Riksäpplet (1661)
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The Riksäpplet (in German "Reichsapfel"), also Äpplet , was a Swedish sailing warship ("Regalskepp") with 84-91 cannons that took part in the sea battle at Öland and was one of the largest seaworthy ships of its time. She acted as the flagship of Admiral Lieutenant Christer Boije in the battle . In 1676 she ran aground on a rock in front of Dalarö and sank - only 50 crew members could be saved. Parts of the wreck are installed on Stockholm City Hall after being blown up in the 1920s .
The ship
The name "Reichsapfel" is taken from the Swedish imperial insignia . At the same time, other ships were named after the insignia, which were supposed to represent a floating symbol of the importance of the Swedish krona: Kronan (Imperial Crown ), Svärdet (The Sword) and Riks-Nyckeln ( Imperial Key ). Ships with these names were usually the largest in the fleet.
The Riksäpplet is represented by many experts as a reflection of the society of the time with regard to the accommodation of his crew: the king controls the state's fate at the top of a symbolic pyramid, followed by the broader aristocracy and finally the large mass of the common people. In a figurative sense, the mostly aristocratic admiral, who was in command of the ship, was accommodated on the top closed deck of the ship with correspondingly generous free space. Officers and other ranks followed in the decks below, and finally the crew on the lowest deck in a confined space. The spatial generosity of the respective accommodation as well as the height of the occupied deck clearly reflected the social rank of the crew member.
The ship was a square sail with three masts ( mizzen mast , main mast and foremast ). Only on the mizzen mast was there a latin sail in the lowest position (undersan sail) . In addition, the blind could be seated at the bowsprit . At the bowsprit there was a Mars , on which a bowsprit mast was installed, on which the upper blind (Bouvenblinde) could be set.
The Riksapplet was a triplane and closed at the rear with a smooth transom from.
As a central eye-catcher and representative carving, there was a reference to the name of the ship in the upper third of the transom, an allegorically depicted, gold-plated orb.
This sculptural work was framed by various allegorical and baroque carvings. The ornate transom, the occupied with columns of carved female bodies and also with dolphin heads was provided, led to the outer lateral ends in the side galleries . Above the transom, three large stern lights were attached, which rounded off the traditional appearance of the stern area of a flagship .
A royal lion was attached to the bow as a figurehead .
The hull was based on English models of its time and was planked in the Kraweel construction including the bulwark , which, in contrast to the clinker construction, was characterized by a relatively flat surface.
Nine test holes in the wood of the wreck showed that oak and pine were used. Four other samples could not yet be assigned to any wood species suitable for shipbuilding. In addition, black oak must also have been in the hull.
The Riksäpplet was equipped with up to 91 cannons , with the heavier calibers positioned on the lower weapon deck. The cannons were usually from our own Swedish production and were integrated on the three weapon decks , the upper deck and in the transom.
The Äpplet is u. a. ballasted with bricks.
history
Construction and time after launch
The Riksäpplet was ordered in autumn 1659 and built at the "old shipyard" on Stigberget in Gothenburg . The keel was laid on March 20, 1661, the ship was launched in 1663. The shipbuilder in charge was Francis Sheldon . Another master shipbuilder is Albert van Veldens .
No serious details are known about the story from the launch up to the sea battle at Öland . It is documented that the ship set sail in 1675 under Reichsadmiral Gustaf Otto Stenbock to fight the Danish-Dutch fleet. However, the company failed just 10 days after it sailed after several waves of illnesses hit the Swedish ships and caused chaotic conditions on board. Stenbock returned home and, by order of the crown, had to use his own financial means to cover the costs of mobilization. For the Swedish King Charles XI. who basically wanted to evade the influence of the imperial council, which was controlled by the powerful high nobility, this, as well as the later defeat in the battle of Öland against the Dutch-Danish enemies, was a welcome excuse to remove Stenbock from his office in 1676 and abolish the office of admiralty.
At the time of the Battle of Öland, it is known that the ship Admiralleutnant Christer Boije served as the flagship and was commanded by Olof Eriksson Borg . Elias Johansson was appointed as the captain , who found his substitute in Ewert Haas . Two lieutenants, two skippers, two constables , a priest , a surgeon , a clerk, 300 seamen and 139 marines were also part of the crew .
Scandinavian war and sea battle near Öland
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Both the flagships Kronan and svärdet as well as the Riksäpplet were under the Scanian War (1674-1679) used from 1675 in which Sweden and Denmark fought for the former Danish possessions in southern Sweden, in 1658 by Denmark in the Peace of Roskilde on Sweden had been ceded. The Riksäpplet , the third largest ship in the fleet, was to join the Swedish fleet off the island of Öland in June 1676 in order to fight a battle for naval supremacy on the Baltic Sea against a united Dutch-Danish fleet .
At that time, the flag officer of the Riksäpplet was Christer Boije, who as an admiralty lieutenant commanded part of the Swedish fleet.
On April 1, 1676 at around 11 a.m., the enemy had already come at close range, Svärdet, sailing in the keel line, gave a signal shot. The right-seeunerfahrene Baron Lorentz Creutz , who a year had previously been appointed supreme commander of the Swedish fleet only misinterpreted the signal, leaving its flagship Kronan under full sail and with open gun ports perform a hard turning maneuvers. The ship was hit by a gust and heeled so much that considerable amounts of water penetrated the hull through the open gun ports and the ship was listed.
This list apparently also caused some cannons to be detached from the brook ropes intended for anchoring on the ship's sides and shifted the center of gravity of the ship even more unfavorably to the side of the ship now partially in the water. Flying fuses or lanterns that came into contact with black powder eventually triggered a chain reaction that led to an explosion of the powder chamber. As a result, the ship began to sink.
The Svärdet hurried to the aid of the sinking Kronan and even collided with her, but then had to fall off to avoid collision or fire damage.
Apparently demoralized and shocked by the early loss of the lead ship and the commander in chief of its own fleet, the Swedish battle line quickly got into disarray, especially as the Swedish vanguard fled the battle.
The Äpplet fled the battle with the rest of the squadron and anchored at Dalarö for several days. When rumors arose that the Danish-Dutch fleet was pursuing in the direction of Dalarö, the ship's anchorage was moved closer to the port fortress there so that it could also intervene in possible battles. However, a violent storm broke out the following night. As the ship's crew feared that the ship might crash on the nearby cliffs, the anchor lines, on which the ship was held in position, were given some play. It is now unclear whether this or a breakaway from the anchor cables led to the accident: on June 5, 1676, it finally drifted onto a small archipelago and leaked so heavily on rocks that, despite the use of all pumps and vain attempts, the leaks closed close, eventually had to be abandoned and sank.
Around 50 crew members were rescued in the storm by following Danish ships. The rest of the crew were killed in the shipwreck.
The Swedish crown lost three proud shipbuilding representatives of the empire almost at the same time, symbolically even three of its imperial regalia (crown, sword, orb) and thus the largest ships in the fleet, which secured the allied Danish-Dutch fleet a supremacy at least until the end of the year.
Wreckage and whereabouts of individual ship parts
Until the beginning of the 20th century, the wreck remained largely unnoticed in front of Dalarö at the point where it crashed in 1676 at a depth of 15 m. Up to this point it was evidently in a better condition than the later elevated Vasa . Even the cannon mounts were still in their designated places on deck.
However, wood processing companies became aware of the wreck, which had targeted the parts made of black oak built into the hull. They blew up the wreckage in 1921 and largely exploited it. Other sources put the demolition of the wreck in the 1930s.
One of the wooden town hall gates of Stockholm City Hall , the Huvudportal, was made from the wood of the ship and can still be admired today.
Some wreckage, including the figurehead, are also in the Maritime History Museum (Sjöhistoriska Museet) in Stockholm.
Anders Franzén , who became famous in 1956 with the rediscovery of the Vasa, which sank in 1628 , was also instrumental in researching the wreck of the Riksäpplet .
The wreck itself is now largely destroyed and scattered over the sea floor in individual parts, but a few upright frames still give an idea of the dimensions of the ship.
literature
- Carlo M. Cipolla: Sails and Cannons - The European Expansion at Sea. Verlag Klaus Wagenbach, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-8031-3602-4 .
- HJ. Börjeson: List of men-of-war 1650-1700 , Part III (Sweden, Denmark-Norway, and German ships.), Swedish ships 1650-1699 (538 ships listed), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1936-1939.
- Gustav Halldin: Svenskt Skeppsbyggeri - A general history of Swedish shipbuilding, 1963
- Jonathan Adams (1): Ships, innovation and social change: aspects of carvel shipbuilding in northern Europe 1450-1850 , Stockholm University, 2003
- Jonathan Adams (2): A Maritime Archeology of Ships: Innovation and Social Change in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe , Oxbow Books and Jonathan Adams, Oxford (UK), 2013
- Jack Sweetman: The Great Admirals: Command at Sea, 1587-1945 , US Naval Institute, Annapolis, Maryland (USA), 1997.
- Finn Askgaard: Kampen till sjöss . In: Göran Rystad (ed.): Kampen om Skåne . New extended edition. Historiska media, Lund 2005, ISBN 91-85057-05-3 , pp. 171-186.
- Günter Lanitzki : flagship Kronan. Treasury off the coast of Sweden . Transpress, Berlin 1989, ISBN 3-344-00398-4 .
- Helmut Pemsel : Command of the Sea. A world maritime history from its beginnings to 1850 . Volume 1: From the beginning to 1850 . License issue. Weltbild-Verlag, Augsburg 1995, ISBN 3-89350-711-6 .
- Artur A. Svensson (Ed.): Svenska Flottans Historia. Volume I, Malmö 1942.
- Björn Axel Johansson (Ed.): Regalskeppet Kronan. Trevi, Stockholm 1985, ISBN 91-7160-740-4 .
Web links
- Riksäpplet - entry in the database "Fornsök" des Riksantikvarieämbetet (Swedish)
- Virtual dive around the Riksäpplet
Footnotes
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k according to Börjeson / Halldin
- ↑ a b c d see data sheet for the wreck site from the Swedish National Heritage Board
- ^ After Börjeson / Halldin 158 Swedish feet
- ↑ according to Börjeson / Halldin 37.6 Swedish feet
- ↑ to Börjeson / Halldin 17 Swedish feet
- ↑ a b After Adams (2), p. 29.
- ↑ a b see data sheet for the wreck site and framework data from the Swedish National Heritage Board - freely translated.
- ↑ see photo series of artifact recoveries on [1] . In the course of salvage work, various artistically carved columns in the form of women's bodies as well as various wooden ornaments in different sizes were recovered and photographed.
- ↑ see photo series and descriptions of artifact recoveries
- ↑ the figurehead is exhibited in the Sjöhistoriska museet Entry in the museum's object database ( memento from October 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ There are reports that name Francis Sheldon as a shipbuilder and certify that he was based on the construction patterns of the ship Naseby .
- ↑ see wreck description of the Swedish National Heritage Board - freely translated
- ↑ This type of wood was later recycled by blasting, as shown here in the further article description
- ↑ After initial quality deficiencies, Swedish cannons were successfully manufactured according to Dutch know-how, so that Sweden rose to become one of the leading arms manufacturers in Europe from 1639 onwards. In 1668 a total of 1,346 cannons left the Swedish factories for export (after Cipolla, p. 61 ff.). The export demand was only taken into account when the Swedish demand was met.
- ↑ as some diving videos show, see dive to the Riksäpplet ( memento from October 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) and dive with explanations
- ↑ Francis Sheldon was an English shipbuilder who was forced to leave his home in 1655. From then on he built ships for the Swedish crown, had also been commissioned to build the Kronan , but returned to England in 1685. There are indications of wage problems on the part of the Swedish crown, which already delayed the construction of the Kronan , so that a shipbuilder Albert van Veldens mentioned under Börjeson / Halldin could explain himself .
- ↑ There are descriptions of the battle that say that Ugglas falling from the accident site of the Kronan was interpreted by the Swedish vanguard as an escape maneuver and was therefore a model for their own behavior, namely to withdraw from the battle as quickly as possible.
- ^ After Sweetman
- ↑ as described on www.sjohistoriska.se on the subject of Riksäpplet, freely translated from Swedish.
- ↑ after Sweetman, p. 120
- ^ [2] Design of the Stockholm city bus stop
- ↑ After Adams (2), p. 30, Fig. 2.2.
Coordinates: 59 ° 6 ′ 47.9 ″ N , 18 ° 23 ′ 55.8 ″ E