An Astounding Piece Of Work

Let’s begin with deciphering the meaning of its name. Makalös is a Swedish word that means astounding. The ship derived its name from Roman god of War and so is also famous as Mars. If we talk about its measurement than it would interest you to know that the ship was 48 meters large and was burdened with 107 guns that make it 17th century’s one of the ships with high capacity.       

A Warship To Intimidate Enemies

The ship was renowned as the strongest and mightiest in all the Swedish fleet out there. It came into existence in between 1563 and 1564. The ship was not just a ship but the symbol of power, glory, and hope of King Eric XIV. It was a time when the strength of its military depended heavily on its size. Among all the ships out there, the warship did set itself apart from them. The ship never lost a battle. It was an important quality owing to the fearful Northern Seven Years’ War.    

 The Seven Years’ War

The Nordic Seven Years’ War that is also famous as Northern Seven Years’ War was battled sometime around 1563-1570. The fight took place between the league of Denmark-Norway, Lübeck and Poland and Kingdom of Sweden. The war caused great losses of lives and goods and when the losses exceeded the limit, the rivals had to do negotiation in order to put it to an end.   

Claiming Many Lives

The Mars has faced many devastating battles. During its span, the vessel mowed many lives. Not only that, it did prove fatal for the Danes, the forces from Lübeck, a German city. The Mars forced the Danish force to step back on the very first day of the war. However, the Germans were not willing to give up so easily. They came back the very next day. 

Beast Of The Sea

The ship was dubbed as the beast of the sea because of the unbelievable power it had. The vessel earned the fame of being the first ship to put down another ship with gunfire. Though it seemed that Mars would never go down, time took on it too. 

How The Mighty Did Fall

The things took a turn when in 1564 Mars forayed into the battle of Öland. The time did not seem to be in its favor as the vessel caught fire from an unknown source during the battle. All claims, might, and power of the ship it began to go deep into the water. The ship was burning with around 900 German and Swedish sailors in it.