Decoding wreckage
The Jessica sank after a collision with a Danish steamer in heavy fog on 20 May 1885 . Fortunately , everyone on board was rescued before she sank just 30 minutes later .
The ship ’ s wheel is intact , but the rest of the bridge has disintegrated . The words ‘ Jessica , Hamburg ’ are legible on the wheel , with the year 1880 on the hub . Visibility was low the first time I dived there . It felt like swimming around a pile of random rubbish , but after a while I started to notice some intriguing details .
Later we returned for another dive . Visibility was much better . the handsome ship ’ s wheel made a big impression , as did the steam engine with its many fine details .
The Porcelain Wreck
The vessel we call the ‘ porcelain shipwreck ’ evokes St Peterburg or Stockholm ’ s Old Town , drinking sessions in northern provinces frolicking in dark alleyways . There are violins , bottles , pocket watches and ink wells for quill pens , along with clay pipes , brooches , assorted
glasses , bales of cloth and fine porcelain . The bow is largely intact . Roman numerals are still visible on the stem of the bow to show how heavily the ship was laden . The wreck is around 22m long and 5m tall on the seabed , hard clay with some areas of gravel . Here , Niklas Adolfsson examines the seabed while I shine a light on the damaged stern .
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