Theodor
On the night of 2 December 1864, the Prussian three-masted barque Theodor was stranded near Skärhamn north of Gothenburg. The crew was rescued, and in the days following the stranding some of the cargo was salvaged, mainly East Indian porcelain and wine. A few weeks later, six women were charged with shipwreck looting and four of them received heavy sentences: serving time at Marstrand Fortress.
The ship stayed upright above the surface of the water, and they managed to bring ashore some of the precious cargo. As soon as word got out about the stranding, staff from the customs station came to the site and sealed the goods that had been brought ashore.
The following night, several local women came to the scene of the stranding. They broke the customs seal and made off with the porcelain. Six of the women were found the following day and immediately detained.
In the ensuing interrogations, the women explained that they had gone out to the wreckage with food for relatives who were helping to salvage the ship. They had then found various unusually large and heavy white porcelain items, and agreed to take some of them home to show their relatives and friends. They then intended to return the porcelain to the commander of the stranded ship.
The court was not convinced by the women’s story. Four of them were sentenced to six months’ hard labour. Two received more lenient punishments than the others, as they had not been involved in the actual incident but had only agreed to share the porcelain. They were sentenced to a fine of 10 Swedish riksdaler for petty theft.
In the end, the wrecked ship came loose during a new storm and sank off Blockevik, just north of Löshuvudet on the west coast of Härön.
Facts
Deep
Build
18-?
Length
Width
Shipwreck
1864
Ship type
Barkskepp