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In the autumn of 1747, the three-masted galliot St Mikael was sailing from Amsterdam to St Petersburg under the command of Captain Carl P. Amiel, when the voyage of the ship came to a sudden stop in the waters off the southwestern coast of Finland. There are no records of the accident, and the wreck of the St Mikael was found by chance more than 200 years later.
The wreck was discovered off the island of Borstö in the 1950s, but the identity of the ship remained unknown for almost two decades. As a result of persistent research work, Doctor Christian Ahlström identified the vessel by compiling archive data from several countries and matching this with the objects found in the wreck.
The first diving expeditions on the St Mikael were arranged in the early 1960s. Dozens of gold and silver objects were retrieved from it, giving the wreck an almost mythical reputation. Since then, there have been several diving projects. Most recently, diving research on the St Mikael was conducted in September 1998, when a condition monitoring system was established for the wreck and more than 100 rare Meissen porcelain items were lifted from the St Mikael to be included in the collections of the National Board of Antiquities.
The St Mikael, a Russian trading ship, got into distress for an unknown reason on the waters off the southwestern coast of Finland in 1747 and sank. No one is known to have survived the accident. The vessel probably had a crew of less than ten men and some passengers.
The ship also took the small ship's dog to its deep grave. It is no accident that generations of people living on the island of Borstö have heard the wailing of a dog close to the site of the accident…
The wreck of the St Mikael was accidentally found in the 1950s by local fishermen, whose net anchor line became fastened to the ship's mast. The location of the wreck was recorded accurately. A few years later, some navy divers visited the island of Borstö, and the islanders asked the divers to inspect the site. The divers found a three-masted wreck but considered it to be a civilian vessel of minor value. The ship gained a whole new importance in the aftermath of the lifting of the Vasa ship in Sweden. The wreck of the Vasa was lifted off Stockholm in 1961 and put on display
The wreck of the three-masted galliot St Mikael is situated approximately 3.5 nautical miles south of the village of Borstö in the municipality of Nauvo.
The wreck of the St Mikael has been associated with much mysticism and the temptation of a forbidden fruit among diving enthusiasts. The reputedly beautiful wreck, considered to be a treasure ship, is known to lie in its deep grave well beyond the reach of an ordinary diver. Even the site of the shipwreck has obtained a mythical association.
The island of Borstö belonging to the municipality of Nauvo is situated in the outer archipelago of Finland, approximately between Hankoniemi and Utö. The difficult waters of this area have been the final destiny of many a seafarer. Merciless rules of nature once prevailed on this untamed sea. The misfortune of someone may very well have turned into the fortune of someone else. Livelihood on the rugged islands was meagre, and stories tell that goods floating on the waves as a result of a shipwreck resulted in a rush which is only equal to the great gold rush, Timber, canvas and anything usable was salvaged from the grip of the sea. "May God bless us with abundant wrecks" is a prayer the islanders are reputed to have said in the old days.
And that is not all. The people of Borstö in particular are alleged to have taken the fortune into their own hands at times: they are supposed to have lit misleading signal fires in the hope of creating more wrecks. True or not; the fact still remains that the three-masted galliot St Mikael met the end of its voyage off Borstö in the autumn of 1747.
The ship was sailing from Amsterdam to St Petersburg when for an unknown reason it got into distress and sank. The wreck was hidden in its grave 40 metres below for a good 200 years.
The mysticism surrounding the St Mikael is well justified. In its last berthing place, the St Mikael emanates peace and dignity. It is still an intact ship which rests straight on the seabed on its keel, as if it had been put into dock. The lower parts of the three masts rise stately to a depth of some 20 metres.
The island of Borstö is a well-known place for many boaters. The renowned distinctive mark of the island, Borstögumman (Borstö lady) – a wooden figurehead which had drifted onto the beach and was erected at the top of a cliff – views the shoaly sea.
A beautiful archipelago village lies at the feet of the old lady. Generation after generation, the islanders have lived off the sea. They have occasionally seen some shipwrecks, and many colourful stories have lived on to our age. However, there is no oral tradition concerning the sinking of the St Mikael, which has been referred to as one of the most valuable wrecks in Finland and in the entire Baltic area.
© Anna Nurmio-Lahdenmäki 2000