Archaeologists find unique weapons chest on 15th-century shipwreck off Sweden

Danish flagship Gribshunden caught fire and sank with a hundred German mercenaries onboard in 1495

Archaeologists have found a unique weapons chest in a sunken 15th-century ship off the coast of Sweden, shedding more light on the evolution of naval warfare in mediaeval Europe.

They assessed the remains of the Danish flagship Gribshunden, or Griffin, which caught fire during its voyage to Kalmar in 1495 and sank in the Blekinge archipelago with a hundred German mercenaries onboard.

While underwater analysis of the ship has been carried out since 2013, much of the weaponry linked to its soldiers has escaped detailed examination.

A new survey has enabled archaeologists to reconstruct and analyse the ship’s superstructure, offering more insights about what the vessel looked like and its military capability. It has also helped identify and document two cannon carriages and a weapons chest onboard the ship.

“It’s an ammunition tool chest, probably belonging to the German mercenaries who were on board at the time of the sinking,” Rolf Warming, who was involved in the survey, said.

“The contents of the weapon chest are undeniably one of the most important finds,” he added. “It contains, among other things, several different moulds and lead plates for the manufacture of lead bullets for early handguns.”

Researchers inspect and document timbers belonging to the ship’s superstructure (Florian Huber)

Researchers believe studying the ship will help understand the evolution of military technology during an era when primary tactics shifted from hand-to-hand combat to heavy naval artillery fire.

“The ship will therefore also be compared with other important and uniquely preserved wrecks – such as Mars (1564) and Vasa (1628) – in order to understand this development,” Mr Warming said.

Researchers previously found armour fragments scattered at the wreck site, likely from the apparel of crew members.

The new analysis indicates that their shirts contained several different wires weaved together with a variety of techniques.

Based on their dimensions, researchers said the shirts could have contained up to 150,000 metal rings.

In further studies, researchers hope to learn more about the role of soldiers on board and the root cause of the ship’s sinking.