Scuba Divers Discover 17th Century Shipwreck off the Coast of Sweden

A shipwreck thought to be the Svardet (Sword) vessel that sank during a battle in 1676 has been discovered by a team of scuba divers off the eastern coast of Sweden.

The warship was lost during a battle with the united Danish-Dutch naval forces along with the Swedish navy's flagship Kronan (the Crown). The Svardet was set alight and it sank off the Baltic Sea Island of Oland taking 600 people with it.

The shipwreck of the Kronan was discovered in 1980 by scuba diving experts and several of its artefacts are now on display at the Kalmar County Museum.

Image by : diveimage, on Flickr.

The new wreck was found in deeper waters than the Kroner, making it more difficult for the divers to locate it during the scuba diving expeditions.

Lars Einarsson a marine archaeologist at the museum and an expert on the Kronan vessel spoke about the condition of the Svardet.

"From what I have heard, a lot of the hull remains," he said. "Cannon have been spotted, too."

Image by : doctormike, on Flickr.

The Swedish waters could soon see an influx of divers heading to the country for wreck diving adventures after another vessel was found recently by a team of divers. The ship is thought to be the warship. Mars, which sank in a battle between the Swedish Navy and Denmark's vessels in May 1564.

Both teams are planning to investigate the wrecks using sonars and special deep diving equipment. The low oxygen content and low water temperature of the Baltic Sea contributes towards the preservation of sunken wrecks and there is a chance that the divers could also find many preserved artefacts on the vessels.

Image by Images Of Life Photography, on Flickr.

Diving to the bottom of the ocean to explore historic wreck is becoming an increasingly popular activity during scuba diving holidays. Many divers, both professional and recreational, head to ocean beds all over the world to try and locate lost wrecks and their treasures.

Sweden's waters are home to an array of sunken vessels including the 12-century Foteviken ships; the Oskarshamn cog; Ringaren, a merchant ship; Elefanten, a Swedish warship; Emmy Hasse, a 79-metre-long British steamer; the S7, a Soviet submarine sunk in 1942; and Vasa, a Swedish 64 gun battleship.