Sweden vs. Denmark, Lubek and the Polish-Lithuanian Union

One of those wars passed by in history, but which led to the sinking of the Swedish ship Mars on May 30, 1564.

“The ship was the largest in the fleet of King Eric XIV (r. 1560-1568), capable of carrying a crew of 800. The reason for the estimate of how many went down with the ship is that it sank mid-boarding. The Swedish navy engaged in battle against Denmark, Lübeck and the Polish–Lithuanian Union off the coast of Öland on May 30th, 1564. On the second day of ferocious fighting, the Mars was boarded by the Danish and Lübeckian forces who didn’t know that the ship was already on fire from a cannon shot. The gunpowder stores exploded with enormous force, blowing the front of the ship clean off — that part of the wreck was found 130 feet away from the main body of the ship — and killing whatever crew had survived up until that point died along with the enemy they had been fighting. Historians estimate that at least 300 of the dead of the Mars were Danish-Lübeckian boarders.”

Discovered in 2011 around 250 feet below the surface of the Baltic Sea, the Mars has yielded artifacts valuable to naval archaeologists and historians.

http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/52092