Karlskrona Blekinge Län Sweden

...Blekinge and ...

The city of Karlskrona is founded in 1680 when the Royal Swedish Navy is relocated from the mainland to the island the islet of Trossö, which has up until now been used chiefly for farming and grazing.

Sweden at this time is the dominant military power in the Baltic sea region.

The island has a very strategic position with short sailing distances to the German and Baltic provinces.

Its name means Karl's Crown in honor of King Karl XI of Sweden, the name being inspired by the name of the city of Landskrona in western Scania.

The plague had arrived in Blekinge in August 1710 by means of army movements from and to Karlskrona, the central Swedish naval base.

By the beginning of 1712, about fifteen thousand soldiers and civilians have died not only in Karlskrona, but also in Karlshamn and other localities in Blekinge.

The ships of the open sea fleet had had to set sail for Karlskrona, as Sveaborg could not repair and refit them.

However, preparations and unsuitable weather had delayed departure until November 20, when the sea at Sveaborg was already frozen over and some ships had to be freed by sawing the ice open for them.

The fleet, however, reaches Karlskrona one week later without any losses, just days before this port also freezes over.

The HSwMS Eugenie leaves from Karlskrona, Sweden to begin its voyage on September 30, 1851, as the first Swedish Royal Navy vessel to circumnavigate the world.

Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld leaves Karlskrona on a voyage that will make him the first to navigate the Northern Sea Route, a shipping lane from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean along the Siberian coast, on June 22, 1878.