Identification of a 17th-Century Dutch shipwreck in the Gulf of Finland
In 2020, the Finnish dive team Badewanne discovered the remains of a 17th century Dutch fluytship at a depth of 85 metres in the Gulf of Finland. An engraving on the transom revealed the launch year (1636) and the image of a swan, presenting the name of the vessel. According to archival data, the shipmaster most likely originated from Nieuwendam, a village near Amsterdam. His vessel made its swan song around 1638.
Fluyts
Wrecks from the early modern period in the Baltic and the Gulf of Finland often originate from the Dutch Republic. These Ooster-vaerders [East-sailing vessels] transported large cargos of grains and other bulk products like timber, hemp and tar. In the 17th century, the ship type in general was a fluyt. These vessels were not very elegant or fast, but their impressive carrying capacity was more relevant for the merchants. Particularly for the Baltic route Dutch shipbuilders designed fluyts with a shallower draught than those that sailed to the Mediterranean. These ships were well adapted to sailing in coastal waters and reaching ports in river mouths which silted up, like in Danzig (Gdańsk). With a simple rig and no guns on board, fluyts were also cheap to operate: the ton-to-man ratio was 25 to 1. Halfway the 18th century, the fluyts lost their domination in Dutch Baltic trade, to be surpassed by other types of smaller ships, like koffs and galliots.
Wrecks
In the mid-18th century, an average of six to seven vessels wrecked each year in the Gulf of Finland alone. Considering the Dutch dominance in this region, a substantially number of these originated from the ports and roadsteads of the Dutch Republic. Under extraordinary weather conditions the number of wrecks could be considerably higher: during raging storms or as a result of floating ice vessels could strand and sink. Since the fluyt was immensely popular, hundreds of these ships must have perished in the Baltic and the Gulf of Finland. So far, a handful of fluyt-wrecks have been discovered by maritime archaeologists, such as the ‘Tree’, the ‘Ghostship’, the ‘Lion’, the Constantia, the Anna Maria and recently the well-preserved ‘Swan’.
Hjemsted
Hitherto, only the Constantia and the Anna Maria had been identified. This last wreck, after tenacious detective work by maritime researcher Christian Ahlström. The Anna Maria was built in Amsterdam in 1694, as was recorded in the notarial archives of the Amsterdam City Archives in the Netherlands. These archives inform us about almost every aspect of early modern international trade and shipping. The recently discovered Swan-wreck might also be traced back in the notarial archives. In March 1638, a freight contract was produced for a Dutch vessel of 95 last named the ‘White Swan’ (Witte Swaan in Dutch). The shipmaster, Dirck Adriaensz, originated from the Dutch island of Terschelling, which was registered as his hjemsted [homeport] in the Sound Toll Registers. He actually lived in Nieuwendam, a small village north of Amsterdam.
Nyenschantz
On a regular base Dirck Adriaensz sailed Baltic harbors like Königsberg (Kaliningrad), Danzig (Gdańsk) and Riga, as was recorded in the Sound Toll Registers. He also visited further destinations in the Gulf of Finland, such as the Swedish Nyen and its fortress Nyenschantz, at the site of present-day Saint Petersburg, Russia. In the harbor of Nyen, Dirck Adriaensz picked up a cargo of rye and barley and safely returned to Amsterdam in the Summer of 1638. On the 18th October that same year, the White Swan passed the Sound again with a small cargo of ballast (merchandise and hop) heading eastbound.
Last voyage
Thereafter, the skipper, his crew and his vessel seem to have vanished. There is no return passage recorded in the Sound Toll Registers. His absence was noticed in Amsterdam. In 1640, freighters and a pilot declared for a notary here, that Dirck Adriaensz and his vessel were last spotted around Denmark in 1638. Lost on her last journey to the Gulf of Finland, it is very likely that the White Swan of Dirck Adriaensz is identical to the wreck, which the Finnish dive team Badewanne discovered in 2020. Besides the ship’s name and the close proximity of the year of build, sediment samples from the cargo of the wreck (barley and oat grains) indicate that it was a Baltic grain trader, just like the White Swan.
The mysterious ‘Swan ship’ wrecked on the open sea, between Finland’s Hanko peninsula and the large Estonian island of Hiiumaa, previously known as Dagö. Because of this remote location of loss and further silence in the archival sources, it seems doubtful anyone survived or that cargo was salvaged.
© Maarten Hell, 2024 (thanks to Mikko Huhtamies, University of Helsinki, and Ivar Treffner, Estonian Maritime Museum)
Maarten Hell 