''Ritter Sankt Georg'', also known as ''Sankt Georg'', was a

galleon Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships first used as armed cargo carriers by European states from the 16th to 18th centuries during the age of sail and were the principal vessels drafted for use as warships until the Anglo-Dutch W ...

warship that served in the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Navy Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Navy was the navy of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Early history The Commonwealth Navy was small and played a relatively minor role in the history of the Commonwealth. Juliusz Bardach, Boguslaw Lesnodor ...

from 1627 to 1628.J. Pertek: ''Polacy na morzach i oceanach'', vol. 1.

Name

The ship is referred to in the

German-language German ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and Official language, official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Ita ...

sources as ''Ritter Sankt Georg'', and shortly as ''Sankt Georg'', which, respectively, mean ''Knight of Saint George'', and ''Saint George''. The

Polish-language Polish (Polish: ''język polski'', , ''polszczyzna'' or simply ''polski'', ) is a West Slavic language of the Lechitic group written in the Latin script. It is spoken primarily in Poland and serves as the native language of the Poles. In additi ...

name that was used for the ship in the 17th century remains unknown, however, the ship is retroactively referred to as ''Rycerz Święty Jerzy'' and ''Święty Jerzy'', in modern Polish-language sources, which is a direct translation of the German name.

History

The ship was made in the town of Puck,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

, and its construction lasted from 1625 to 1627. After its launch, it served for the

. It was a

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the f ...

of the navy during the Battle of Oliwa of Polish–Swedish War, that took place on 28 November 1627. It was commanded by the Admiral

Arend Dickmann Arend Dickmann, (1572 – 28 November 1627) also originally spelled as Dijckman, was an Admiral of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Navy, that commanded the fleet in the Battle of Oliwa in 1627, during the Polish–Swedish War. History ...

, while Hieronim Teschke was the skipper. On its board was also Capitan

Jan Storch Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article N ...

who commanded the marines. During the battle, ''Ritter Sankt Georg'' had attacked and boarded the enemy galleon '' Tigern''. The fight aboard the ship ended with Polish victory and the capture of the vessel. ''Ritter Sankt Georg'' had also fired from the broadside, hitting the enemy galleon Pelikanen. The Admiral

had died at the end of the battle, aboard ''Tigern'', being hit with the

stray Stray or The Stray or ''variation'', may refer to: Animals * A feral (abandoned or escaped) domestic animal; see also estray * A stray or free-ranging dog Places * Areas of open grassland in North Yorkshire: ** Strays of York ** The Stray (Har ...

round shot A round shot (also called solid shot or simply ball) is a solid spherical projectile without explosive charge, launched from a gun. Its diameter is slightly less than the bore of the barrel from which it is shot. A round shot fired from a la ...

, that was probably shot from the enemy Pelikanen, or in the

friendly fire In military terminology, friendly fire or fratricide is an attack by belligerent or neutral forces on friendly troops while attempting to attack enemy/hostile targets. Examples include misidentifying the target as hostile, cross-fire while e ...

from '' Fliegender Hirsch''. ''Ritter Sankt Georg'' itself sustained the damages in the battle, including being hit 3 times under the line of water. On 2 May 1628, Hieronim Teschke become the new captain of the ship. On 5 or 6 July 1628 Polish ships were attacked by Swedish artillery near the

Wisłoujście Fortress Wisłoujście Fortress ( pl, Twierdza Wisłoujście, german: Festung Weichselmünde) is an historic fortress located in Gdańsk by the Martwa Wisła river, by an old estuary of the river Vistula, flowing into the Bay of Gdańsk. The fortress is lo ...

at the

Martwa Wisła The Martwa Wisła (; german: Tote Weichsel; both literally "dead Vistula") is a river, one of the branches of the Vistula, flowing through the city of Gdańsk in northern Poland. It got its name when this branch of the river became increasingly m ...

river. After midnight, on 6 July, ''Ritter Sankt Georg'' got stuck on the

backshore The backshore area of a beach extends from the limit of high water foam lines to dunes or extreme inland limit of the beach. It is only affected by waves during exceptional high tides or severe storms.Whittow, John (1984). ''Dictionary of Physical ...

. Before it managed to free itself, it got seriously damaged by the Swedish artillery. The crew had abandoned the ship in the early morning, following which, it burned down. Captain Teschke died during the fight. The rest of the ships had retreated up the river, with the exception of ''

Gelber Löwe Gelber is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Alexis Gelber, Goldsmith Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government * Arthur Gelber, CC (1915–1998), Canadian philanthropist * Bruno Leonardo Gelber (born 1941), Argentine c ...

'' which also got destroyed in the battle,Maciej Flis: ''Twierdza Wisłoujście''. In: ''Muzeum Gdańska. Przewodnik ilustrowany''. p. 234.

Specifications

The ship was a

with the length of a hull between the stems being around 24 m (120 Amsterdam feet) and the width of the hull is 7.4 m (26 Amsterdam feet). It had a cargo capacity of around 400 tones (200 lasts). The ship had 31

cannon A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder duri ...

s of various caliber at the broadside. Its crew counted 50 sailors and 100

marines Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (ref ...

Citations

Notes

References

{{reflist

Bibliography

* J. Pertek: ''Polacy na morzach i oceanach'', vol. 1, Poznań: Wydaw. Poznańskie, 1981, ISBN 83-210-0141-6, OCLC 749548852. * Maciej Flis: ''Twierdza Wisłoujście''. In: ''Muzeum Gdańska. Przewodnik ilustrowany''. Warsaw: Foto Liner, 2018. ISBN 978-83-62559-29-9. Naval ships of Poland Galleons 1620s ships Ships sunk by coastal artillery Shipwrecks in rivers