Hiiu Shoal () or Nekmangrund is a

shoal In oceanography, geomorphology, and Earth science, geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank (geography), bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material, and rises from the bed of a body ...

located in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

, off the northwestern shores of

Hiiumaa Hiiumaa ( , ) is the second largest island in Estonia and is part of the West Estonian archipelago, in the Baltic Sea. It has an area of 989 km2 and is 22 km from the Estonian mainland. Its largest town is Kärdla. It is located within ...

Island. It is known as ''Neckmansgrund'' in

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

, as ''Nekmangrund'' in

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

and as ''Neckmangrund'' in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, the

loan translation In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language whil ...

in Estonian being ''Näkimadalad''. The submerged shoal is 9 kilometers long and 5.5 kilometers wide. Its shallowest point is only 1.2 meters deep at the time of the

lowest astronomical tide A chart datum is the water surface serving as origin (or coordinate surface) of depths displayed on a nautical chart and for reporting and predicting tide heights. A chart datum is generally derived from some tidal phase, in which case it is ...

History

Since it is a dangerous shoal for ships entering the

Gulf of Finland The Gulf of Finland (; ; ; ) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and Estonia to the south, to Saint Petersburg—the second largest city of Russia—to the east, where the river Neva drains into it. ...

while approaching

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

, the ''Nekmangrund'' —a

lightship A lightvessel, or lightship, is a ship that acts as a lighthouse. It is used in waters that are too deep or otherwise unsuitable for lighthouse construction. Although some records exist of fire beacons being placed on ships in Roman times, the ...

of the Russian Hydrographic Office, was anchored on the reef until 1941. During the war, the lightship Nekmangrund ("Hiiumadal" Estonian) was ordered to leave the shoal and return to Tallinn. During the night of June 23, 1941, at 1:30 in the night, it was hit by a German torpedo and sunk with the loss of at least 6 lives (there was confusion about who actually was aboard at the time). The wreck of the ship lies now on the bottom of the Hiiu Shoal. The , a cargo ship of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, ran aground on the Nekmangrund Shoal on 19 June 1933. She was refloated a week later. In 1984 Estonian writer

Herman Sergo Herman Sergo (1 October 1911 Jausa, Käina Parish, Hiiu County – 28 September 1989) was an Estonian writer. His works depict mainly the life of seafarers and coastal dwellers. Until 1932, he worked as a sailor on Swedish and Finnish long-dista ...

published the novel ''Näkimadalad'', whose title is based on the name of the shoal. In his three-volume work Sergo portrays the tragic fate of the

Estonian Swedes The Estonian Swedes (, or ''aibofolke'', "island people"; , or ''rannarootslased'', "coastal Swedes") are a Swedish language, Swedish-speaking minority traditionally residing in the coastal areas and islands of what is now western and northern ...

Reigi Reigi () is a village in Hiiumaa Parish, Hiiu County in northwestern Estonia. History In 1984 Estonian writer Herman Sergo published the novel ''Näkimadalad'', whose title is based on the name of the Nekmangrund shoal. In his three-volume wor ...

village, located to the south of the shoal on Hiiumaa Island, which were deported in the 18th century to

Southern Ukraine Southern Ukraine (, ) refers, generally, to the territories in the South of Ukraine. The territory usually corresponds with the Soviet economical district, the Southern Economical District of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. The region ...

following a

Russian Imperial The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

decree A decree is a law, legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state, judge, monarch, royal figure, or other relevant Authority, authorities, according to certain procedures. These procedures are usually defined by the constitution, Legislativ ...

References

{{Reflist Shoals of the Baltic Sea Landforms of Estonia

History

See also

References