely recognized, scant attention has been paid to the practices of marine soldiers of that era. This paper challenges the prevailing narratives surrounding the 'Military Revolution at Sea' by redirecting scholarly focus from technological innovations—such as heavy ordnance guns and broadside firing—to the often-neglected domain of marine soldiers and ‘less advanced’ practices in naval warfare. In contrast to the predominant emphasis on innovations, this paper highlights the significance of the co-development and partial phasing out of close-quarters combat (CQC) practices at sea in c. 1450-1650, proposing a tripartite framework that encompasses analyses of (1) ship superstructures, (2) boarding and anti-boarding technologies, and (3) the agency of marine infantry forces.
Drawing upon an interdisciplinary approach, incorporating insights from practice theory and assemblage theory, alongside a synthesis of archaeological and historical sources, the paper contends that CQC practices must be given serious consideration for a comprehensive understanding of the 'Military Revolution at Sea' and naval warfare in general. By illuminating the enduring significance of CQC and associated material culture within naval warfare dynamics, this research contributes a fresh perspective to the concept of ‘military revolutions’ and enriches the broader discourse on military innovations and culture. Highlighted through analogical reasoning with contemporary warfare paradigms, the paper thus endeavors to shed new light on the transformation processes of the ‘Military Revolution at Sea’ while bridging the gap between studies of past and present military practices.
A fleet that lost the offensive operations but won the defensive campaign – the battles of the Finnish War of 1808 in the Archipelago Sea
Mikko Meronen / Forum Marinum
In the Finnish War between Sweden and Russia 1808-1809 Sweden lost most of its Archipelago Fleet (Skärgårdsflottan/Arméns flotta) when Sveaborg surrendered to the Russians in the spring of 1808. Nevertheless, the Stockholm squadron of the Swedish Archipelago Fleet attempted offensive operations in the Turku archipelago during the summer and autumn of 1808.
In this presentation, I will examine the activities and battles of the archipelago fleet in the summer of 1808. The aim is to bring new perspectives to events. For example, about Swedish intelligence activities and the tactics and methods of fighting the archipelago fleet. The Swedish Archipelago Fleet carried out more reconnaissance activities than previously described and was quite aware of Russian activities at sea. Nevertheless, most battles ended in defeat or an unresolved situation. From a strategic point of view, however, the Archipelago Fleet fought successful defensive campaign and prevented the Russians from gaining control of the entire archipelago area. This prevented the Russian fleet from establishing a supply route in the direction of the Gulf of Bothnia where the main land campaign was fought. This contributed decisively to slowing down Sweden’s defeat in the entire war.
A closer look at the descriptions of the battles in different sources and combining the information from the source materials opens interesting information about the fighting methods of the Archipelago Fleet and the characteristics of the ships and their armaments. The descriptions also explain why relatively few wrecks or other archaeological material can be found at battle sites. On the other hand, unfortunately, little research has been done on the battle sites, and archaeological research could further clarify and shed new light on the events described in historical sources.
There is local interest in the battles of the Archipelago Fleet, and they have been commemorated in the Turku archipelago in many ways. Several associations and local museums have commemorated the events.
Session 4 / Session chairs Anna Maria Forssberg & Ingvar Sjöblom
Time: 13.00–14.10
Swedish naval ships beyond the Skagerrak. In the service of neutrality 1755-1815
Leos Müller / Stockholm University
The dominant narrative of Sweden's naval history in the early modern period is a story of wars and battles in the Baltic Sea. However, many Swedish naval vessels were deployed outside the Baltic arena, especially as convoy ships to protect the Swedish merchant marine. Sweden consequently avoided taking part in the Anglo-French wars during the second half of the 18th century. The neutrality of the Swedish flag created a profitable niche for Swedish trade and shipping services. The expansion of trade required additional tonnage, and naval vessels were sometimes leased or purchased for use in neutral-flag trade. Most often, however, naval vessels were used in convoys to protect merchant vessels. The paper will shed light on these two aspects of naval activities beyond the Skagerrak in the wars of 1756-1763, 1778-1783, and 1793-1815.
Russian naval base in Sveaborg, 1809–1850
Jyrki Paaskoski / Literata Oy
After the Finnish War, 1808–1809, Sveaborg and the rest of Finland was incorporated into the Russian Empire. Sveaborg became an important Russian naval base together with Kronstadt, Tallinn, Paldiski (Baltischport) and Åbo.
In my paper I ask how the Russians used the harbour of Sveaborg and what significance it had in Russian naval policy during the first half of the 19th century. My study is based on documents collected from the Russian Naval Archive RGAVMF before the war started between Russia and Ukraine in February 2022.
The main task of the Russian Navy was defensive. Firstly, navy blocked the Gulf of Finland that the enemy ships could not enter the gates of S:t Petersburg. Secondly, its task was to protect a narrow naval passage to Helsinki harbour. Russians formed the majority of the naval officers and crew. Since 1830 Finns as well formed the so-called 1st Naval Equipage with a thousand marine soldiers. Its base was on Katajanokka close to the centre of Helsinki, and they mainly operated with cannon boats.
In the summertime the Russian Navy trained on the Baltic. Both the big sailing warships and smaller cannon boats used Sveaborg as a naval base to collect provisions, water and ammunition. Sailing ships stayed winters in the ice and smaller cannon boats were lifted up for storage. Sveaborg’s Dock was used for smaller reparations and winter dockings. The Russians enlarged the Dock in 1830s, but during the Crimean War 1855 it was destroyed.
Wrecks in Peace, Work in Progress
Minna Koivikko / Finnish. Nationa lHeritage Agency
Suomenlinna, the Sea Fortress, stands as a UNESCO World Heritage site in the Baltic Sea, preserving underwater cultural heritage. Concealed beneath its waters are wooden remains, such as the recycled first ships of the Swedish Archipelago Fleet, transformed into waterbreak structures, and the final remnants of the Russian Baltic Fleet's sailing warships. These submerged treasures offer insights into history. However, how can we encourage them to reveal their stories when these wrecks have lost their identities over time? How can we uncover their biographies?
Suomenlinna hosts an ongoing research project known as 'The End of Glory Days: Biography of the Swedish Wrecks as Blue Heritage of Suomenlinna.' This project is an important component of the international research program 'The Lost Navy: Sweden's 'Blue' Heritage c. 1450-1850,' which aims to document the history of various naval vessels. In Finland, the primary focus lies on the Archipelago Fleet, with Suomenlinna serving as one of the central home ports. This presentation shares the current state of research, the latest observations, and why it is important to study old warships.
Session 5 / Session chairs Sari Mäenpää & Simon Ekström
Time: 14.40–15.50
Searching for the crew of the Huis te Warmelo (1715)
Peter Swart / Westfries Archie
In 2016, the wreck of the Dutch frigate Huis te Warmelo was identified. The Huis te Warmelo was a 44- gun warship that went down south of Porvoo (Borgå) in 1715, after hitting a sunken rock. Never before a Dutch warship from the Age of Sail has been found in such well-preserved condition. Added to this is the wealth of archival sources available. A remarkable document is the early 18th century sea chart of the Baltic that resulted in the identification of the shipwreck. Other archival resources reveal the circumstances of the accident and tell the story of her journey, protecting the Dutch merchant fleet in the Baltic against the Swedish navy and corsairs. Not least, the journey and loss of the Huis te Warmelo is a story about men who served on board the Dutch warship. Of the 200 crew, estimated 70 survived the sinking of the Dutch warship. Thanks to a preserved payment register (muster roll) of the Huis te Warmelo, the name, hometown and rank of every single crew member is known. Two third of the crew came from what is now the Dutch province of North Holland. No less than half of the crew came from only two North Holland towns: Alkmaar and Medemblik, the warship's home port. Medemblik is a small harbour town, situated 45 kilometres north of Amsterdam. The ship’s payment register from 1715 is the starting point for further research on the men. What age were they? Were they married? Did they have children? Answers to these questions are found in baptismal and marriage records. In some cases, notarial deeds and court records tell about working experience, property or family background of a crew member. One example is assistant steward Auke Visser. This Medemblik citizen was 55 years old when he signed on the Huis te Warmelo. Auke was married with his fourth wife and had five sons. No doubt he was an experienced seaman. A notarial deed states Auke as boatswain on a Dutch merchant man in 1688. Later, he and his eldest son owned a small coastal freighter. Auke Visser did not survive the accident in the Gulf of Finland. However, he is one of three crew members with living descendants. Stories about the frigate Huis te Warmelo and her crew are published on the website https://fregathuistewarmelo.nl/. The website informs public and calls to join the archival search for the crew. It is a means to connecting an extraordinary shipwreck in Finnish waters with people in The Netherlands and elsewhere.
Research at the wreck site of Huis Te Warmelo
Immi Wallin1 & Maili Roio2 / 1Subzone Oy, 2Estonian National Heritage Board
The Dutch war ship Huis te Warmelo was built in Medemblik by order of the Admiralty of West Frisia and the Northern Quarter, one of the five admiralties that organized and managed the Dutch naval fleet in the 17th and 18th century. The frigate Huis te Warmelo was one of five new men-of-war, that had been built by the Admiralty of West Frisia and the Northern Quarter in 1708. The assignment for building the Huis te Warmelo was tendered on the 1st of October 1708 in Enkhuizen. Public tenders for building new warships were common practice in West Frisia. The conditions and specificatioons of the 1708-tender have been preserved. The tender contains detailed informatioon about the measurements of the ship’s hull as well the details of some key elements of the ship.
Between 2016 and 2018 maritime archaeological surveys were undertaken at the Kalbådagrund gunship wreck site in the Gulf of Finland by SubZone Oy in partnership with the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands and support from the City of Medemblik. This shipwreck is located 1 nautical mile West from Kalbådagrund lighthouse off Porvoo, Gulf of Finland. The purpose of the research was to confirm the identification of the shipwreck and to compile the proper documentation of shipwreck site using only non-destructive methods like filming and photographing.
The location of the wreck, it’s length and number of guns were suggesting that the wreck belonged to Frigate Huis te Warmelo. To confirm the identity, comparison of the wreck’s details to the tender in 1708 was needed. The research did not reveal any discrepancies that the shipwreck is Huis te Warmelo.
The wreck of Frigate Huis te Warmelo is the best-preserved Dutch warship from the age of sail revealing the details of the shipbuilding and ship architecture in North Holland during the beginning of 18th century.
Suomenlinna’s “Ancient cargo boat”
Hannu Matikka / Finnish National Heritage Agency
The time of the Swedish archipelago fleet in the Naval base of Sveaborg (Finnish: Suomenlinna) ended in the spring 1808, when the commander of the fortress, Carl Olof Cronstedt the elder, surrendered to the Russian forces. The ships of the Swedish Navy that were in the fortress at the time were supposed to be destroyed before surrender. However, this did not happen, but dozens of naval vessels of varied sizes were left in the hands of the Russian troops. The fate of these vessels has remained mostly unclear for the time being.
At the end of the 1920s, an old cargo boat was photographed in Suomenlinna on behalf of the National Museum of Finland, which, according to oral tradition, is “the last naval vessel from the time of Swedish rule”, sometimes also called as “a pontoon boat”.
The boat was stored in Suomenlinna in several separate places throughout the 20th century, and its origin was researched from time to time. The recent dendrochronological results show that the oak used as construction material for the bottom and side planks was felled in the 1690s - 1720s. In addition, it was noticed that the boat has also been repaired, and the timing of the split repair pieces points to wood material felled in the 1890s - 1910s.
Is it a boat that belonged to the Swedish navy and could the repair pieces found on the boat show that it was still in use at the beginning of the 20th century, in the Russian era? Of what we can be sure that the boat represents a completely unknown building tradition in Finland, and the oak used as a building material suggests strongly that the ship's origin is outside the borders of Finland. The shape of the vessel resembles mostly a type of boat known in the Netherlands.
Wednesday 5th of June 2024
Session 6 / Session chairs Mirja Arnshav & Riikka Alvik
Time: 10.00–12.00 (lunch) 13.00–13.45
Keynote speaker
Timber resources for Scandinavian navies. What has dendrochronology shown? (keynote)
Aoife Daly / Dendro.dk
Aoife Daly navigates between research opportunities and dendrochronology for commercial archaeology, analysing hugely diverse timber remains from our human past. Her specific research interest is on past timber trade, by identifying the provenance of archaeological and historical timber, also non-invasively. Most recently, she was PI of a cross-disciplinary ERC Grant: Northern Europe’s timber resource chronology, origin and exploitation (TIMBER). Using archaeological, historical and scientific methods, the trade of timber in Northern Europe was examined, filling major gaps in our knowledge of past use of this sought-after resource. Aoife continues to analyse diverse timber structures, across Scandinavia and beyond. At the same time, she is supervisor of a PhD student, and has acted as examiner of several PhD projects. Aoife is also associate editor of the peer-reviewed journals Dendrochronologia and the International Journal of Wood Culture.
During my TIMBER research project, funded by the European Research Council, timbers from the remains of a range of Scandinavian shipwrecks were examined dendrochronologically. This was not only to determine the dating of these structures, but also to discover the origin of the trees used. Subsequent analyses of yet more ship structures sampled within the ‘Lost Navy’ project, and in commercial archaeological excavations, have added considerably to this dataset. Many of these wrecks have been identified, through the work of the archaeologists that have documented these and found through study of the historical record. It is a particularly unique advantage when we can directly relate the identification of specific historic shipwrecks with the material evidence of their remains and their dendrochronological analysis. I will touch upon the subtleties of the dendroprovenance method, but more importantly, I will examine the case studies of naval vessels that serve to illustrate the diversity of timber sources exploited. I will examine what these cases tell us of timber exploitation in regions with an oak surplus, and I will discuss the regions with shortage, that needed to import their timber in the past.
Arthur Hazelius's guns
Simon Ekström / Stockholm. University
During the age of the sailing fleet, guns lost in battle or shipwrecks represented a significant economic loss for the warring parties. Consequently, considerable efforts were made to salvage these lost artillery pieces. Even long after, cannons made of both bronze and iron remained attractive objects for collectors and museums. One individual who early on recognized the antiquarian and public value of these retrieved guns was the founder of the open-air museum Skansen, Arthur Hazelius. Around 1870, he acquired several recently salvaged iron cannons from the 17-th century warship Riksnyckeln. These guns later found use at Skansen during historical reenactments of chosen episodes from Sweden's past as a European great power, becoming part of the nationalist atmosphere that long characterized Skansen's activities. The cannons from Riksnyckeln, now in Hazelius's care, were however also employed for saluting purposes during various events and celebrations.
An ongoing project is examining the different forms of survival that older historical cannons can exhibit. Hazelius's collecting and showcasing of guns serves as an example of this phenomenon. To a large extent, the study has so far involved employing a biographical method to trace the subsequent destinies of the salvaged cannons. Hazelius's collecting and showcasing of cannons exemplify precisely this. However, the long and varied ‘afterlife’ of the cannons also manifests in other practices, such as the presence of cannons in various monuments and the extensive use of salutes at the turn of the last century.
25 years of Kronprins Gustav Adolf Wreck Park - resurfacing the visitor experience
Markku Luoto / Finnish Maritime Archaeological Society
The wreck site of the Swedish ship of the line Kronprins Gustav Adolf (GA) was discovered by the Finnish Navy in 1995. The Finnish Heritage Agency (FHA) surveyed the wreck site with the help of volunteers between 1996-1998. The Helsinki European Cultural Capital year of 2000 in sight, FHA -based on the idea and leadership of Sallamaria Tikkanen - decided to furnish the wreck site with guidelines and information posts for it to become the first underwater wreck exhibition, i.e., a ‘wreck park’, in Europe. Building the wreck park started 25 years ago almost to date in 1999. The author of this presentation was among the volunteers.
As the wreck park opened in year 2000, it immediately became one of the most popular dive sites in Finland and it continues to be so. As the wreck site lies several kilometres out to the open sea and the depth thereat is about 20 meters, visiting the wreck park requires advanced level diving skills and cold-water diving equipment etc. All in all, the potential pool of visitors is quite small – hardy ‘the general public’.
Hence, the idea of bringing the visitor experience to the surface, so to say, and to make it accessible for the general public, has been in the minds of many originally involved ever since. Some experiments with 1st generation digital cameras were made in the 2010’s, but the sheer size of the wreck site and rapidly changing environmental conditions, as well as the lack of sufficient computing power, thwarted all attempts. However, the volunteers of the Maritime Archaeological Society of Finland never gave up and kept recording the wreck site with almost every generation of digital cameras made available.
Finally, in 2023 the environmental conditions remained similar throughout the season and enough picture material was successfully gathered to create a photogrammetric 3D-model of the whole wreck park dive trail. The GA 3D-model is published during the WARPE2024 conference as the first ‘digital twin’ of a wreck park in Europe, enabling the Suomenlinna visitors to experience the underwater exhibition and dive trail as close to diving it themselves as possible.
This presentation discusses the means and motivations of creating digital twins of not only from the wreck sites, but also from the on-site visitor experiences thereto. The conference participants will have an opportunity to test it out too.
Upcycling ship wood – a shunned heritage of the Swedish navy
Mirja Arnshav / Stockholm University
This paper explores the fascination with wooden ship materials from naval shipwrecks and how they were repurposed for non-functional use in 19th and 20th-century Sweden. It specifically focuses on waterlogged oak, also known as ‘black oak’, which has a dark patina that reveals its age and origin from underwater. The paper aims to uncover the history of ship oak retrieval, how the material was utilized, and how the final ship wood artefacts connect with narratives of the Swedish Navy.
Scepter, a story of a forgotten ship
Dan Johansson / Stockholm University
The presentation is about the Swedish warship Scepter and its lifecycle with the starting point in Jim Hansson’s archeological report Scepter from 2019. My aim and research assignment are to investigate the ship in a political, organizational and social context. Now in summer 2024 I´m early in the investigation process and will only be able to give you some preliminary results. You will have to wait more than two years for the final ones.
The investigation starts with the royal order to the master ship wright, Isbrandt Johansson, in 1612. It continues with the building process at the shipyard at Biskops Arnö in the lake Mälaren in 1613 and 1614. I follow the ship’s hull when it is transported to Harbovik in Roslagen, ten miles north of Stockholm, where the work continues in 1616. From Harbovik the ship sails with a provisional rigg to Stockholm in 1616. At the shipyard in Stockholm the ship is finally furnished, ornate, rigged, tackled and equipped. In 1618 the ship leaves Stockholm with the king onboard on its first mission. After a long service Scepter is discarded during 1639/1640. At the same time the production and the royal navy was moved to its new location at the new Skeppsholmen. The investigation ends in 2017 when the ship was found during the construction of a new qua at Skeppsholmen in Stockholm.
The lifecycle of a ship can also be described and investigated as a lifecycle of a society. During the process described above interaction proceeds between king, master ship wright, the workforce and local community. With both central and local source material as the kings outgoing correspondence (Riksregistraturet), accounts from the shipyard at Stockholm (Skeppsgårdshandlingar) and the accounts of local bailiffs (Landskapshandlingar) I intend to investigate this interaction together with the ships own story as a political and material object. And hopefully it will help me to understand and uncover early modern royal shipbuilding and society both from within and from below.
