Kronan (ship)

Kronan (ship)

Kronan, also called Stora Kronan, was a Swedish warship that was the flagship of the Swedish navy in the Baltic Sea in the 1670s. When built, she was one of the largest seagoing vessels in the world. The construction of Kronan lasted 1668–72, delayed on account of difficulties with financing and conflict between her shipwright Francis Sheldon and the Swedish Admiralty. After only four years of service she sank in rough weather at the battle of Öland on 1 June 1676 when she turned too hard with too much sail. She began to founder, her powder magazine ignited and exploded, blowing off most of the bow structure, causing her to quickly sink. Around 800 men died, and over one hundred heavy guns were lost, along with valuable equipment and large quantities of silver and gold coins.

The loss of Kronan was a hard blow against Sweden during the Scanian War (1675–79). Besides being the largest and most heavily armed ship in the Swedish navy, she had also been an important prestige symbol for the monarchy of the young Charles XI. When she sank she took with her close to 10% of the active manpower of the navy, its acting commander in chief, the Admiral of the Realm Lorentz Creutz, a large number of high-ranking fleet officers and the chief of the navy medical staff. Since the battle of Öland and the preceding naval campaign had been major failures for Sweden, a commission was set up to investigate whether any individuals could be held responsible. Although no one was ever officially held accountable, Creutz is often blamed by historians for the sinking of Kronan because of his general naval and command inexperience. Recent research has attempted to provide a more nuanced picture, and points to Sweden's general lack of a well-developed naval organizational and officer corps at the time.

The wreck of Kronan was located in 1980 by the amateur researcher Anders Franzén, who also discovered the location of the 17th century warship Vasa in the 1950s. Each year since then diving operations have been conducted to survey and excavate the wrecksite and to salvage artifacts. Kronan has become the most widely publicized shipwreck in the Baltic after Vasa. Over 30,000 artifacts have so far been recovered, and many of them have been conserved and put on display for the general public at the Kalmar County Museum in Kalmar. The museum is today responsible for the maritime archaeological operations and the permanent exhibitions on Kronan.