Svea - a general history

Owners: Lindberg, Sweden.

Masters: 1861 Westerberg.

Voyages: 4 February 1861 arrived Gravesend from Gothenburg; 20 October 1862 bound for Newport put back into Deal because of heavy weather; 1863 she was making two trips a week from Lubeck to Stockholm; 24 November 1866 from London for Cardiff; 21 February 1869 arrived Gravesend from Frederickstadt; August 1871 arrived Gravesend from Gefle.

The paddle steamer Svea, sister ship to Skane, was owned by a Stockholm shipping company 'Ångfartygsbolaget Skandia'. In the 1850s, the company had ships travelling from Stockholm to Gothenburgh via Malmo for domestic journeys.

In 1857, the company had enough money to upgrade their fleet and invest in two new steamers. They purchased 'Skane' and 'Svea' which were build by the Richardson Brothers ship building company located in Hartlepool and were the last two ships to be build before the company ceased. Skane arrived in early 1857 whereas Svea arrived much later in the autumn of the same year. This was later than planned as Svea collided with another steamer just upon leaving Hartlepool harbour meaning she had to return to the shipping yard for repairs before she could continue her journey to Stockholm, eventually arriving on 20th November 1857. 

Svea, the 160ft long and 120hp engine steamer, took her first journey the next spring in April 1858 due to early icing along the coast of the Baltic Sea. Commanded by Captain Fingal Von Sydow who supervised the construction of the ship as it was built in Hartlepool and continued to run from Stockholm to Gothenburgh via Malmo for another 10 years. It was in 1866, that the ship sailed under a new captain by the name of H.C. Flodenburg who travelled for a further 6-7 years.

In the mid 1870s, Svea was laid up in Stockholm and then sold in September of 1880 after being towed to Turku for adaptations for new duties however it is undecided if the ship was sold to Finnish or Russian owners.

From this point on the fate of Svea is unknown.

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