New underwater documentation of the 1524 wreck has been compiled.

Swedes have produced new underwater documentation of the 16th century warship Kraveln, the wreck of which rests in the Baltic Sea near the islands of the Stockholm Archipelago.

The vessel belonged to King Gustavus Vasa of Sweden and at the time of sinking had on board a large number of various “war equipment” and armament, including a sizeable set of cannons.

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The Kraveln was a ship only about 20 metres long and was most probably built in Gdansk around 1513. Today the remains of the vessel, in the form of the keel and floor beams, lie on a shelf protruding from the escarpment at a depth of 30 metres.

During the creation of the latest documentation modern equipment was used, thanks to which a deeper area below the wreck was filmed and detailed photographic documentation was made. The work made it possible, among other things, to establish that fragments of the sunken vessel fell deeper, in places to a depth of almost 50 metres.

Re-exploration of the site also made new, previously unknown discoveries. Among other things, wonderful artefacts in the form of large wrought iron cannons were found. The ship’s rudder, to which the tiller is still attached, was also documented.

As it can be seen, the re-examination of wrecks discovered many years ago is not only advisable, but actually necessary. Modern technology and tools available today allow not only to get to know the sunken wrecks better, but also to prepare their detailed documentation or 3D models, which are able to virtually freeze them in time and preserve their accurate image for future generations.

MARIS University Södertörn in cooperation with Västerviks Museum and Ocean Discovery