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National Museum of DenmarkMarine archaeologists David Gregory and Andreas Kallmeyer Bloch from the National Museum of Denmark.
According to a statement from Denmark’s National Museum, the two shipwrecks were long thought to be pirate ships. However, when American marine archaeologists discovered yellow bricks in one of the ships in 2015 — a common architectural feature in Denmark and Danish colonies in the 18th and 19th centuries — the origins of the two ships were reassessed.
In 2023, marine archaeologists from the National Museum of Denmark and the Viking Ship Museum revisited the site. They took samples of wood from the ships, some of the yellow bricks, and clay pipes found at the wreck.
These samples proved that the two ships were in fact Danish in origin — and not pirate ships at all.
A study of the wood samples proved that the timber had come from the Baltic region and that the trees were cut down between 1690 and 1695. The bricks are the same size and shape as “Flensburg bricks,” which were used in Denmark and in Danish colonies, and they’re made of clay that came from Denmark. Finally, the clay pipes were identified as Dutch pipes which were produced shortly before the ships wrecked in 1710.
Jakob OllingMarine archaeologist and research professor David Gregory from the National Museum of Denmark examining a pile of yellow bricks found at the site of the wrecks.
What’s more, the wood samples from the wreck were burned, and historical documents state that the Fridericus Quartus had been set on fire.
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