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Lovisa Ulrica
Built at Djurgården Shipyard, Burthen 380 Swedish Last (after 1778: 361 42/100), 24 cannons, 140 men. |
Voyages during the third charter:
December 16, 1766 - June 16, 1768 To Canton under Captain Mathias Holmers. Supercargos: Gustaf Tham, Joh. Fredr. Pettersson, (supercargo in Canton 1768). January 9, 1772 - June 1, 1773 To Canton under Captain Sven Olbers. Supercargos: Anders Gotheen, Carl H. Rappe. March 7, 1779 - June 21, 1780 To Canton under Captain Jonas Israel Ekman. Supercargos: H.W. Hahr, George Johan Conradi. The latter supercargo in Canton 1779-1786. December 21, 1781 - July 23, 1783 To Canton under Captain Petter Pettersson. Supercargos: H.W. Hahr, Johan Dassau. |
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Sinking of Lovisa Ulrica Some remarks about the final voyage of the Ship Louvisa Ulrica, after she had been recommissioned as a naval vessel and sank outside of Vinga, in 1790. Excerpt from a speech given at the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the East India Company, from the Maritime Museum in Gothenburg, library. All information about the sinking we have received from the Maritime Museum in Gothenburg, library and the account of the event was presented at the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the East India Company. MS 1931. Author unknown. As an East Indiaman, the Louvisa Ulrica made four voyages. The first voyage took place in December 1766 with Mattias Holmers as captain. Louvisa Ulrica, after serving as one of the company's 38 East Indiamen, was converted into a warship in the Swedish navy. As such, the Louvisa Ulrica sank on August 9, 1790, during a voyage between Marstrand and Vinga. In the spring of 1790, the naval fleet purchased Louvisa Ulrica, and she was outfitted as a line ship in Gothenburg and incorporated into the Gothenburg squadron, whose chief was Eneskjöld. The ship's captain at the time of the sinking was Captain Treutiger, a well-known name from the East India Company's voyages. On Sunday, the 8th of August, 1790, at 6 o'clock, sailing against a southeast headwind, the Swedish line ship "Lovisa Ulrica," armed with 50 cannons (according to another source, 60 cannons), departed from Marstrand and tacked southward in beautiful weather. With a cargo consisting of an additional 54 cannons (according to other sources, 43, 46, or 124 cannons), which were at least partly loaded in the cable room under the ship's galley. These cannons had been captured from the Russian frigate "Kilduin" (Kildwin), which was destined from the Baltic Sea to Arkangeslk in the Black Sea with a cargo of artillery materials for the Russian army and no less than 128 cannons, plus "Kilduin's" own 24 cannons. The cannon cargo aboard "Lovisa Ulrica" was intended for Gothenburg to strengthen its coastal defense. Sweden was at war with Russia since the Swedes had both attacked Russia, and now an attack from Russian naval forces was feared. At six o'clock on the morning of August 9th, Monday, after having tacked all night between Skagen and Vinga, having turned through the wind and for starboard tacks in towards Vinga, a severe leak near the port jib boom was discovered. Water gushed through the garnishing out into the passageways. The ship quickly took on a lot of water, the pumps were manned, but it was of no help. Attempts were made to lay the ship for the old tacks again. But the hull was so full of water that the ship refused to go over tack (to lay on the starboard side). Instead, they turned away from the wind, to no avail. They then let off and set course for land with open wind. Eneskjöld also hoisted the flag in distress (distress flag) and fired distress shots. Near Vinga, about four to five nautical miles away, the wreckage was detected by two English brigs which hurried to the rescue. While the fore part of the leaking line ship sank deeper and the port side list increased, the foremost cannons were thrown overboard and the anchors at the bow were to be cut. The more aft standing cannons were moved over to the starboard side. Attempts were also made to launch the ship's boats. But the nervousness only increased in the large crew, and the water rose. The nervousness eventually turned into full-blown panic. The cutter, a sloop, was stormed by the crew so that it capsized during the launching. When discussing a large group of people panicking, it is often exaggerated; it's usually just a few individuals who lose their composure. While the others try to cope as best they can and as time permits. There was often no time to organize, and this is what is perceived as panic. The officers, in any case, no longer seemed to have the ability to organize the rescue of the crew. The ship's largest boat, the Barkassen, had not even been launched before "Lovisa Ulrica" suddenly capsized and sank. Before this happened, Colonel Eneskjöld, along with Kjertmansskald and Fendrich Stuart, had secretly (it is said) gone into a small boat at the cabin under the stern deck of the ship and thus escaped. They saw the ship lay on its side and sink, dragging those on board down into the depths. The entire disaster from when the leak was discovered, took less than an hour [before the ship sank]. With the ship, the rolls of the crew also went down, so it was not known how many had perished in the shipwreck, and the figures are still uncertain. The authorized crew strength was to be 502 men, 9 officers, 23 non-commissioned officers, 150 boatswains, 100 hired sailors and volunteers, 102 cofferdam workers, farmhands and ship's boys, and finally 100 soldiers. But the crew was probably not that large, perhaps it was 459 men, of whom 119 were saved, about 340 would then have drowned. According to other consistent accounts, 84 men were rescued by the English ships. And at least around 240 men would have perished. Among the deceased were the ship's captain, Captain Teutiger. But the highest commander, squadron chief Eneskjöld, as previously mentioned, escaped with his life. He was later sentenced to six months suspension for negligence in maintaining shipyard discipline. Among others, the ship's captain Captain Fredrik Björk, Captain Johan Jakob Reuterfeld, ensign Ludvig von Braun, lieutenant Magnus Bornander with his 12-year-old son perished. Of the sea sub-officers, 14 out of 16 men died, including the tax constable Johan Fredrik von Dahlheim and two shipyard sub-officers, the masters-at-arms Abraham Schulz and Petter Rosvall. The three carpenters also drowned. Among the civil-military personnel, the field surgeon Josef Frulli and the muster writer Johan Fredrik Schevenius also perished. The Governor of Gothenburg, J.C. Adelskiöld, immediately after the disaster, issued a circular letter to all the Crown Commanders in the county, stating that all survivors of the deceased should receive financial assistance. A private collection for the families' aid was also started. No clear understanding of the cause of the shipwreck was ever obtained. One of the reasons is believed to be that the ship was too old for such heavy armament and heavy cargo, and that it had rot in the material. It had already made four trips to China. The first two took 18 months each, the third 15½ and the last one took 19 months, (between the years 1766 to 1786). It then had an armament of 16 cannons and a crew on its first voyage of 107 men, a captain, two helmsmen, 19 non-commissioned officers, 51 sailors, and 34 cabin boys. 'Lovisa Ulrica' was designed by shipbuilder Harald Sohlberg, built at Lothsack Kiermanska Djurgårdsvarvet, Stockholm (current Gröna Lund's amusement park, the shipyard was established there in 1735 by E. Lotsack). It was about 385 heavy loads (A heavy load is about 2.5 tons). With a length of about 147 feet (A foot is 29.69 cm) and a width of about 39 feet, and with a draught in the stern of 21.1 feet. In 1757, the construction of the line ship for the crown's account began. The construction progressed slowly, and in 1763, the state had to sell the construction to the Swedish East India Company for financial reasons. When she was finally completed in 1766, she had been converted into a frigate for East India trade. 'Lovisa Ulrica's' planned appearance, which she perhaps eventually received, included a tarred hull, weapon figures in brown and white. This meant that the poop and half deck were built together into a flush deck, so that there was only a hatch covered with planking between the mainmast and the foremast, as was common on East Indiamen. The cabin deck also became larger, to leave the necessary space. The lower battery's gun ports were partly built in, except for those that might be needed for loading. She carried 16 cannons, and there were also dummy cannons made of wood. In the 1780s, the ship was taken over again by the navy, which rebuilt it from an East Indiaman to the 50-gun line ship it was originally meant to become. The ship was resized and rebuilt. Rebuilding a ship is a technical term meaning that the ship was completely or partially disassembled and then put back together, and bad pieces of wood, etc., were replaced. 'Lovisa Ulrica' was initially built with a warship's sharp underwater shape and with heavy oak timber and roughly sized material dimensions. The hull of a man-of-war was between 30 cm to one meter thick, in places thicker. This was to withstand enemy fire, but this reduced the ship's cargo capacity. When the Swedish East India Company took over the construction of the ship, they surely reduced the material dimensions where possible, so that the ship became more like a less sturdily built merchant ship. But to be a merchant ship, she was probably very strongly built. Now, in the rebuilding into a warship, it was probably not at all difficult to resize her up to a heavy line ship, but she would have become quite top-heavy. This might also have been significant in the sinking. The stern was sculpted with figure painting, a cartouche marked LU surrounded by cornucopias. Weapon figures in brown and white, the hull was tarred. She was probably also copper-sheathed by now, (the underwater hull was clad with copper plates) which began to be done with most larger warships around the 1780s. This was even when the ships were stationed in the Baltic Sea, where they did not need protection against shipworm. Therefore, it would be strange if a ship that had been on the stocks and exposed to extensive reconstruction and was to be stationed in the salty waters of the West Coast, would not have this protection. 'Louisa Ulrica' was not fully fitted out and never became so before she sank. In 1789, she was still incorporated into the Gothenburg squadron. One of the reasons for 'Lovisa Ulrica's' wreck between Marstrand and Vinga, may have been that the ship was too heavily loaded, the heavy reinforcement of the ship, the weight of an armament of 50 cannons, and finally the decisive factor, the load of the captured cannons, made her lie too deep in the water and the lower gun ports, (which did not exist before), were partly submerged, which may have been responsible or partly responsible for the incoming water. The shifting of the cannon load may also have been a contributing factor. Eneskjöld was also accused of allowing intoxicated people to stow the cannons. Overloading was in the past a very common contributing cause of shipwrecks. It had previously sailed with her fully armed. On June 25, 1790, she sailed with Engelholm as the commander towards Gothenburg. The weather was harsh with rain squalls. Even though she had double-reefed topsails (the square sail just above the tops, usually double on merchant ships), the lower row of gun ports was underwater, but she made headway. This time she did not have a cargo of 54 cannons, how deep would she have lain if fully loaded. The gun ports were only temporarily sealed, they could be opened for use by the ship's own artillery. And one of them could have opened and caused the leak. The official explanation for the sinking is uncertain; it could have been due to rot in the material, or one of the poorly stowed cannons might have caused a leak in the old wooden hull. During her cruise towards Gothenburg with the cannon load, she had not come very far, if the time reports are correct. The ship must have been very poor at tacking, and when she had not come further than Vinga in a day, it would be likely that the ship tipped several times from starboard to port side and that the cannons in the cargo hold then broke loose is not so unlikely. Some of the cannons that were loaded on board and followed her into the depths were four 48-pound Russian bronze cannons, which Eneksjöld took on board against issued orders. At the cross south-east of the skerry Grytan lie the cannons from "Lovisa Ulrica". (Sea chart from 1891) There probably has been no salvage at all after the shipwreck or during the 1700s. In any case, there is no mention of anything like that. Where no masts are standing up from the sea, there usually was no extensive salvage, simply because the location of the wreck was not known. | |
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Copyright © Jan-Erik Nilsson 1998, 2010, 2023