''Arka Noego'' was a war pinnace in the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Navy Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Navy was the navy of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and existed from 1627 to 1643. History The Commonwealth Navy was small and played a relatively minor role in the history of the Commonwealth. Juliusz Ba ...

that played an important role in two naval battles of the

Polish–Swedish War (1626–29) This is a List of wars between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to ...

. Small, fast and lightly armed when compared to the impressive

man-of-war In Royal Navy jargon, a man-of-war (also man-o'-war, or simply man) was a powerful warship or frigate of the 16th to the 19th century, that was frequently used in Europe. Although the term never acquired a specific meaning, it was usually rese ...

galleon Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships developed in Spain and Portugal. They were first used as armed cargo carriers by Europe, Europeans from the 16th to 18th centuries during the Age of Sail, and they were the principal vessels dr ...

s of the Swedish Navy, excellent leadership, a fine crew and aggressive marines combined to bring the ''Arka Noego'' into parity with her larger opponents. Major roles in two impressive victories followed in the fall of 1627.

Battle at Hel, May 17, 1627

The ''Arka Noego'' (“Noah's Ark”) was a 16-gun war pinnace that was built for the Polish Navy in 1625. Her Master was Magnus Wesman and her home port was

Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...

, in the Polish–Lithuanian Complex. She saw significant action on more than one occasion. On May 17, 1627, with the galleons ''Król Dawid'' and ''Wodnik'' (''King David'' and ''Aquarius''), the ''Arka Noego'' engaged a squadron of the Swedish Navy in the vicinity of

Hel, Poland Hel (; ) is a seaside resort city in Puck County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northern Poland, located on the tip of the Hel Peninsula, some from the Polish mainland. History Early developments The territory became part of the emerging Poli ...

. The two forces separated after a brief exchange of cannon fire. The next day, the ''Arka Noego'' was attacked by elements of a 24-ship Swedish Leba convoy. After a brief exchange of cannon fire, the much larger Swedish convoy broke through and sailed to

Kołobrzeg Kołobrzeg (; ; ) is a port and spa city in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in north-western Poland with about 47,000 inhabitants (). Kołobrzeg is located on the Parsęta River on the south coast of the Baltic Sea (in the middle of the section ...

. During the fight, one cannon on the ''Arka Noego'' blew up but caused little damage. After a few days, the Polish ships returned to the Wisłoujście squad after running the Swedish blockage of Gdańsk Bay. The ''Arka Nuevo'' was captured by the Swedish Navy, sometime in 1635 and her fate thereafter is unknown.

Battle of Oliwa, November 28, 1627

''Arka Noego'' was one of five war ships in the 2nd Polish Naval squadron that fought several larger Swedish

men-of-war In Royal Navy jargon, a man-of-war (also man-o'-war, or simply man) was a powerful warship or frigate of the 16th to the 19th century, that was frequently used in Europe. Although the term never acquired a specific meaning, it was usually rese ...

in the

Battle of Oliwa The Battle of Oliwa, also known as the Battle of Oliva or the Battle of Gdańsk Roadstead, was a naval battle that took place on 28 November, 1627, slightly north of the port of Gdańsk off of the coast of the village of Oliva during the Polish ...

(Battle of Oliva, Battle of Gdańsk Roadstead), on November 28, 1627. Ten Polish ships attacked a small Swedish fleet of six ships outside Gdańsk (Danzig) harbour, near the village of Oliva (Oliwa). The strong Swedish Navy maintained a blockade of the Baltic shore, especially Oliva harbor. Although the tiny Polish Navy of nine ships outnumbered the Swedish flotilla arrayed against them, only four ships were galleons outfitted for heavy combat. Furthermore, the Polish Navy was not battle hardened as was the experienced Swedish Navy which was a recognized European sea power. The ten-ship Polish fleet was commanded by Admiral

Arend Dickmann Admiral Arend Dickmann (1572 – 28 November 1627) was a Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Navy officer. Born in Delft to a Dutch family, he led the Polish–Lithuanian navy to victory in the 1627 Battle of Oliwa during the Polish–Swedish War, b ...

in the galleon ''Sankt George'' (Święy Jerzy) which was anchored at the Danzig roadstead. The Swedish squadron of six ships sailed from the Hel Peninsula. The less experienced Poles immediately took the attack to the Swedish squadron, an aggressive move that surprised the Swedes. The battle then split into two separate events. #The Polish flagship ''Sankt Georg'' (galleon, 400t, 31 guns), supported by the smaller ''Meerwieb'' (''Panna Wodna'' -160t, 12 guns) attacked the Swedish flagship ''Tigern'' (''Tiger'', 320t, 22 guns), that was commanded by Admiral Niels Stiernskold. Entangled together, the Polish marines boarded and captured the ''Tigern''. #The Vice Admiral's ship of the Polish Navy, the small galleon ''Meerman'' (Wodnik, 200t, 17 guns) attacked the larger Swedish ''Solen'' (Sun, 300t, 38 guns), whose captain blew up the ship, rather than let be captured. The remaining four Swedish ships fled and escaped pursuit. Both the Polish and Swedish Admirals were killed.

The last years of ''Arka Noego''

The Polish–Swedish War of 1626–1629 ended with the truce of the

Truce of Altmark __NOTOC__ The six-year Truce of Altmark (or Treaty of Stary Targ, , ) was signed on 16 (O.S.)/26 (N.S.) September 1629 in the village of Altmark ( Stary Targ), in Poland, by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden, with helped by Riche ...

(Stary Targ) that was signed on September 25, 1629. The Truce of Altmark favored the Swedes but it did return to the Poland–Lithuanian Commonwealth territories such as the southeastern region of

Latgale Latgale (; ; ; ; ; ; Belarusian Latin alphabet, Belarusian Latin: ''Łathalija''; ), also known as Latgalia or Latgallia, is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. It is the easternmost region of the country and lies north of the Daugava River. Wh ...

that had been occupied since the 1625 invasion.Two thirds of the taxes collected by the ports of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the

Duchy of Prussia The Duchy of Prussia (, , ) or Ducal Prussia (; ) was a duchy in the region of Prussia established as a result of secularization of the Monastic Prussia, the territory that remained under the control of the State of the Teutonic Order until t ...

went to Sweden for the next six years. That money financed Sweden's continuing involvement in the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

. The remainder of the Polish navy fleet was marked for transfer to Sweden. The ambitious Poland–Lithuania Confederacy King

Sigismund III Vasa Sigismund III Vasa (, ; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632 N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden from 1592 to 1599. He was the first Polish sovereign from the House of Vasa. Re ...

(English) - Zygmunt III Waza (Polish) - (June 9, 1595 – May 20, 1648 (reign 1566–1632) and the Catholic League, remained active and belligerent, particularly as Zigmund III Vasa wanted to revive his hereditary claim to the Swedish throne because he was a descendant of the House of Vasa, and had briefly been King of Sweden. The Polish flotilla sailed to

Wismar Wismar (; ), officially the Hanseatic City of Wismar () is, with around 43,000 inhabitants, the sixth-largest city of the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and the fourth-largest city of Mecklenburg after Rostock, Schwerin and ...

Treaty of Stuhmsdorf The Treaty of Stuhmsdorf (), or Sztumska Wieś (), was a treaty signed on 12 September 1635 between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Swedish Empire in the village of Stuhmsdorf, Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Poland (now Sztumska Wi ...

or Sztumska Wieś, was signed on September 12, 1635, between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and King

Władysław IV Vasa Władysław IV Vasa or Ladislaus IV (9 June 1595 – 20 May 1648) was King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania and claimant of the thrones of Monarchy of Sweden, Sweden and List of Russian monarchs, Russia. Born into the House of Vasa as a prince ...

(son of Zigmund III Vasa) and Sweden. Essentially, it was an extension of the Truce of Altmark. Sweden was willing to give up their conquests in Prussia if Władysław IV Vasa would renounce his claim to the Swedish crown, and Sweden could retain their conquests in

Livonia Livonia, known in earlier records as Livland, is a historical region on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the Livonians, who lived on the shores of present-day Latvia. By the end of the 13th century, the name was extende ...

. The peace between Poland and Sweden was also supported by French

Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, 1st Duke of Richelieu (9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), commonly known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a Catholic Church in France, French Catholic prelate and statesman who had an outsized influence in civil and religi ...

Meanwhile, Zigmund III Vasa gathered a new army of about 21,000 soldiers and he sent Gdańsk (Danzig) merchant (

Jerzy Ossoliński Prince Jerzy Ossoliński h. Topór (15 December 1595 – 9 August 1650) was a Polish nobleman (''szlachcic''), Crown Court Treasurer from 1632, governor (''voivode'') of Sandomierz from 1636, ''Reichsfürst'' (Imperial Prince) since 1634, Crow ...

) to gather up Polish allies in non-occupied Prussia. With the help of Georg Hewel, he bought ten merchant ships to be converted into warships, and established the 'Sea Commission' ( Komisja Morska) - led by Gerard Denhoff. The Polish flotilla sailed to

, the famous Hanseatic League port, and took part in several skirmishes against the Danish and the Swedish Navies. In January 1632, Wismar was conquered by Sweden who remained in control of the city until 1903. ''Arka Noego'' was seized at that time and incorporated into the Swedish navy under the name ''Vita Hunden''. The last mention of ''Arka Noego'' dates from 1636, when the vessel was sold into private hands and the subsequent fate of the ship is unknown. Denmark destroyed the remainder of the Polish fleet in 1637 without formally declaring war. Image:Chorągiew_królewska_króla_Zygmunta_III_Wazy.svg, Royal banner of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, House of Vasa (1587–1668). Image:Herb Rzeczpospolitej Obojga Narodow (Alex K).svg, Coat of arms of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, based upon 1597 illustration. Image:Polish War Jack 17th century.svg, Polish War Jack, documented on Polish war ships in 1627.

External links

WB-pink Noah's Ark::Sailing Ships
Poland (POL) (Arche Noah)

{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150502205204/http://koti.mbnet.fi/felipe/html/polish_ships_1620_30s_.html , date=2015-05-02 , nd. Excellent listing with profile data for each ship.
Important Ships of Poland's Sailing NavyPolish Sailing Navy
History and ship listings, 1455–1716.

– The Flags of the Poles 1
''Arka Noego'' as Noah's Ark
by ~KociGrzbiet, 2010–11. Conceptual, humorous illustration. 1620s ships Conflicts in 1627 Gdańsk Pinnaces Ships built in Poland Sailing ships of Poland Tall ships of Poland Captured ships