Museifartygen (Museum Ships)

7 July 2018

I thought I have completed all the free museum visits in Stockholm till I passed this place when I was in Djurgården (after watching a theatrical show). I was so surprised that I never knew about this. These are ships that have been turned into museums - an icebreaker ship (Sankt Erik) and a lightship (Finngrundet). They are opened daily during the summer. 

These museum ships are under the care of Maritime Museum. I went there in July 2017. The Vasa Museum is also under their care which I have yet to visit due to its high entrance fees. 

The Sankt Erik, Sweden´s first icebreaker was built at the Finnboda Shipyard and launched in 1915. Stockholm needed an icebreaker that could keep open the archipelago channels leading in to the city. In hard winters she was lent to the state, which acquired its first icebreaker in 1927. Thereafter, the Sankt Erik assisted shipping in the Golf of Botnia, around the coast of Skåne and elsewhere. In 1977 the Sankt Erik was decommissioned, and she has been a museum ship since 1980.

Initially known as Isbrytaren II she changed her name in connection with conversion in 1958. The bridge was covered so that the captain, officers and deck crew no longer needed to stand out in the cold. She was also equipped with a modern radio and radar. Simultaneously, the steam boilers were rebuilt for oilburning operation. This made it possible to wait almost twice as long between the bunkering. The Sankt Erik is built as a classic Baltic icebreaker. The steam is angled in such way a way that it glides up onto the ice, which is the crushed by the weight and force of the vessel. She has a fore propeller that flushes water and crushed ice along side the hull. Source from Sjohistoriska.

In I go to the Engine Room. A ship buff would be excited to be inside here. 

Crew got to eat too. The notice said to try to lift the frying pan. I did and I could not. It was too heavy. It does help to keep the frying pan in place in case the ship rocks. 

A small exhibition room.

I was here!

The view from the ship's deck was beautiful where one can see all the boats lined up.

The Lightship Finngrundet was built in Gävle in 1903. She lay at anchor at the Finngrund banks in the southern Bothninan Sea during the ice free part of the year. In the 1960s lightships began to be replaced by fixed, fully automatic, unmanned lighthouse towers ("cassion" lighthouses). The Finngrundet was decommissioned in 1969 and has been a museum ship since 1970.

In the mid-19th century, lightships began to be deployed to warn seafarers of shallow banks out at sea. The first lightship came to Finngrundet in 1859. In accordance with international regulations, lightships were painted red and had their names in large white letters along the sides. The first light on present lightship Finngrundet consisted of paraffin lamps and mirrors. After conversion in 1927, an AGA beacon was installed. At the same time, the old bell on the deck was supplemented by more advanced fog-signal - "nautophone" and underwater signals. during the next conversion, in 1940, the AGA beacon was electrified and rhe Finngrundet also equipped with a radio beacon.

The acquired a radio during the 1927 conversion. This greatly improved conditions for those who worked on the lightship: it enabled them to maintain contact both with other ships and with land. Formerly, the only contact with land had been the seam pilot-vessel that came once a fortnight with food, mail, fuel and other necessities.

On board the Finngrundet was a crew of eight. their main task was to ensure that the light was in working order. Their morning were devoted to maintenance work on board. the watch took up the rest of the day, just as it did on other ships. Someone always had to be on duty - even at night. This system meant that the crew had ample leisure, wich they spent in such pastimed as woodworking. Source from Sjohistoriska.

Lill-Babs passed away this year. She was 80 years old. Can you imagine how old is this magazine to announce Lill-Babs as 'this year's girl'. The magazine was published in 1967. She was 29 years old then.