Orkney
Part of the payment for purchasing Alaska, mainly gold bars, is said to have been secretly loaded aboard the clipper ship Orkney for transport to Saint Petersburg. It is said that the Orkney had two Swedish crewmen. One of them was Kristoffer Öberg, who had emigrated but was now going to return to his home island of Fårö. An intriguing story, but is it true?
Also on board was a group of nihilists, a radical group that was opposed to the Russian state. They wanted to prevent Orkney from arriving by inciting mutinying on board, taking command of the ship and sinking it in shallow waters. The gold would later be salvaged to be used in the fight against the Russian state.
The mutiny is said to have broken out when they passed Gotland, but the Russian-friendly part of the crew, including the officers, is said to have quelled it. The nihilists had safely placed explosives in the ship, and when they realised that the mutiny would be stopped, they blew up the ship. Orkney is said to have sunk swiftly, with Öberg being the only survivor.
He managed to escape from the sinking ship in a dinghy. Just before he cut the line to the dinghy, a shiny object came sliding on deck. It was a beautiful gold watch, which Öberg quickly put in his pocket. The watch became the only thing he salvaged from the trip.
Truth or legend?
An intriguing story, but is it true? The information is contradictory. When the agreement on the purchase of Alaska was completed, there were many in the United States who thought it was a bad idea. The U.S. Senate approved the purchase on 9 April 1867, despite fierce opposition from the House of Representatives. This meant that the money to be used for the purchase was delayed an entire year, until July 1868, before the appropriation was approved. Orkney is said to have shipwrecked in 1867. How could part of the payment have been on board when the appropriation wasn’t ready until a year later?
Facts
Deep
Build
Längd
Width
Shipwreck
1867
Ship type
Segelfartyg