Dalarö Dive Park (Sweden)

In the waters off Dalarö lies a world of history waiting to be explored. Here you find shipwrecks dating back to the 17th century, preserved in nearly perfect condition. At Dalarö Dive Park, divers and non-divers alike can take part of this unique cultural heritage. This brochure has been developed by employees at the Maritime Museum, a part of the Swedish National Maritime and Transport Museums (SMTM) within the framework of the EU Interreg Central Baltic project BALTACAR (Baltic History Beneath the Surface). © Swedish National Maritime and Transport Museums 2019 Thanks to a unique combination of brackish water, cold, darkness and low oxygen levels in the Baltic Sea, materials – even wood – can be preserved in almost perfect A diving experience condition. Dalarö Dive Park contains many well-preserved wrecks dating all the way back The Baltic Sea is one of the to the 1600s, making diving in world’s busiest seas. Ever since Dalarö Dive Park an experience the great Ice Age, it has been you simply cannot find almost home to nearly unceasing human anywhere else in the world. activity and maritime trade. Around the Swedish coast alone there are an estimated 20,000 shipwrecks or more. Throughout history Dalarö has served as an important maritime hub, making unique in the world Dalarö Dive Park into a huge underwater museum. Wreck diving in Sweden Ships that sank before 1850 are considered ancient monuments and are protected under the Heritage Diving in Conservation Act. Wreck diving is generally allowed, 6 but divers are not allowed to touch or cause damage to a wreck. A diving ban can be used to prohibit diving Dalarö Dive Park 1. Anna-Maria near wrecks considered to have a unique cultural 2. The Jutholmen Wreck historical value in order to reduce wear and tear. About Dalarö Dalarö 3. Riksäpplet Dalarö is a small coastal community an hour’s drive Diving in Dalarö Dive Park from Stockholm. It is a popular tourist attraction 1 4. Gröne Jägaren Among the wrecks in Dalarö Dive Park there are three during the summer season. In past centuries, Dalarö 2 5. Ingrid Horn wrecks that used to have a diving ban: the Dalarö held a strategic position as a customs station and was wreck, Anna-Maria and the Jutholmen wreck. So to important in the defence of Stockholm. The waters 6. The Dalarö Wreck / Bodekull make these wrecks available, Sweden’s first maritime surrounding Dalarö contain many well-preserved 3 7. The Koster Wreck cultural reserve was created in 2014. That made it shipwrecks from the 17th century to the present day, 4 possible to visit those wrecks under guidance of an making it popular with divers. In this booklet we approved diving guide. More wrecks can become a present seven of those wrecks. 5 part of the maritime cultural reserve in the future. 7 As early as 1565, the navy built a repair yard a few As an established customs collection point, Dalarö Dalarö’s kilometres south of Dalarö. At the beginning of the became more significant, and a more organized society maritime history 1680s, Dalarö, in addition to Stockholm and Karlskrona, rapidly grew around the customs operations. Taverns was used as a main base for the Swedish navy. The first and inns were an important part of the transport system military defence facility was built in 1623. However, it in rural and coastal areas, and access to food and was replaced in 1656 by Dalarö Fortress, south of the accommodation were needed for a comfortable journey. community, which was used until 1856 when the military In 1638, the tavern Dalarö Krog was built in the harbour. left the island. The tavern business continued right up to 1890, when the tavern burned down. In 1636, Dalarö was designated a customs collection point, and the community became the outermost The notable events that have taken place on Dalarö The waters surrounding Dalarö are home to a wealth of customs station for vessels bound for Stockholm. This over the centuries have led to substantial maritime wrecks of different ages, types and materials. meant that all ships bringing imported goods into traffic in the area. As a result of the great many ships Some are incredibly well preserved, while others are Stockholm or northern ports would pass Dalarö to pay that have passed through the area, numerous ships and more or less fragmentary. customs duties on their cargo. The current customs boats have met their fate in Dalarö’s waters. The types The place name of Dalarö appears in the 13th century in house was erected in 1788. of ships vary from smaller boats used by locals to large Danish King Valdermar’s sailing route, a description of To secure vessel traffic to and from Stockholm a pilot commercial and naval vessels. The shipwrecks in the the route from Utlängan in southern Sweden to Tallinn, station was established on Dalarö during the 17th waters surrounding Dalarö represent different historical Estonia. At that time it was the site of a protected natural century, and in 1676 the maritime pilots got their own eras and phenomena that have played a vital and ever- anchorage and an important maritime hub. house on the island of Jutholmen. present role in Dalarö’s development. Ever since the 1950s, the wreck in Dalarö’s harbour has been well known to locals. The wreck was often referred to as Saltskutan (“Salt Ship”) and was believed to be the remnants of a barge carrying a cargo of salt which sank at the end of the 19th century. Today, Saltskutan’s secret has been revealed. With the help of archaeological documentation and accurate archival studies, the ship has been identified as the fluyt ship Anna-Maria, which sank on 6 February 1709. The discovery revealed an exciting story about what happened. Anna-Maria, 38 metres long and 8 metres wide, was built during 1693–1694 in Amsterdam upon commission by a group of ship-owners and merchants from Stockholm. The ship made her maiden Anna-Maria voyage to Setubal in Portugal, where she was loaded with salt to be shipped to Stockholm. “Take care with fire.” With these words, Philip Bewe left the frozen fluyt and headed off to the tavern. One hour later, the ship sank following a raging fire. BUILT LENGTH 1694 38 METRES DEPTH WIDTH 13–20 METRES 8 METRES SANK SHIP TYPE 1709 FLUYT “Fire!” After an hour of beer drinking and conversation, cries of “Fire!” were heard from the harbour. The Anna-Maria locked in ice guards from the other ships had detected smoke and alerted those nearby. As the tavern guests raced toward the harbour, they were met by the sight of flames rising from Anna-Maria. A fire was In November 1708, she had been loaded with raging in the hold between the cabin and the mizzenmast where firewood was stored, and when cargo for delivery to Lisbon. But when the ship A fatal night at the pub the aft hatch was opened thick black smoke billowed out. The guards who discovered the fire had arrived at Dalarö, she was unable to continue the tried to extinguish it, but the ship could not be salvaged. With a crackling hiss, Anna-Maria was journey. Because of the unusually cold winter, After morning prayer and breakfast on 6 February 1709, swallowed up by the ice. ice had begun to form and the skipper decided Bewe went ashore to purchase spirits, bread rusks and to lay up Anna-Maria for wintering. Five men meat. The previous day, he had dined with his comrades from the crew remained on board as guards: on another winterized ship. A plan was hatched that 8 days of water and bread in prison the able seamen Bewe, Erson, Sigfredsson and Bewe would buy more rounds the following day. After During the legal proceedings following the fire, the five seamen Simonsson as well as the cook, Hindersson. To dinner aboard Anna-Maria, the company went to the were considered to have neglected their duty as they all left the cope with the harsh cold, the ship’s fireplaces tavern, which was only “two musket shots away” from the ship without supervising the fire. However, the ship-owners of were lit. The guards’ sole occupation, in addition harbour. The four other crew members remained on the Anna-Maria asked the court not to pass a sentence that would lead to seeing to the ship, was sitting at the relatively ship with instructions to take care with the fire. It did not to shame or disgrace, but would instead give them a bit of a slap warm tavern with the other ship guards and take long, however, until the four left the ship and joined on the wrist. Bewe, Erson and Sigfredsson were sentenced to four drinking cheap beer. the others at the tavern. days’ imprisonment with only water and bread to eat. Simonsson and Hindersson, who were last to leave the ship, were sentenced to eight days’ imprisonment with water and bread. The punishments were considerably mild relative to the damage caused. The divers contacted the Maritime Museum and contributed a collection of salvaged objects, including a wine bottle bearing a seal that was identified as likely being an English noble weapon. The shipwreck was dated using dendrochronology and tree-ring dating. One of the samples showed that the oak was felled after 1643 in Northumberland, England. The other salvaged finds have also been dated to the middle or the second half of the 17th century. The wreck on the seabed north of Dalarö measures about 20 metres long and is carvel-built (the hull’s planks lie flush rather than overlap).

Load more