User:Henrik/sandbox/K

Kronan was a Swedish warship and one of the largest ships in the world during her time. Kronan was built between 1668 and 1672. After only a few years of service and two battles against Danish and Dutch forces, Kronan sank at the battle of Öland on June 1, 1676. The ship capsized following a sharp turn in the heat of battle. While sinking, the forward gunpowder stores ignited - blowing a hole in the starboard bow. Close to 800 men died. Over 100 cannons, valuable equipment, private goods and large sums of money followed Kronan into the depths.

The loss of Kronan was a severe setback to Sweden in the Scanian war. In addition to the military loss of the navy's largest and most heavily armed ship of the line, she has been an important symbol of royal power. Nearly 10% of the Swedish navy's active personnel were lost, along with admiral Lorentz Creutz, commander of the navy, many other high ranking officers and the Swedish Navy's leading medical doctors. Because the battle of Öland, along with several previous engagements had been such obvious failures from the Swedish side, a commission to investigate the question of guilt was appointed in 1676-1677. No one was found guilty, but Creutz have in later accounts been assigned blame, in part because he had no experience at naval warfare. More recent research has been more cautious in assigning blame solely to Creutz, and have instead painted a broader picture of poor organization in the navy and a lack of experienced officers.

Kronan was rediscovered in 1980 by Anders Franzén, the same person who discovered Vasa. Since then, there has been annual dives to map the wreckage and salvaging items. Second only to Vasa, Kronan has become one of the most noteworthy Swedish shipwrecks in the Baltic. So far, over 30,000 objects have been found, salvaged and preserved - with a good number of them exhibited at Kalmar Läns Museum, which has a permanent exhibition on the ship and is in charge of the continuing archaeological operations.

Background

In 1660 Sweden reached its peak as a European Great Power. In the war against Denmark 1657-1658, the Swedish King Karl X had in a daring march across the Belts stepped into the heart of Denmark, attempting to vanquish Denmark as a sovereign nation and rid himself of a difficult enemy.