17th-Century Shipwreck - Swedish Ship Kronan

[Monroe]

Well the story or news about this shipwreck is dated July 29th ... about some very old cheese found in a container having been on the ocean floor for 340 years. There have been some gold coins found ... over 20,000 artifacts.

What seems interesting to me is the size of this ship ... it must have been massive for the time ... like a battle ship of today. Here are the stats ... it had 126 guns or cannons I guess and a crew of around 840 men.

Think about a ship 350 years ago with that many guns ... I would think a ship with 30 to 50 guns would be a real threat on the water but this one had 126 guns ... maybe 63 guns on each side? Then imagine a crew of 840 men all over the place ... the enormous amount of food supplies that would have to be on board along with sleeping quarters. Modern ships of today have that size of a crew and more but that many on a ship in the 1600s ... seems really fantastic. How large was this ship ... around 800 men perished and only 40 survived, so the records say.

This from the second article link ... "The royal ship Kronan sank at noon on June 1st, 1676"

17th-century cheese pulled from shipwreck in the Baltic

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2016/07/29/17th-century-cheese-pulled-from-shipwreck-in-baltic.html

By Jenn Gidman

July 29, 2016

For 340 years, the Swedish ship Kronan has languished at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, the 126-gun warship's permanent resting place after it was sunk right before a 1676 skirmish with Denmark and the Netherlands, Atlas Obscura reports.

It was found in 1980, and since then it's presented more than 20,000 artifacts to divers, including jewelry, gold coins, and even brain matter from some of the deceased crew (around 800 men died and 40 survived, per the Local).

But a recent two-week diving expedition turned up a new find that's "pure gooey grossness," Atlas Obscura notes: "some kind of dairy product" crammed in a small black container, researcher Lars Einarsson tells the Local, adding, "We think it is cheese." The could-be cheese resembles "granular Roquefort," he continues, noting the yeasty aroma wafting from the jar.

Einarsson and his diving partners presented the nose-wrinkling victual Tuesday at Sweden's Kalmar County Museum as part of an entire haul of items pulled up from the waters around the island of Oland.

But while Einarsson admits he finds the odor somewhat "exotic," he adds he has no plans to sample the wreck's wares. "It's reasonably well preserved, but at the same time it has been at the bottom of the sea for 340 years—we're not talking Tutankhamun's burial chamber," he says.

For now, the stinky snack is being kept chilled so it can be further examined for clues as to its makeup and perhaps even regarding how sailors lived onboard warships during that time period.

then ... there are a few pictures here.

Really old stinky cheese found on royal Swedish shipwreck

http://www.thelocal.se/20160727/old-stinky-cheese-found-on-swedish-17th-century-ship

27 Jul 2016

Swedish scientists have discovered what is believed to be 340-year-old cheese on board an iconic shipwreck.

Divers excavating the royal ship Kronan in the waters off the Baltic Sea island of Öland came upon the smelly material inside a black tin jar found on the seabed this month.

"It's a pretty good guess that it's some kind of dairy product, and we think it is cheese," researcher Lars Einarsson at the Kalmar County Museum told The Local on Wednesday.

"It looks a bit like some kind of granular Roquefort cheese. It's been in the mud, so it's reasonably well preserved, but at the same time it has been at the bottom of the sea for 340 years – we're not talking Tutankhamun's burial chamber," he said.

Einarsson said the thick, gooey find smells strongly of cheese and yeast.

"I think it smells quite nice, because I like exotic food. But I would not want to taste it."

He and his team presented the suspected cheese on Tuesday along with some of the other items salvaged during the two-week diving project in July – including 14 gold coins and a diamond ring.

The royal ship Kronan sank at noon on June 1st, 1676, just prior to hostilities beginning between the Swedish and the allied Danish-Dutch fleet, known as the "The Battle of Southern Öland".

Only some 40 men survived the sinking of the ship, with 800 or so perishing in the waters.

More than 20,000 items have so far been recovered from the vessel since it was located in 1980, including crew members' cranial remains, with traces of brain tissue.

As for the cheese, it is currently being kept at low temperatures awaiting a scientific analysis to find out exactly what it is and what it could reveal about life on board a Swedish ship in the 17th century.

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[Monroe]

I was hoping someone with some knowledge of early ships might post some information on the Kronan. I am in awe of the size of this ship for the 1600's ... but I guess there were even larger size ships. I was looking for a picture or drawing of this ship.

I found several links with information ...

https://www.abc.se/~pa/uwa/kronan-e.htm

Kronan

The 126 gun battleship Kronan was built in 1668 by Francis Sheldon and was one of the world's largest ships in its time. She was 53 m long and 14 m wide.

During battle against a Danish-Dutch fleet in June 1676, Kronan listed heavily during a badly prepared turn, then suddenly exploded and quickly sank with 800 men. Only 42 survived. What caused the blast is a mystery, perhaps something broke loose during the list and ignited the gunpowder. Possibly Lorentz Creutz, the newly appointed commander and admiral, is to blame for incompetence, because he had no naval experience before commanding the ship.

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A drawing of the Kronan.

http://forum.game-labs.net/index.php?/topic/2482-regalskeppet-kronan/

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Edited August 17, 2016 by monroe