Naval Wrecks of Karlskrona

The city of Karlskrona was founded in the 1680s as a naval base and naval shipyard in south Sweden.

During the late 17th and early 18th centuries, several decommissioned warships were stripped, filled with stone, and sunk around the city. The massive old hulls were often used for moles or land expansion. Eventually, many of them were covered by landfill.

During construction works in the city during the 20th century, at least 56 such ship hulls have been found, usually during construction work on land. Some have been excavated. 30 of those ships have been identified. Some excavated objects are on display in the naval base area, which, however, is not open to the public. Besides the wrecks on this list, several similar wrecks have been sunk around the islands surrounding Karlskrona.

After 300 years, Karlskrona is today Sweden's largest naval base.

30 identified wrecks in Karlskrona:


Name

Guns

Com-
missioned

Discom-
missioned

Participated
in campaigns

Note

Solen
Victoria
Halvmånen
Carlshamn
Sverige (ex Carolus XI)
Elefanten
Carlshamn
Calmar
Camelen
Göteborg
72
76
50
12
82




50
1669
1658


1678




1659
before 1697
before 1697


1732




before 1679
1675, 1676, 1677
1658, 1675, 1676, 1677


1679, 1700, 1710




1676, 1677, 1679



small ship

small ship
merchant ship
merchant ship
merchant ship

Livland
Victoria
Finland (ex Venus)
Prins Fredrik Wilhelm
Drottning Ulrica
Carlskrona (ex Hedvig Sophia)
Småland
Gotland
Falken
Estland
56
70
64
50
80
70
70
56
26
50
1682
1680
1667
1697
1692
1686
1679
1682

1682
1726
1714
1706
1713
1712
1730
1730
1720

1732
1700, 1715

1675, 1676, 1677, 1700

1700
1700, 1710, 1715
1700, 1710, 1715
1700, 1715

1700, 1715









small ship

Nya Riga
Carolus IX
Prins Carl
Blekinge
St. Peter
Maria
Christina
Drottning Hedvig Eleonora
Prinsessan Ulrica Eleonora
Stockholm

56
76
68





68
1708
1651
1685
1682





1682
1717
before 1727
1724
1713





1710
1715
1658, 1675, 1676, 1677
1700, 1710, 1715
1700





1700




small merchant ship
armed merchant ship
small ship

Underwater wrecks outside the city:

Besides these wrecks sunk in the central parts of the city, other warships were sunk at Djupasund between Tjurkö and Sturkö islands. Thus creating a barrier south of the city, blocking one of the natural entrances. This continued until the 19th century. One of those ships is the 60-gun Vasa, built in 1778 and sunk in 1836. This wreck cemetery is now a popular site among scuba divers.

Reference:

Günter Lanitzki: Versunken in der Ostsee (Koehlers Verlag, 1993)

Related link:

Swedish Naval Museum, Karlskrona
 

by Per Åkesson, August 1998, rev 2001


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