[Stora] Kronan

A Swedish 126 gun warship built in Stockholm by the English shipwright Francis Sheldon and launched in 1668. The dimensions of the ship were 53,00×12,92×6,23 meters [178'5"×43'] with a calculated displacement of 2140 tons. The armament of 126 guns made her the most powerful ship of her time.

Capsized during the Battle of Öland, 1676, against the combined Danish and Dutch fleets and exploded and sank. Most of the guns were salvaged already during the 17th century using a primitive diving bell.

Discovered in 1981 after extensive archival research by the naval historian Anders Franzén. Several of the remaining guns have been salvaged and are on display at the Kalmar Länsmuseum together with many other unique relicts from the wreck. The oldest guns found so far is a German 30 pound piece cast in 1514 and the youngest was cast in 1661.

1664 October 27: The keel was laid at the Royal Shipyard, Skeppsholmen, Stockholm.
1668 July 31: Launched.
1672: The completion of the ship was delayed due to shortage of funds.
1676 June 1: Capsized, exploded and sank during the Battle of Öland against the combined Danish and Dutch fleets under command of Admiral Niels Juel. It has been said that the Admiral Lorentz Creutz, the Elder, was personally responsible for the disaster. Some 800 men, including the admiral and his son, lost their lives when the ship sank.
1980 August 8: The wreck was found by Anders Franzén et al. at 26 meters depth some 4 nautical miles East of the church of Hulterstad, Öland.

Select Bibliography

anon.: Bärgning av Regalskeppet Kronan.
Sveriges Flotta årg. 79, Sthlm, 1983. pp 3:19-21, ill.
Kronan. Kalmar läns museums utställning sommaren 1982.
Museet, Kalmar, 1982. 21x28 cm, 32 pp, ill.
Anderson, R.C.: Francis Sheldon and his Family.
Mariner's Mirror vol. 43, London, 1957. pp 101-105.
Johansson, Björn Axel red.: Regalskeppet Kronan.
Bokförlaget Trevi, Stockholm, 1985. 4to, 272 pp, ill.
Kronanprojektet. Rapport över 1982 års undersökningar vid vrakplatsen efter regalskeppet Kronan.
Kalmar Läns Museum, Kalmar, (1983). A4, 9 pp, 5 folded plates (of XII).
Kronanprojektet. Rapport över 1983 års undersökningar vid vrakplatsen efter regalskeppet Kronan.
Kalmar Läns Museum, Kalmar, (1984). A4, 8 pp, 3 folded plates (of VII).
Einarsson, Lars: HMS Kronan: Underwater Archaeological Investigation of a 17th century Man-of-War.
Society for Historical Archaeology, Savannah, pp 99-102. In Underwater archaeology proceedings from the Society for Historical Archaeology conference, pp 99-102.
Einarsson, Lars: Kronanprojektet. Rapport över 1984 års undersökningar vid vrakplatsen efter regalskeppet Kronan.
Kalmar Läns Museum, Kalmar, (1985). A4, (4), 16, (64) pp, ill., 2 folded plates;
Einarsson, Lars: Kronanprojektet. Rapport över 1985 års undersökningar vid vrakplatsen efter regalskeppet Kronan.
Kalmar Läns Museum, Kalmar, (1986). A4, (4), 20, (31) pp, ill., 5 folded plates;
Einarsson, Lars: Kronanprojektet. Rapport över 1986 års undersökningar vid vrakplatsen efter regalskeppet Kronan.
Kalmar Läns Museum, Kalmar, (1987). A4, (4), 26, (37) pp, ill., 3 plates;
Einarsson, Lars: Kronanprojektet. Rapport över 1987 års undersökningar vid vrakplatsen efter regalskeppet Kronan.
Kalmar Läns Museum, Kalmar, (1988). A4, (4), 22, (24), 11 pp, ill., 10 plates.
Einarsson, Lars: Kronanprojektet. Rapport över 1988 års undersökningar vid vrakplatsen efter regalskeppet Kronan.
Kalmar Läns Museum, Kalmar, (1989). A4, (4), 24, (22), 20 pp, ill., 10 plates.
Einarsson, Lars: Kronanprojektet. Rapport över 1989 års undersökningar vid vrakplatsen efter regalskeppet Kronan.
Kalmar Läns Museum, Kalmar, (1990). A4, (6), 20, (20), 17 pp, ill., 10 folded plates.
Einarsson, Lars: Kronanprojektet. Rapport över 1990 års undersökningar vid vrakplatsen efter regalskeppet Kronan.
Kalmar Läns Museum, Kalmar, (1991). A4, (6), 16, (21), 9 pp, ill., 6 folded plates.
Einarsson, Lars: Kronanprojektet. Rapport över 1991 års undersökningar vid vrakplatsen efter regalskeppet Kronan.
Kalmar Läns Museum, Kalmar, (1992). A4, (6), 22, (2), 13, (13) pp, ill., 7 plates.
Einarsson, Lars: Kronan - underwater archaeological investigations of a 17th-century man-of-war. The nature, aims and development of a maritime cultural project.
IJNA Vol. 19, London, 1990. pp 279-297, ill.
Einarsson, Lars: Regalskeppet Kronan, en marin katastrof - en arkeologisk skapp.
Kalmar Läns Museum.
Franzén, Anders: HMS Kronan. The search for a great 17th century Swedish warship.
Kungl. Tekniska Högskolans Bibliotek, Stockholm, 1981. A4, 64 pp, ill.
= Stockholm Papers in History and Philosophy of Technology 2009.
Franzén, Anders: Kronan. Remnants of a Warship's Past.
National Geographic Magazine, Vol. 175. pp 438-464.
Grisell, B.: Technical aspects of the excavations of HMS Kronan.
Society for Historical Archaeology, Savannah, pp 99-102.
Published in Underwater archaeology proceedings from the Society for Historical Archaeology conference, pp 103-104.
Johansson, Björn Axel: Med dykarklocka på regalskeppet Kronan.
Published in: … se över relingens rand!, 1993.
Lanitzki, Günter: Flaggschiff Kronan. Schatzkammer vor Schwedens Küste.
VEB Verlag für Verkehrswesen, Berlin, 1989. 8vo, 200 pp, ill
Lundgren, Kurt: De sista breven från regalskeppet Cronan
Published in: Öland. Brottsling. Bödel. Strandade skepp, 1996. pp 63-69.
Lundgren, Kurt: Stora Cronan. Byggandet. Slaget. Plundringen av Öland. En genomgång av historiens källmaterial.
Lenstad Bok & Bild, np, 1997. 8vo, 262 pp, ill.
Norman, Peter: Regalskeppet Kronan. Rapport ang. 1981 års marinarkeologiska undersökningar.
Kalmar Läns Museum, Kalmar, 1982. A4, 10 pp, 1 plate,
Probst, Niels: Skånske krigs orlogsskibe. Et forsøg på en vurdering af samtidens billedmateriale.
Maritim Kontakt 12, København, 1988. pp 17-57, ill.
Randall, Lorelei: Regalskeppet Kronans förlisning 1676. En studie av bakomliggande faktorer.
Arkeologiska Institutionen. Stockholms Universitet, Stockholm, 1994. A4, (2), 41, (7) leaves, ill.

Updated 1998-08-03 by Lars Bruzelius

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