Riksäpplet

Type

Ship of the Line

Period

17th Century

Nation

Sweden

Overview: Riksäpplet, also called Äpplet, was an 84-gun Swedish ship of the line and one of the first Swedish warships built under English master shipwright Francis Sheldon, making her historically significant as a marker of English naval architecture's introduction to Swedish shipbuilding. Specifications: Built at Gamla Varvet at Stigberget in Gothenburg with keel laid in 1661 and launch in 1663, she measured roughly 47 metres in length with an 11.16-metre beam and 5.05-metre draft. Her armament is cited at 84 guns, with some sources giving figures up to 91, spread across two main gun decks, and she ranked as the third-largest ship in the Swedish fleet of her day. Service History: Serving as a vice-admiral's flagship in the opening phase of the Scanian War, Riksäpplet took part in the disastrous Battle of Öland on 1 June 1676 against a combined Danish-Dutch fleet, in which her larger sister ships Kronan and Svärdet were lost. Days after the battle, while anchored near the Dalarö sea fortress for protective cover, a storm caused her to drag anchor and drive onto rocks, and she sank with only around fifty of her crew saved. Notable Facts: Black oak timber salvaged from the wreck via dynamite blasting in 1868 was reportedly used in the construction of gates at Stockholm City Hall, and further demolition for valuable bog-oak timber occurred in the 1920s. Recovered carved sculptures, including a figurehead and an apple-shaped nameplate sculpture, are now held by Swedish museums, and the wreck at roughly 15 metres depth near Dalarö remains a subject of ongoing Swedish maritime archaeological research, notably Niklas Eriksson's 2017 monograph in Post-Medieval Archaeology.