Ingrid Horn - with dark lanterns

Ingrid Horn was nearly 90 metres long and operated between Luleå and Germany during World War I, loaded with iron ore for the German war industry. On 31 July 1917, Ingrid Horn had just passed Dalarö on her way south, in unusually dark and hazy weather.

That same evening, the Swedish steamer Bergvik is heading towards Dalarö at full speed. The crew on the bridge sees a white glow, but both the pilot and commander assess that it is coming from an anchored ship. As Bergvik approaches the white glow, the pilot suddenly sees a faint red light. It is only then he realizes that a ship underway and there is an immediate risk of collision.

Bergvik’s pointy prow strikes the Ingrid Horn’s port side, making a gash in the side of the ship nearly three metres long and two metres wide. Ingrid Horn sinks almost immediately. Bergvik launches its lifeboats and begins the search for survivors. The 20-year-old sailor Kalms is the only one found alive. He had been sleeping in his cabin but was woken up when a comrade screamed that they were about to collide.

Today the ship rests on an even keel and remains relatively intact in the fairway leading into Stockholm. On the port side fore of the bridge is the hole where Bergvik’s bow was struck.