Name Hanneke Wrome Class and type Hanseatic Class Launched 1468 | Out of service 11 November 1468 Tons burthen bm Length 40 m | |
Honours and
awards Named after her captain and owner Hanne Wrome. Fate Sunk outside the island of Jussarö in Raseborg, Finland. | ||
Hanneke Wrome was a 15th-century Hanseatic ship that sunk outside the island of Jussarö in Raseborg, Finland on 11 November 1468. It was named after her captain and owner Hanne Wrome.
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Origin of the vessel
Hanneke Wrome was named after her captain and owner Hanne Wrome.
Hanneke Wrome was one of two ships on their way from the German town of Lübeck to Tallinn, Estonia. It sunk outside the island of Jussarö in Raseborg, Finland on 11 November 1468. The other ship managed to reach its destination, but Hanneke Wrome wrecked in a hard storm that forced it to move closer to coast of Finland. It went down with more than 200 passengers and crew members.
According to historic documents, the ship was carrying a cargo of 200 parcels of fabric, 1,200 barrels of honey, 10,000 gold coins and gold jewelry. The estimated value today is more than 150 million dollars.
Wreck discovery
The shipwreck measures approximately 30 meters in length and consists of three relatively well-preserved sections of the frame made from oak planks. There is a keel, mast and anchor, which is sticking out of the bottom of the upright, The anchor is fragile. It is exactly the kind of anchor used in the Hanseatic ships. Hanneke Wrome was built in the style of a Hanseatic cog, but it is bigger and may be a hulk ship instead.
The discovery was announced in May 2015 by an archaeological diving team in Finland and was headed by diver and wreck researcher Rauno Koivusaari, Finland’s most experienced wreck researcher who also found the wreck of Vrouw Maria in 1999. The team included divers from Finland, Sweden and Chile. The footage shows well-preserved sections of the 130-foot (40 m) long hull and an anchor. Koivusaari and his team have also recovered a barrel lid, roof tile pieces, and an unidentified lead object. They are confident that the gold coins will also be retrieved.
Koivusaari and the National Board of Antiquities have now planned further investigations of the wreck in the summer of 2015, as well as dating of the wood to confirm that it is the Hanneke Wrome. The chief curator of the National Board of Antiquities has described it as an “extremely rare discovery” and “very significant”.