Hemmema

and 1823 after capturing three of the Swedish vessels at

the surrender of Sveaborg in 1808. The later versions,
both Swedish and Russian, were much larger and much
more heavily armed than Oden.

1 Background

Contemporary model of the hemmema Styrbjrn from the collections of the Maritime Museum in Stockholm

A hemmema (from Finnish Hmeenmaa,[1] Tavastia)

was a type of warship built for the Swedish archipelago
eet and the Russian Baltic navy in the late 18th and early
19th centuries. The hemmema was initially developed for
use against the Russian Navy in the Archipelago Sea and
along the coasts of Svealand and Finland. It was designed
by the prolic and innovative Swedish naval architect
Fredrik Henrik af Chapman (17211808) in collaboration with Augustin Ehrensvrd (17101772), an artillery
ocer and later commander of the Swedish archipelago
eet. The hemmema was a specialized vessel for use
in the shallow waters and narrow passages that surround
the thousands of islands and islets extending from the
Swedish capital of Stockholm into the Gulf of Finland.

Contemporary model of an early 18th-century Swedish galley

from the collections of the Maritime Museum in Stockholm. Small
galleys like this one were a mainstay of the rst Swedish coastal
eets.

Russian Tsar Peter the Great had established a new capital and powerful naval base in Saint Petersburg in 1703.
Russian naval power in the Baltic grew to challenge the interests of Sweden, the other leading power in the Baltic.
Swedish holdings at that time included territory in Northern Germany, all of modern Finland and most of the
Baltic states, a dominion depending on, and connected
by, the Baltic Sea trade routes. During the Great Northern War (17001721), Sweden lost all its territories in
the Baltic states and suered Russian raids in Finland
and along the chain of islands and archipelagos stretching
from the Gulf of Finland to Stockholm. The Swedes began to deploy inshore otillas of shallow-draft vessels, beginning with smaller versions of the traditional Mediterranean galleys. Most of these new vessels were more
akin to galiots and were complemented with gun prams.
The disastrous war with Russia (174143) and the minor involvement against Prussia in the Seven Years War

The hemmema replaced the galleys that had made up

the core of the Swedish archipelago eets until the mid18th century. Compared to galleys, the hemmema had a
deeper draft and was slower under oars, but oered superior accommodation for the crew, carried more stores,
was more seaworthy and had roughly ten times as many
heavy guns. It could be propelled by either sails or oars
but was still smaller and more maneuverable than most
sailing warships, which made it suitable for operations in
conned waters.
Between 1764 and 1809, Sweden built six hemmemas.
The hemmema became the largest and most heavily
armed vessel in the archipelago eet and served in the
Russo-Swedish War of 178890. Oden, the rst hemmema, was relatively small and very similar to a turuma,
a dierent type of archipelago frigate. Russia built six
hemmemas based on the Swedish design between 1808
1

BACKGROUND

(175762) showed the need for further expansion and development of the inshore otillas with more specialized
vessels.[2]
Galleys were eective as troop transports for amphibious
operations, but were severely under-gunned, especially
in relation to their large crews; a galley with a 250-man
crew, most of whom were rowers, would typically carry
only one 24-pounder cannon and two 6-pounders, all in
the bow. The galleys also lacked decks and adequate shelter for the rower-soldiers, many of whom succumbed to
illness as a result of exposure during the war of 1741
43.[3]

1.1

Archipelago eet

Main article: Archipelago eet

After the Russian victory against Sweden in 1743, the
Swedes established a commission to identify weaknesses
in the eastern defenses. In 1747, the commission concluded that the fortications in southeastern Finland
needed to be improved and expanded, and that Sweden needed to build a strong coastal navy. Augustin
Ehrensvrd (171072), an artillery ocer, was the driving force behind these changes. The committee based
many of its conclusions and decisions on his ideas. In
1756, Sweden established the archipelago eet with the
ocial name armns otta (eet of the army) under the
command of the army department, Krigskollegium, with
Ehrensvrd as supreme commander. For two decades,
the struggle for power between the Hats and the Caps,
the dominant political factions at the time, and rivalries
between army and navy brought about changes to the
archipelago eet. The parliamentary victory of the Hats
in the Riksdag in 176970 and the coup d'tat by King
Gustav III in 1772 secured the archipelago eets status
as an independent branch of the army. Starting in 1770,
the archipelago eet merged with the Finnish Squadron
(Finska eskadern) based at Sveaborg. In 1777, it incorporated the Swedish Squadron (Svenska eskadern), the
galley eet based at Stockholm. The Swedish armed
forces invested considerable resources in the new army
branch and made it a professional, independent organization. The archipelago eet attracted members of the
social and cultural elite who enjoyed the protection and
patronage of King Gustav III, who had established himself as an absolute monarch in the 1772 coup.[4]

The artillery ocer Augustin Ehrensvrd (171072,

left) and the innovative shipbuilder Fredrik Henrik af
Chapman (17211808, right) collaborated to develop
the hemmema and several other new types of vessels for
the Swedish archipelago eet.
After the poor performance of galleys in RussoSwedish
war of 174143 and the Pomeranian War (175762), development of replacements became prioritized. During
the Pomeranian War, trials had been made with gun
prams (skottprmar), heavily armed, oar-driven, atbottomed barges with a shallow draft that carried guns in
broadside arrangements. The prams carried more guns
than the galleys, but proved far too slow to be eective.[5]
Augustin Ehrensvrd argued for new archipelago vessels that combined repower, maneuverability, seaworthiness, and decent crew accommodations. He began
a successful collaboration with shipwright Fredrik Henrik Chapman (ennobled af Chapman in 1772), and together they developed ve new vessels: a gunboat with a
12-pounder gun and a schooner rigging, as well as four
types of archipelago frigates (skrgrdsfregatter): the
smaller udema and pojama, and the larger turuma and
hemmema. All four types have been called skrgrdsfregatter (archipelago frigates) in Swedish and English
historical literature, though some authors have called the
udema and pojama archipelago corvettes.[6] Chapman
specically designed the archipelago frigates for service
o the south coast of Finland and named them after the
Finnish provinces of Uusimaa, Pohjanmaa (sterbotten),
Turunmaa (boland), and Hmeenmaa (Tavastia).[7]

Development

A Spanish xebec from the 1810s; the xebecs design inspired the
design of the archipelago frigates

The concept of small sailing frigates with a complementary set of oars (or sweeps) was not new. The English
Tudor navy had used small "galleasses"[8] in the mid16th century. In the 1660s its successor, the Royal Navy,
equipped the equivalent of sixth-rates with oar ports on
or below the gundeck.[9] During the 18th century the
Russian Navy introduced shebecks, Baltic variants on
the Mediterranean xebecs, for inshore duties. The xebecs were good sailers, could be rowed if necessary and
had more guns and greater stores than galleys; they were
also less expensive to maintain. The Russian designs inuenced Chapman and the Swedish naval commanders.
Consequently, Chapmans designs for new ships were
elaborations on those principles, but with adaptations to
archipelago warfare.[10]
Chapmans archipelago frigates provided better protection for their crew than the galleys they replaced, and
up to three times the capacity for stores and provisions.
They could operate in the narrow, shallow waters around
skerries in all weathers and in open water in all but the
worst storms. They had a deeper draft than galleys, but
considerably shallower draft than traditional sailing warships. The new ship types also increased the archipelago
eets repower, provided it with better defensive capabilities, and made possible more ecient re support in
amphibious operations.[11]

Design and construction

Contemporary color drawing of Oden, the rst hemmema

The navy later replaced the lateen rigs with a more conventional square-sail frigate rig.[13] The early design provided for 14 pairs of oars with four men per oar. The
rowers plied their oars from the gun deck through oar
ports positioned between the gunports, close to the waterline, which gave the rowers better leverage. The oars
were also placed on a rectangular outrigger, designed to
further improve the leverage. Even so, hemmemas performed poorly when rowed and were dicult in contrary
winds. They were slower than ordinary sailing ships, but
sailed better than galleys.[14]
During the Russian war of 17881790, Sweden built
three hemmemas of a new design. They were considerably larger, 44.5 by 11 m (146 by 36 ft), and the number
of oars were increased to 20 pairs. They also had some
of the heaviest broadsides, even when compared with the
much larger frigates of the high seas navy. The artillery
ocer Carl Fredrik Aschling had cooperated with Chapman to increase the main armament to twenty-two 36pounders and two 12-pounders, which increased the draft
by about 30 cm (1 ft).[15] The addition of diagonal bracers
to reinforce the hull allowed the later hemmemas to carry
guns more powerful even than those on the largest sailing frigates of the high seas navy.[16] Due to their considerable repower and relative size, naval historian Jan
Glete has described the hemmemas as super archipelago
frigates.[17]

Of the new designs, turumas and hemmemas best t the

description of archipelago frigate because of their similarities to small ocean-going frigates. The rst hemmema,
the Oden, was completed in 1764. It was c. 33 m (108.2
ft) long and 8.2 m (26.8 ft) wide with a draft of 2.8 m
(9.25 ft).[12] It had a low hull with no forecastle, only a The hemmemas design was very similar to that of the tulow quarterdeck, and no poop deck. It had three masts ruma. The primary dierence was that the turumas oarsthat were initially rigged with lateen sails, like a galley. men sat on the weather deck above the guns, whereas the

CITATIONS

hemmemas oarsmen sat on the gundeck. The later hem- never achieved in an actual battle, leaving that tactical role
memas were considerably larger, more heavily armed, untested.[18]
and of a more robust construction.[16] Glete has described
them as variations on the same type, especially when considering the pre-war designs.[18]
5 Ships

Service

The Styrbjrn depicted on a Finnish postage stamp from 1937

Contemporary Swedish painting of the Battle of Svensksund
where two of the larger hemmemas participated

A total of twelve hemmemas were built, six of them

for the Swedish archipelago eet and six for the Russian
Navy.[24] Details of individual vessels are listed below.
The Swedish hemmemas were all built to the same specications, except for the early design Oden, and Birger Jarl
and Erik Segersll carried heavier armament than the others. Tredrea and Sozaev list Oden as a turuma rebuilt as
a hemmema in 1784,[25] though Oscar Nikula and LarsOtto Berg do not. The Russian vessels were built between
1808 and 1823 and have been described by Tredea and
Sozaev as Bodryi-class rowing frigates.

Hemmemas served in the Finnish squadrons during the

war of 17881790. They supported amphibious operations and conducted raids on the Russian archipelago
eet, while at the same time acting as sea-borne ank
support for the Swedish army on the Finnish mainland.
Hemmemas fought in the rst and second battles of Svensksund. During the rst battle in 1789, one hemmema
complemented the similar turumas, and in the second
battle in July 1790, two hemmemas made up the defen- Under the Finnish form Hmeenmaa, the name of the
sive center and provided a considerable percentage of the ship type was later carried on to several vessels of the 20th
repower.[19]
century Finnish Navy.[26]
The Swedes were building three additional hemmemas at
the shipyards within the fortress of Sveaborg when it was
surrendered to the Russians in 1808, and all three were
incorporated in the Russian Navy. Shortly afterward, the
Russian Navy built its own 32-gun versions, with the nal
vessel launched as late as 1823.[20] Two more were built in
Sweden in 1809, Birger Jarl and Erik Segersll.[21] Birger
Jarl sank in an accident in 1813[22] and Erik Segersll was
planned for conversion as a paddlewheel steam battery
for coastal defense, though the idea was eventually abandoned and the ship scrapped in 1826.[15]
Like the other specialized archipelago vessels, the hemmema had specic strengths and weaknesses. Although it
had superior repower relative to galleys, its sailing qualities were somewhat mediocre and while highly manoeuvrable under oars, it was still dicult to propel while
rowed.[23] A hemmema had the potential to be an effective weapon against galleys, matching their forward
repower and severely outgunning them with its broadside armament. Inside an enemy galley formation, it
could wreak considerable havoc, but such a maneuver was

6 See also
Galley
Gunboat
Rowing

7 Citations
[1] Today an obsolete term that has been replaced by Hme
in modern Finnish.
[2] Berg (2000), pp. 5059.
[3] Glete (1992), pp. 115116, 118.
[4] Norman (2012), s. 1215
[5] Berg, Skrgrdsottans fartyg: Typer och utveckling under 1700- och 1800-talet in Norman (2012) pp. 5259

[6] Berg (1993), p. 35, and (2000) refer to skrgrdsfregatter

only for the larger turumas and hemmemas, while Glete
(1992) and Anderson (1962) do not.
[7] Berg, Skrgrdsottans fartyg: Typer och utveckling under 1700- och 1800-talet in Norman (2012), p. 59.
[8] The 16th English galleasses had only the oars in common with the Mediterranean ship type and were closer to
carracks and similar to the later galleons; Childs (2009),
pp. 2224.
[9] Anderson (1962), pp. 8489.
[10] Nikula (1933), pp. 118122, 132.
[11] Harris (1998), p. 27.
[12] Nikula (1933), pp. 366367
[13] See contemporary illustration in Glete (1992; p. 118).
[14] Berg (1993), p. 35; Glete (1992), p. 119
[15] Berg (1993), p. 35.
[16] Berg (2000), p. 61.
[17] Original term superskrgrdsfregatter; Glete (1992, p.
156).
[18] Glete (1992), pp. 11920.
[19] Glete (1992), pp. 15253, 16364
[20] Anderson (1962), pp. 9697
[21] Norman (2012) p. 397
[22] Ahlstrm (1997)
[23] Berg (1993), pp. 3536.
[24] According to naval historian Roger Charles Anderson
three were built for the Russian eet, two in 1809 and one
as late as 1823; Anderson (1962) p. 97. Jan Glete put
the number of Russian-built hemmemas at ve, all constructed during the war of 180809. The most recently
published study by Tredrea and Sozaev puts the total at
six gemams, the Russian rendering of hemmema.
[25] Tredrea & Sozaev (2010), pp. 325326.
[26] Gardiner (1995), p. 92; Kijanen (1968), p. 111; Saunders
(2009)
[27] Based on lists and tables in Berg, Appendix: Skrgrdsottans fartyg in Norman (2012) p. 397 and Nikula
(1933), pp. 366367
[28] Russian career details from Tredrea & Sozaev (2010), p.
253.
[29] Based on Tredrea & Sozaev (2010), pp. 204205.

8 References
Ahlstrm, Christian, Looking for Leads: Shipwrecks
of the Past Revealed By Contemporary Documents
and the Archaeological Record. Online extract
at Nordic Underwater Archaeology Suomalainen
tiedeakatemia, Helsinki. 1997. ISBN 951-410805-1.
Anderson, Roger Charles, Oared Fighting Ships:
From Classical Times to the Coming of Steam. P.
Marshall, London. 1962. OCLC 5964992.
Berg, Lars-Otto, Development of the Swedish
Archipelago Fleet in the 18th Century, Construction[,] Technology and Weaponry in The War of
King Gustavus III and Naval Battles of Ruotsinsalmi:
VIII International Baltic Seminar 57 July 1990.
Provincial Museum of Kymenlaakso, Kotka. 1993.
ISBN 951-96183-5-X
(Swedish) Berg, Lars Otto, Skrgrdsottans fartyg: Typer och utveckling under 1700- och 1800talet in Hans Norman (editor), Skrgrdsottan:
Uppbyggnnad, militr anvndning och frankring i
det svenska samhllet 17001824. Historiska Media, Lund. 2000. ISBN 91-88930-50-5, pp. 5075
Childs, David, Tudor Sea Power: The Foundation
of Greatness. Seaforth Publishing, Barnsley. 2009.
ISBN 978-1-84832-031-4
Gardiner, Robert (editor) Conways All the Worlds
Fighting Ships 19471995. Conway Maritime Press,
London. 1995. ISBN 0-85177-605-1.
(Swedish) Glete, Jan, Kriget till sjss 17881790
in Gunnar Artus (editor) Gustav III:s ryska krig.
Probus, Stockholm. 1992. ISBN 91-87184-09-5,
pp. 110174
Harris, Daniel G, Fredrik Henrik af Chapman: The
First Naval Architect and his Work. (revised edition)
Literatim, Stockholm. 2001. ISBN 91-973075-2-1.
Kijanen, Kalervo, Suomen Laivasto 19181968, I.
Meriupseeriyhdistys/Otavan Kirjapaino, Helsinki.
1968. OCLC 832982591
(Swedish) Nikula, Oscar, Svenska skrgrdsottan
17561791. [doctoral dissertation] Helsingfors.
1933.
Saunders, Stephen (editor), Janes Fighting Ships,
20092010. Janes Information Group, Coulsdon,
Surrey. 2010. ISBN 978-0-7106-2888-6
Tredrea, John & Sozaev, Eduard, Russian Aarships
in the Age of Sail, 16961860: Design, Construction,
Careers and Fates. Seaforth, Barnsley. 2010. ISBN
978-1-84832-058-1

9 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

9.1

Text

Hemmema Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemmema?oldid=679933589 Contributors: Michael Devore, PFHLai, Acad Ronin,

PWilkinson, Woohookitty, Tabletop, RobertG, MoRsE, Bgwhite, Gaius Cornelius, Spike Wilbury, Mais oui!, Peter Isotalo, Chris the
speller, Ohconfucius, John, Mr Stephen, Cydebot, Mike Christie, Optimist on the run, Brad101, Dudley Miles, Mightyhansa, Maralia, P.
S. Burton, Piledhigheranddeeper, SchreiberBike, Another Believer, Dank, Editorofthewiki, MystBot, Addbot, Nohomers48, Materialscientist, LilHelpa, Melmann, Coltsfan, Anotherclown, John of Reading, Winner 42, Antilope, EWikist, ClueBot NG, Primergrey, BG19bot,
23W, HMman, Hamish59, Khazar2, Esszet, Mogism, TFA Protector Bot, SkateTier, Macofe, FACBot, Ojman45, BanEvasion, Speedy
Cheetah and Anonymous: 21

9.2

Images

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License: Public domain Contributors: http://www.rarecharts.com/DisplayByCategory/Category/Prints Original artist: anonymous
File:Color_drawing_of_hemmema_Oden.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Color_drawing_of_
hemmema_Oden.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: https://digitaltmuseum.se/011024641581 Original artist: Unknown
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9.3

Content license

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