Svärdet was the little sister to the more powerful warship Kronan and the two ships sank during the same battle (Battle of Öland) in 1676. Svärdet was adorned with 86 cannons and was Claes Ugglas’ flagship. It was shot to pieces and set on fire by a Danish-Norwegian-Dutch fleet during the battle at Öland’s southern tip. 600 men, including commander Uggla, died. Kronan expert Lars Einarsson says there’s still a lot of Svärdet left.

“You can visualize the ship under the water, and we’ve seen cannons,” he says. The Battle of Öland was a catastrophe for the Swedish navy: Two of the biggest ships were lost, as well as the admiral and one of the navy’s most experienced commander-in-chiefs – and all within a couple of hours. The result meant Denmark controlled the southern part of the Baltic Sea until the end of the Scanian War, three years later in 1679. The wreck of Kronan was located in 1980 by amateur researcher Anders Franén, the man who also discovered the location of Vasa in the 1950’s.

*"Former island" - Sweden's second largest island, Öland, is not considered an island by the European Union...