“ Ormen Friske ” ( Swede. Ormen Friske ) is a Swedish replica of the Gokstad Viking ship , which died with the whole crew in the Helgoland Bay of the North Sea in June 1950 [1] .
The ship “Ormen Friske” was built in the spring of 1949 at the training center of the Swedish Sports Federation in Stensund (Södermanland County) and launched in June of that year. The model for the creation of the Ormen Friske was the famous Norwegian Viking ship, found in Norway in 1880. But if the hull of the Gokstad ship was oak , fastened with forged iron rivets , then in the construction of the replica ship the materials and technological methods that were usual for shipyards of the 40s of the 20th century were used . In particular, the case was made of pine , and the rivets were replaced with bolts .
In June 1950, the "Ormen Friske" was towed through the Kiel Canal and, under its own power, left the mouth of the Elbe River in the Helgoland Bay. On board were 15 people, led by Stan Schroeder, the initiator of the project and the leader of the Swedish Sports Federation. All members of the ship's crew had good physical fitness . The weather was clear, the weather service did not give any warnings. But during the day a violent storm suddenly broke out.
"Ormen Friske" was seen in the North Sea from a floating lighthouse , several merchant ships and fishing boats, the last time - near the island of Helgoland . When the weather deteriorated sharply and night fell, about 20 fishing ships and the military, guarding the Helgoland Bay, took part in the search for the ship. But only a few days later the wreckage of the ship was found on the shore of the island of Pellworm . All 15 crew members were killed, nine of them were found, delivered to Sweden and buried.
The German authorities took care of the wreckage and insisted on a technical examination . But the Consul General of Sweden in Hamburg decided not to investigate.
Apparently, the cause of the death of the ship was a strong storm (wind up to 25 m / s, wave height 4-5 meters). In addition, experts and journalists investigating the death of the ship suggested that its survivability could be weakened by technological errors (using sawn wood instead of typical parts from a split and carved forest typical of the Viking era), lack of ballast , and the general unsuitability of a replica ship made for demonstration purposes , for swimming in the open sea , especially in a storm.
A few months after the crash, a message in a bottle was found on the Danish coast of the North Sea, which read: “Help, help. "Ormen Friske" bombardment . " It is worth noting that the island of Helgoland, near which Ormen Friske died, was used after the Second World War as a training ground for strategic bomber exercises in the USA and Great Britain . Danish police sent a message to Stockholm for a forensic examination , but it was unsuccessful. The question is whether the message is genuine, or is it someone's unsuccessful joke, remains open. No evidence was found that the cause of the death of the ship was the bombing.
Monuments to those killed on the Ormen Friske are erected on the island of Pellworm, in Sweden - in Stensund , where the ship was built, and in Kalmar .
Notes
- ↑ I. von Firks. “Viking ships”, chapter “Ship from Gokstad” (Sudostroenie Publishing House. Leningrad, 1982. Translated from German by A. A. Cheban, reviewer Doctor of Historical Sciences M. A. Kogan.).