5. THE BARQUE UKKO AND THE SIBELIUS FAMILY

There is a connection between the barque UKKO and the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (1865-1957).

In 1856 a barque ship was built in the New Shipyard of Siksala, for which the name UKKO was given on launch.  The ship was built of pine and had a carvel construction. The hull was overlaid with zinc sheathing under the waterline. The building contractor was Anders Johan Kjellman.

During 1856-1864 the master and a quarter owner of the ship was Johan Sibelius – the uncle of the composer Jean Sibelius.  The barque UKKO transported mainly timber products to Cádiz and came back with a cargo of salt from Setúbal – but visited even Constantinople once.

In 1864 the barque UKKO left for her longest journey over the Atlantic to Havana in Cuba, where master Sibelius, mate Albrecht, carpenter Majander and one sailor contracted yellow fever with a fatal outcome. Twelve years later UKKO was sold.

Among the belongings of the merchant and ship owner Johan Sibelius was a bunch of visiting cards with the name Jean Sibelius – the first name in the French form.

Later, the cards were found by the nephew, who had just started his artistic career as a composer, and who now started to use Jean by his first name:

“When summer came Maria Siblelius took her children and travelled in a carriage to meet the relatives in Loviisa. Their stay in the cozy old town house of their grandmother and Aunt Sibelius gave them the happiest childhood memories. (—).  And when the family’s barque ship UKKO appeared in the fairway the Sibelius family went to the harbor to meet the ship. Janne (the future composer) was always the first to climb onto the deck and stepped down to the hold, which smelled of spices and where the oranges gleamed in the net bags”.

(Erik Tawastsjerna: Sibelius, Helsinki 1965.)

5. SPAIN TRADE SHIP AUGUSTE

The merchant houses of C. I. W. Sucksdorff from Loviisa and Paul Wahl & Co. from Vyborg built the barque AUGUSTE in the municipality of Pyhtää during 1856-57. In July 1857 a 14-member crew was hired from Loviisa and municipality of Pernaja. The master of the ship was Carl Gustaf Rosqvist.

The journey of the crew stretched out to two years and became far longer and more dramatic than planned. The journey can be followed from the map:

1-3 At the turn of July and August in 1857 the ship sailed via town of Hamina to Vyborg where it was loaded with timber and then headed south towards Spain.

4-5 The barque AUGUSTE arrived happily to Cádiz where the timber cargo was unloaded. She then headed north towards Sétubal in Portugal to be loaded with salt. However, Captain Rosqvist was already sick at this point but decided to continue with the ship to England.

6 In the autumn of 1857 AUGUSTE arrived in Newcastle with a sick captain on board. The ship stayed in the harbor and waited until a new captain arrived from Vyborg.  It is uncertain, if captain Rosqvist died in England or back at his hometown Loviisa.

When the crew waited for the new captain to arrive, a cabin boy from Loviisa, Alexander Holmberg, drowned accidentally.

Finally, when the new captain, Gustaf Magnus Hernstedt, arrived on 30th November, it was too late to sail back to Finland – because the winter was coming. Therefore, the ship headed south towards the Black Sea and Odessa. This must have been a disappointment for the crew who had already thought of getting back home.

7 When the barque AUGUSTE sailed via Gibraltar to the Mediterranean Sea the hardships continued. The mate from Loviisa, called Stenström, died in Odessa in May 1858. And once again the ship had to wait for a replacement. After the arrival of the new mate, C.M. Wikander, the ship was able to continue its journey towards Sardinia.

8 In Cagliaria, in Sardinia, the barque AUGUSTE was loaded with salt and once again she headed north.

9 To the disappointment of the crew, the ship did not sail back home this time either, but to Holmsund, in Umeå in Sweden, where the salt was unloaded in 1858. And what was worse, the crew was told that the journey will continue back to Odessa – without visiting the hometown of Loviisa! The crew then protested and refused to continue the journey. The captain had to clear out the difficult situation with the help of the Russian Consulate in Umeå. The situation ended with the crew having to pay fines and being forced to continue their journey with the ship.

10-11 According to the logbook, there were lot of problems among the crew during the journey to Odessa, which ended with the mate having to resolve the situation with a gun. Due to the troubles onboard the captain had to contact the authorities in Odessa. In the spring the journey continued towards England again.

12 In July 1859 the ship had arrived at Bristol, where the captain reported the cabin boy Johan Forsman having run away.

13 In the autumn of 1859 the ship sailed to the Gulf of Finland and unload the cargo in Vyborg. Once again, the captain had to approach the magistrate of the town to sort out the disagreements between him and the crew. This time the journey of the crew came finally to an end, and they were able to leave the ship.

5. THE HISTORY OF CAPTAIN J. F. Rosqvist

The maritime history of Loviisa is more than just the history of ships. It includes men which chose to leave their hometown for a dangerous career as a sailor for the whole life. One of these men was Johan Fredrik Rosqvist (1817-1872) who married Maria Fagerström – the daughter of the owner of packet ship ÖSTERTJERNAN, Elias Fagerström. The couple lived a few hundred meters from the museum, in the house that today has the address of Mariankatu 3.

1830-34 After the elementary school, Rosqvist was first in the service of consul Josef Björksten

1834-37 He went to the sea to work on the employer’s frigate TOIVO and made two summer journeys as a cabin boy to Cádiz, and one journey as a ship’s constable.

1838 He graduated as a mate from the Navigation School in Turku.

1838-1839 Rosqvist worked as a helmsman on frigate TOIVO and made two journeys to Cádiz. Worked one journey as a helmsman on barque WÄNSKAPEN.

1840 graduated as a copvardie captain from the Navigation School in Turku.

1840-1842 worked as a master on brig UNION and made three journeys to Cádiz.

1843 Master on barque STORFURST CONSTANTIN

1844-47 Master on schooner NIORD. Sailed to Hamburg, Boston, Lübeck, Málaga, Rio de Janeiro (to ship coffee to Loviisa), Hull and Cádiz.

1848-54 He supervised the construction of brig OTAVA which was built in the Old Shipyard in Loviisa and worked as a master of the ship.

1856 Master on schooner ONNI on Loviisa-Lübeck route.

1857-71 Master on schooner MAINIO. Made 19 journeys to Cádiz.

His last assignment as a master ended with an argument with the ship owner. In autumn 1871 the ship had sought shelter from the port of Visby due to the harsh weather conditions, and master Rosqvist refused to continue the journey to Loviisa – and schooner MAINIO got a new master.