Svärdet (1663-1676) : Ett regalskepp byggt på holländskt manér

Svärdet (1663-1676) - a ship built in the Dutch manner. During the first half of the Seventeenth century the Swedish navy relied on Dutch master shipwrights who built ships in what was dubbed as ‘the Dutch manner’ Det holländska manéret. By the midcentury, the relations between the countries deteriorated to war. In this situation the Swedish Admirality sought for shipbuilding competence in England, which resulted in the introduction of the English manner – Det engelska manéret. In 2011 the remains of the ship Svärdet was discovered outside Öland. The ship was built 1660 to 1663 and sank during a battle in 1676. This paper presents the results from the initial survey of the wreck. Together with written sources and some preserved images of the ship it has been possible to get an impression of what the ship looked like. Focus of the paper is to present Svärdet as an example of one of the last ships built by the Dutch master shipwrights