Huhtamies , Mikko Granqvist , Juha-Matti Onnettomuus ja onni: Kauppalaivojen haaksirikot ja pelastustoiminta Itämerellä 1600–1800-luvuilla (review)

Abstract

SEER, 98, 1, JANUARY 2020 174 Huhtamies, Mikko and Granqvist, Juha-Matti (eds). Onnettomuus ja onni: Kauppalaivojen haaksirikot ja pelastustoiminta Itämerellä 1600–1800-luvuilla. Historiallisia tutkimuksia, 279. Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, Helsinki, 2019. 264 pp. Maps. Illustrations. Figures. Notes. Bibliographies. €35.00 (paperback). The Baltic Sea experienced a substantial growth in merchant shipping during the eighteenth century; the combination of the founding of St Petersburg, the establishment of a new series of sea fortresses along the shores of the Gulf of Finland and the general growth of the timber industry brought numerous cargo ships to the northern Baltic. This flurry of shipping, at first monopolized by Dutch merchants, was taken over by British ships and merchants during the latter part of the century. However, increased shipping activity also meant an increase in the number of shipwrecks. The northern Baltic sea was difficult to navigate; in particular, the archipelago that covered the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland was very hazardous and required experienced sailors to traverse. Despite this danger, the Gulf of Finland was the main route to St Petersburg during the period, and the intensified trade competition forced sea captains to take risks, such as sailing late in autumn when the risk of storms was great. If the journey was successful, however, the profit that could be made with a luxury cargo was substantial. Mikko Huhtamies, editor of Disaster and Fortune: Shipwrecks and Salvage of Merchant Vessels in the Baltic (1600–1800), has here made an extensive study of shipping and shipwrecks in the Baltic Sea in the early modern period. The book is a compilation of articles written by Finnish and Estonian historians on shipwrecks: Huhtamies’s chapter, ‘“Kolme mailia Helsingin pookista merelle”: Itämeren ja Suomenlahden haaksirikot Viaporin perustamisesta Suomen sotaan’ (pp. 17–59), is an original study of shipwrecks, and is based on his personal research database of a total of 1,255 shipwrecks dating from 1745 to 1802, which can be traced from the Swedish salvage company archives. Kasper Kepsu’s chapter, ‘Niin kauaksi kuin Itämerta riittää: Merenkulku, laivanvarustus ja haaksirikot 1600-luvun lopun Nyenissä ja Narvassa’ (pp. 60– 97) sheds light on the shipping, shipbuilding and shipwrecks of seventeenthcentury Nyen and Narva. Huhtamies’s second chapter, ‘“Vedenalaiset konstit”: Captain mechanicus Mårten Triewald ja valtakunnallisen pelastusmonopolin synty’ (pp. 98–129), explores the birth of salvage companies in early eighteenthcentury Sweden. The second editor of the book, Juha-Matti Granqvist, contributes the chapter, ‘Hylkytavaran jättijako. Haaksirikkohuutokaupat 1700-luvun Suomessa’ (pp. 130–67), which focuses on the auction sales where wrecked ships and their goods were sold in eighteenth-century Finland, while Kersti Lust’s chapter, ‘Kartanonherrat meripelastajina: Haaksirikot REVIEWS 175 ja pelastustoiminta 1700-luvun Hiidenmaalla’ (pp. 168–98), illustrates how the salvaging of shipwrecks was organized in the southern side of the Gulf of Finland, in eighteenth-century Estonia, and particularly on the island of Hiiumaa. Katja Tikka’s chapter, ‘Merivakuutus, kiista ja konsuli: Kauppalaiva Anna Christinan haaksirikko ja oikeustaistelu’ (pp. 199–218), is based on a court case that took place after the wrecking of a merchant ship in 1753, and discusses shipping insurance. Huhtamies’s and Granqvist’s joint chapter, ‘Kadonnut Frankfurt: Kapteeni Herman Flockertin haaksirikko Jussarössa vuonna 1777’ (pp. 219–42), studies the wreck of a ship which sailed from Lübeck to St Petersburg carrying luxury goods; this chapter brings together the various themes of the book — shipping, shipwrecks, salvaging and insurance. The last chapter of the book, ‘Itämeren viimeinen merirosvo: Erään merellisen legendan synty ja kasvu’ (pp. 243–64), is written by Yrjö Kaukiainen, and tells the story of ‘the last pirate of the Baltic Sea’ from the early nineteenth century — a tale that is still told on the island of Gottland in Sweden, but which Kaukiainen reveals to be fictional. In addition to these chapters, the book also includes Huhtamies’s introductory chapter, ‘Monitahoinen merionnettomuus’ (pp. 7–16). Thebookisbasedonoriginalstudies,anditsnoveltyliesinisitstrans-national approach, which demonstrates how shipwrecks and their consequences were treateddifferentlyineighteenth-centurySweden,FinlandandEstonia.Notonly was the geography of the shorelines different in these regions, which caused different types of shipwrecks, but the local legislation concerning salvaging was also different. Whereas in Sweden — with...