Norske Løve (ship, 1704)

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The Norske Løve , also known as Norska Løva or Nordic Lion , was a 36- cannon armed East Indiaman of the second Danish Ostindisk Kompagni, founded in 1670 and liquidated in 1729 due to insolvency . The ship ran aground and broke on New Year's Eve 1707 in the Lambavik fjord near Lambi on the Faroe Islands .

history

The Norske Løve bell in Tórshavn Cathedral (Faroe Islands postage stamp)

The Norske Løve is said to have sailed in the Indian Ocean with a load of slaves as early as 1682 , but her ship's bell is dated 1704, which indicates a year of construction or commissioning of 1704. In a list of ship arrivals and departures in the Danish colony Tranquebar in today's Tamil Nadu on the east coast of India, there is also a Norske Løve in 1690 and again in 1706; It is not clear whether it was the same ship in each case.

The ship left Copenhagen on December 4, 1707 under the command of Captain Roluf Meincke. It was supposed to reach the Atlantic north around Scotland and then sail around the Cape of Good Hope to Tranquebar. There it was supposed to load and bring back spices , tea and other goods. However, the trip was not a lucky star. On December 18, the ship was struck by lightning in a heavy thunderstorm , which damaged the main mast so badly that it had to be cut and thrown overboard the next day. However, the mizzen mast was accidentally torn down. Around noon on December 19, the ship was hit by a huge breaker , which killed 14 of the crew and caused further damage to the ship. In another storm on December 25, the ship west of the Hebrides was drifted far off course, and it stranded and finally broke on December 31, 1707 off Lambi on the east coast of the Faroe island of Eysturoy . About 100 crew members were rescued.

Part of the cargo was also recovered. During the night, however, a landslide fell from the cliffs at the stranding site and the scree buried the remainder of the wreckage and the beach debris. A jug filled with gold coins, the contents of which was intended for the purchase of goods in India, is said to have been pushed out into the deeper water, where it was then covered by a large boulder - later called "ketil" (cauldron).

Despite a maritime investigation in Tórshavn , legends are still entwined around the sinking of the ship and its cargo, which are also reflected in the literature. The ship's bell found its way into Tórshavn Cathedral , where it still hangs today. There is also a model of the ship in the cathedral. Although diving for the wreck and the treasure suspected on it has been frequent, it has not yet been found, and no objects of particular interest have been found that could undoubtedly be attributed to Norske Løve .

literature

  • Bjarni Åkesson Filholm: Norske Løve. Stolt skib - sick skæbne. Forlaget Nautilus, Frederiksværk (Denmark), 2006 (Danish)
  • Óli Egilstrøð: Úr Eiðis søgu . Grunnurin Lækjan, Eiði, 2004, ISBN 99918-3-152-5 (Faroe.)
  • Árni Dahl: Søga og stev, vol. 2. Fannir, Tórshavn, 1997, ISBN 99918-49-08-4 (Faroe.)
  • Norska Løva (Danish; PDF; 129 kB)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Árni Dahl: Søga og stev , p. 160
  2. ↑ http://www.testsite.runemester.dk/artikler/historie/
  3. ↑ Hedin Brønner: Three Faroese Novelists: An Appreciation of Jørgen-Frantz Jacobsen, William Heinesen, Heđin Brú. Twayne Publishers, Boston, 1973, ISBN 0-8057-3374-4 (p. 127, footnote 15)

Coordinates: 62 ° 8 ′ 6 ″  N , 6 ° 40 ′ 12 ″  W.