| Wreckage of Kattan | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Swedish expedition to New Sweden (1649) | |||||||
 Map of Puerto Rico | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Swedish Empire | |||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Cornelius Lucifer (POW) Jan Janson Bockhorn (POW) | Unknown | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
| Kattan | Unknown | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 1 ship 70 passengers 30 crew | 2 ships | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Entire crew captured | Unknown | ||||||
The Wreckage of Kattan was the wreckage of the Swedish ship Kattan in August 28. The crew was taken by Spanish pirates back to Puerto Rico.
In 1649, in response to New Sweden needing new settlers and recources, the Swedish ship "Kattan" was sent towards New Sweden. It was originally the Kalmar Nyckel that was meant to sail towards the colony, however, it was so damaged that it had no chance of making it across the Atlantic. [1] The commanders of the Kattan would be Cornelius Lucifer and Jan Janson Bockhorn. [2] [1] The ship left Gothenburg harbor on July 3. [1] [3] [4]
On August 28, the Kattan got stuck in an underwater reef, but managed to break free. However, the ship quickly got stuck again, and the crew could not move it. [2] The women and children on board were put into the lifeboats and rowed towards a nearby island with provisions. A severe storm later broke out and the crew was forced to cut off the masts and throw them into the water. [2] [5]
The next day, the men joined the women and children on the island, unfortunately for them, the island was uninhabited and had no fresh water, and they tried to survive on the island for 8 days. [2]
After 5 days of surviving on the island, a bark passed by the stranded island, and the Swedes quickly fired two distress signals, but the ship did not dare to help as the skipper thought they were a pirate crew, and sailed to Puerto Rico to notify the Spaniards about it. [5]
Then, 2 Spanish pirate ships appeared and asked who the survivors were, when the survivors showed their Swedish pass, the Spaniards said they had never heard of that country before. [5]
The survivors were challenged to fight or surrender, [5] after which they quickly stole all of the Swedes possessions and brought them to Puerto Rico where they were forced to parade amid fifes and trumpets into the town square where they were forced to work or beg on the streets. [4] [2] [1] Only a handful of the Swedes managed to survive. [6] [7]
On 1 May 1650, 24 Swedes managed to get onboard a bark on which they began sailing away from Puerto Rico. However, after a few days of sailing they were attacked by a French ship and lost all of their possessions, they were subjected to physical abuse, with a woman dying after being raped by the French captain. [1]
New Sweden was a colony of the Swedish Empire along the lower reaches of the Delaware River between 1638 and 1655 in present-day Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania in the United States. Established during the Thirty Years' War when Sweden was a great power, New Sweden formed part of the Swedish efforts to colonize the Americas.
Peter Minuit was a Walloon merchant from Wesel, in present-day northwestern Germany. He was the 3rd Director of the Dutch North American colony of New Netherland from 1626 until 1631, and 3rd Governor of New Netherland. He founded the Swedish colony of New Sweden on the Delaware Peninsula in 1638.
Samuel Blommaert was a Flemish/Dutch merchant and director of the Dutch West India Company from 1622 to 1629 and again from 1636 to 1642. In the latter period, he was a paid commissioner of Sweden in the Netherlands and he played a dubious but key role in Peter Minuit's expedition that led to the Swedish colonizing of New Sweden. For years Blommaert was involved in the copper trade and industry. In 1645 he was appointed for a third time as a manager of the WIC, being one of the main investors from the beginning.
Fort Christina was the first Swedish settlement in North America and the principal settlement of the New Sweden colony. Built in 1638 and named after Queen Christina of Sweden, it was located approximately 1 mi (1.6 km) east of the present-day downtown Wilmington, Delaware, at the confluence of the Brandywine River and the Christina River, approximately 2 mi (3 km) upstream from the mouth of the Christina on the Delaware River.
The Delaware Colony, officially known as the three "Lower Counties on the Delaware", was a semiautonomous region of the proprietary Province of Pennsylvania and a de facto British colony in North America. Although not royally sanctioned, Delaware consisted of the three counties on the west bank of the Delaware River Bay.
Jean-David Nau, better known as François l'Olonnais, was a French pirate active in the Caribbean during the 1660s.
Swedes' Landing is the warehouse road found along the Minquas Kill in Wilmington, Delaware that is close to the Delaware River. This was the site where the initial Swedish landing took place and marks the spot where the New Sweden colony began. The first Swedish expedition to North America, under the command of Peter Minuit, embarked from the port of Gothenburg in late 1637. The members of the expedition, aboard the ships Fogel Grip and Kalmar Nyckel, sailed into Delaware Bay, which lay within the territory claimed by the Dutch West India Company and anchored at a rocky point on Swedes' Landing on March 29, 1638. They built a fort on the site which they named Fort Christina after Queen Christina of Sweden. Today Swedes Landing Road is a short stretch from 4th Street to 7th Street and ends at a long two-story mural depicting the area from the time before the Swedes came through the modern Wilmington waterfront. At the far end of the mural is the entrance to Fort Christina National Historical Site, a part of the First State National Historical Park System.
Swedish overseas colonies consisted of the overseas colonies controlled by Sweden. Sweden possessed overseas colonies from 1638 to 1663, in 1733 and from 1784 to 1878. Sweden possessed five colonies, four of which were short lived. The colonies spanned three continents: Africa, Asia and North America.
Gloria Dei Church, known locally as Old Swedes', is a historic church located in the Southwark neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at 929 South Water Street, bounded by Christian Street on the north, South Christopher Columbus Boulevard on the east, and Washington Avenue on the south. It was built between 1698 and 1700, making it the oldest church in Pennsylvania and second oldest Swedish church in the United States after Holy Trinity Church in Wilmington, Delaware.
Måns Andersson, was a pioneer in the Swedish colony of New Sweden.
Reorus Torkillus (1608–1643) was priest of the Church of Sweden and the first Lutheran clergyman to settle in what would become the United States.
Måns Nilsson Kling or Mauno Kling was the second governor of the 17th century colony of New Sweden, which he administrated from Fort Christina, now Wilmington, Delaware, United States.
Peter Gunnarsson Rambo was a Swedish immigrant to New Sweden known as a farmer and a justice of the Governor's Council after the British took control of the area. He was the longest living of the original Swedish settlers and became known as the Father of New Sweden. Rambo's Rock along the Schuylkill River is named for his family.
The West Indies Squadron, or the West Indies Station, was a United States Navy squadron that operated in the West Indies in the early nineteenth century. It was formed due to the need to suppress piracy in the Caribbean Sea, the Antilles and the Gulf of Mexico region of the Atlantic Ocean. This unit later engaged in the Second Seminole War until being combined with the Home Squadron in 1842. From 1822 to 1826 the squadron was based out of Saint Thomas Island until the Pensacola Naval Yard was constructed.
The Swedish Colonial Society is America's oldest organization dedicated to the study and preservation of New Sweden history. In addition to collecting and publishing research on Swedes and Finns in America, the Society maintains parks, monuments, and memorials of historic sites. A unique aspect of the group is its connection to Sweden's royal family and the Swedish government.
Fogel Grip was a Swedish sailing ship originally built in the Netherlands in the early 17th century. She was used on the first Swedish expedition in 1638 together with Kalmar Nyckel to establish the colony of New Sweden.
The West Indies Anti-Piracy Operations were a series of military operations and engagements undertaken by the United States Navy against pirates in and around the Antilles. Between 1814 and 1825, the American West Indies Squadron hunted pirates on both sea and land, primarily around Cuba and Puerto Rico. After the capture of Roberto Cofresi in 1825, acts of piracy became rare, and the operation was considered a success, although limited occurrences went on until slightly after the start of the 20th century.
The Attack on Marstrand was a successful Dano-Norwegian siege of the Swedish town of Marstrand and Carlsten fortress which took place between July 10 and July 16, 1719 during the end of the Great Northern War.
The Delaware Tercentenary half dollar is a commemorative fifty-cent piece struck by the United States Bureau of the Mint to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the first successful European settlement in Delaware. The reverse features the Swedish ship Kalmar Nyckel, which brought early settlers to Delaware, and the obverse depicts Old Swedes Church, which has been described as being the oldest Protestant church in the United States still used as a place of worship. While the coins are dated "1936" on the obverse and the reverse also has the dual date of "1638" and "1938", the coins were actually struck in 1937.
The Standoff near St. Christopher was a confrontation between the Swedish ship Örnen and three Turkish ships near the island of St. Christopher in 1654. The Turkish ships failed to hijack the Swedish ship and retreated.
