Swedish Warship Mars

[Jopa79]

With a length of 96 meters and a beam of 28 meters HMS Mars, also known as Makalös was one of the mightiest warships during the early years of the Age of Sail.

The Nordic Seven Years' War was fought during 1563-1570 motivated by the Danish dissatisfaction with the dissolution of the Kalmar Union and the Swedish will to break the Danish domination especially in the Baltic Sea trade. Eventually the war ended in a stalemate, neither party gaining any territory, but the earlier Swedish break-up with the Kalmar Union and the independence stayed valid.

To achieve the control of the Baltic Sea and to master the trade there Denmark allied with the former "Queen of Hanseatic League", Lubeck. Sweden was in weak position, without allies, Denmark dominated in the Baltic Sea and controlled the Swedish access to the North Sea by the Danish Sound Dues. Sweden began establishing itself as a rival power of Denmark-Norway.

To challenge the Danish domination, in 1561 Sweden began the building of the mightiest warship the world had ever seen. Still in the 1500's most of the naval battles were fought like the land battles - a man against a man, the "floating castles" sailed towards each other, rammed, the sailors grappled the hooks and boarded on the enemy ship to combat against the foe. HMS Mars presented for a revolutionary step in the naval combat - the Swedish King, Erik XIV searched for more experienced, more modern ways to fight at the sea - if a ship was capable of carrying dozens of cannons it could sink the enemy ship at long-range distances, alternatively the enemy could hoist the white flag and surrender if suffered enough damage, either way the deadly-cost close combat would be avoided.

Constructed only of the finest oak wood Mars was equipped with a "cannonball-proof" hull. Only trees with the exact shape for the hull were qualified enough - the trees cut for shipbuilding and for HMS Mars were enormous of their size and it took hundreds of years for an oak to achieve such a scale - the next time would be during the era of the ironclads. HMS Mars had five decks, two decks for the cannons - 120 pieces of them, the ship was launched in 1563 and weighting 1 800 tons it was the mightiest warship in Europe.

During the Nordic Seven Years' War Sweden achieved victories in naval battles using the new naval doctrines - avoiding the close-combat at the sea, rather sinking or forcing the enemy ships to surrender allowed by the heavy Swedish ships equipped with cannons. HMS Mars entered for her first battle during the First Battle of Öland in 1564, the ship coffers were filled with money and valuables worth of €13 million in today's money in order to hire soldiers from the Northern Germany and gain support from Mecklenburg for the Swedish war effort. During the initial phase of the battle HMS Mars was able to avoid the Danish boarding attempts, but the Danes succeeded in damaging Mars' steering gear. HMS Mars catch fire while it was shot by incendiary-rounds. The Danes boarded the ship and after bitter fighting achieved a victory in the close-quarters against the Swedes. The HMS Mars' coffers were looted, just barely before the fire reached the ship's powder kegs. Of the explosion the bow severed and HMS Mars rose above the sea level, the scrapped ship sank on the scene.

HMS Mars was larger than the other, better-known Swedish flagship, Wasa - built some 60 years later. HMS Mars presented the modern and subversive view in naval combat - ironically it was sank by using the old methods at the sea. After laying 447 years at the bottom of sea the Mars' wreck was discovered in 2011 and confirmed in 2018.

 

[Båtsman]

Great post. However i would just like to add that Mars was not built by king Erik XIV in some sort of personal folly. The case is rather the complete opposite actually. The Baltic of the 16th century saw a veritable naval arms-race, where both The Hansa and Denmark were building monster ships of their own. Unfortunately I just can't seem to remember the name of the Danish floating mega tub for the life of me. But the Hanseatic ship was named Der Adler, and was just as much of a wind-powered Death Star as Mars was.

And for a final note, my usual saying is that the Swedish Navy has a tradition just as glorious as that of the Danish Army.

 

[Jopa79]

Great post. However i would just like to add that Mars was not built by king Erik XIV in some sort of personal folly. The case is rather the complete opposite actually. The Baltic of the 16th century saw a veritable naval arms-race, where both The Hansa and Denmark were building monster ships of their own. Unfortunately I just can't seem to remember the name of the Danish floating mega tub for the life of me. But the Hanseatic ship was named Der Adler, and was just as much of a wind-powered Death Star as Mars was.

I appreciate your feedback, thanks. And helpful info about Der Adler.

And for a final note, my usual saying is that the Swedish Navy has a tradition just as glorious as that of the Danish Army.

I think there are some certain reasons about why Sweden, while being an European Great Power, didn't reach the "glorious" status at the sea - gaining maritime tradition.

Sweden didn't have a direct access to the Atlantic - Denmark controlled the Danish Straits and supervised every ship entering and exiting the Baltic Sea demanding the Sound Dues (in the 16th and 17th centuries the Sound Dues constituted up to 2/3 of Denmark's state income). If Sweden would had wanted to have a free enter for the global trade markets, it would had required preparedness for the war against Denmark, defeat them at land and at the sea, gaining the control of the Danish Sounds.

To reach the status of maritime nation Sweden was building-up her navy, warships were constructed to protect the Swedish merchant marine. Within 60 years Sweden constructed two mighty warships - Mars and Wasa. The new flagships were meant to be built for the pride of the Swedish Navy, but lost both quickly - Mars was a one-year-old while it sank, Wasa sank at her maiden voyage immediately after leaving port of Stockholm. Putting in huge resources for nothing surely frustrated the Swedish Navy constructing.

Instead waging a determinative maritime war against Denmark, Sweden chose to use the navy potential against the Russian Navy. The Battle of Svenskund is the Swedish greatest naval victory - the devastating defeat of the Russian Fleet also brought to an end for the Russo-Swedish War of 1788-1790. Over 500 ships participated this two-day naval battle - the Battle of Svenskund is the largest in the Baltic Sea.

A venture of being a seaworthy, seafaring European nation Sweden established the Swedish East India Company. Sweden was impoverished after defeated in the Great Northern War. Trade in the East India was experienced for an option to recover and rebuild the country. Sweden entered for the race about supermacy of the East Indian trade and while the Swedish East Indiamen unloaded the Oriental "treasures" at Gothenburg the city became one of the European centers trading eastern products and a distributor of Chinese influence. Still the greatest worry was that Sweden didn't have the resources to defend her ships neither the trading posts against the other, the stronger European Companies - like the British-, the French- and the Dutch- East-India Companies. The gamble made some people in Sweden very rich and wealthy, but ultimately the Swedish East India Company was declined as an unprofitable enterprise.

The glory of the Danish Army and the days of honor are affiliated with the First Schleswig War, but the loss of prestige and a humiliation was followed by the Danish defeat in the Second Schleswig War.

 

[Båtsman]

Sweden didn't have a direct access to the Atlantic - Denmark controlled the Danish Straits and supervised every ship entering and exiting the Baltic Sea demanding the Sound Dues (in the 16th and 17th centuries the Sound Dues constituted up to 2/3 of Denmark's state income). If Sweden would had wanted to have a free enter for the global trade markets, it would had required preparedness for the war against Denmark, defeat them at land and at the sea, gaining the control of the Danish Sounds.

...Except Sweden was exempted from paying the sound toll (a post-independence carry-over from when Sweden was a part of the Kalmar Union). The 17th century Dutch shipping financiers even went so far as to finance a fleet of merchant ships built in Sweden; carrying Swedish crews and officers; and registered in Swedish ports. But it was the Dutch Baltic trade they carried, only to avoid paying the sound toll.

Instead waging a determinative maritime war against Denmark, Sweden chose to use the navy potential against the Russian Navy. The Battle of Svenskund is the Swedish greatest naval victory - the devastating defeat of the Russian Fleet also brought to an end for the Russo-Swedish War of 1788-1790. Over 500 ships participated this two-day naval battle - the Battle of Svenskund is the largest in the Baltic Sea.

I look at it a different way. The Achilles heel of the Danish navy was its reliance on impressment (conscripting professional merchant sailors to man its warships), rendering it incapable of reacting quickly in the case of war. And in 1807 the unthinkable happened, the English burnt or captured most of the entire Danish fleet, rendering Denmark incapable of defending its seas, or even retaining connections between the various Danish islands, Jutland, and Norway. Ultimately, this is the reason why Bernadotte could invade Norway and annex it to Sweden. Whereas Sweden did instead permanently keep its manned by recruiting volunteers from the peasantry of the Kalmar region of southern Sweden, Kalmar being the second most important military and naval city after Stockholm itself (Blekinge was then later added to this system following the conquest of the Scanian provinces). So while the Swedish sailors may have been a bit less experience than their Danish counterparts, they were on the other hand ready for action immediately.

The glory of the Danish Army and the days of honor are affiliated with the First Schleswig War, but the loss of prestige and a humiliation was followed by the Danish defeat in the Second Schleswig War.

Not to mention the "Six Hour War"

 

[Jopa79]

...Except Sweden was exempted from paying the sound toll (a post-independence carry-over from when Sweden was a part of the Kalmar Union).

Sweden gained the Sound Dues sole exemption after winning the Second Northern War. The Swedish dues exemption was valid from 1660 until 1712 (52 years). Naturally Sweden was not obligated to pay the dues during the Kalmar Union, but after leaving the Union Sweden had to pay the Sound Dues from 1523 until 1660 (137 years). The exemption was withdrawn after Sweden was defeated in the Great Northern War. Sweden had to pay the Sound Dues for the second time from 1720 until 1857 (again 137 years). In combined Sweden payed the tolls for 274 years and was exempted of paying for 52 years + the era while a member in the Kalmar Union.

An other economic weight was Älvsborg ransom. Denmark had took the Älvsborg fortress - the only Swedish port with an access to the North Sea. In the Treaty of Stettin Sweden was obligated to pay 150 000 riksdaler to ransom the fortress Älvsborg. In order to pay this extraordinary high amount of money Sweden had to heavily tax all the moveables in the country. Simultaneously with the Sound Dues, the Älvsborg ransom resulted further impoverishment in the war-torn country making people poor and bankrupt.