The Craziest Find On This 17th Century Sunken Ship Wasn’t the Gold Coin Or Antique Jewel…

On June 1, 1676, one of the most impressive battleships in the Swedish fleet, the Kronan, sank to the bottom of the sea.

With the Kronan went a vast hoard of valuable treasure including gold and jewels, but by far the most interesting relic has only recently been discovered…

Treasure Hunting

There’s a lot of treasure hidden at the bottom of the ocean. While pirates very rarely buried their plunder on land, there have been countless tales of stolen riches sinking alongside an overladen ship when a storm caught everyone off-guard.

Life on the Waves

In the 17th Century, naval powers across Europe were in an arms race to create the most technologically impressive, powerful battleships imaginable.

All of this speed and firepower was put to work stealing from poorer nations, and fighting with other super powers for dominance of the sea.

Pride of Sweden

In the early 1670s, the Kronan (also called the Stora Kronan) was one of the prides of the Swedish navy. It was one of the largest warships ever constructed, and was instrumental in the Scanian War— although not in the way Sweden had hoped.

War on the High Seas

The Scanian War involved many northern European countries as they battled for dominance over the sea, and, by extension, their various perceived right to travel to distant lands in order to steal their wealth, land and even citizens.