Name Stora Sofia Beam 34 Danish feet Launched 1627 | Length 147½ Danish feet Draught 14⅓ Danish feet | |
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Builder Slottö shipyard in Nakskov Fate Sank on 25 May 1645 near Buskär | ||
Stora Sofia (Danish: Grand Sofia) was a Danish ship of the line that sank on 25 May 1645 near Buskär outside the harbour of Gothenburg.
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Construction and design
The ship was built in 1627 on the Slottö shipyard in Nakskov in Denmark after a design of Scottish shipbuilder Daniel Sinclair. Stora Sofia was the flagship of the navy of the Danish king Christian IV. She was armed with 44 cannons on three decks; according to contemporary sources, she had four 48-pounders, eighteen 24-pounders, twenty 8-pounders and several smaller cannons.
Service
During the short Torstenson War between Denmark-Norway and Sweden in 1645, Denmark put an embargo on the young city of Gothenburg, founded in 1621. Stora Sofia was the flagship of a Danish fleet under admiral Ove Gjedde that was ordered to enforce the embargo. Shortly after the arrival of the fleet, a storm broke loose and threw the Stora Sofia onto the rocks. The ship sank to a depth of 27 metres; her crew was saved.
Discovery of the wreck
The wreck was rediscovered only in 1961. More thorough explorations and archeological studies began in the 1980s.