Welcome aboard the Tallinn Cog!
The Baltic Sea is a treasure trove of shipwrecks. Lots of them are in a very good condition albeit centuries of submersion. The Vasa in Stockholm is a prime example of a raised shipwreck turned to a hugely successful museum. There are a couple of others, but really, there aren’t that many large shipwrecks in museums around the Baltic Sea. Why not?
This is something we have pondered upon for years, even way before there even was a company called For Our Generation, or FOG, as we like to simplify our dear name so rich with meanings (to be explained later on in this blog, I promise…). I mean there are so many possibilities! And after all, we two have unique training and experience in conserving shipwreck finds. Why wouldn’t we dream about shipwrecks in museums?
Who’s we? I’m Eero Ehanti and my partner’s name is Heikki Häyhä. We’re Finnish conservators specialized in marine archaeological finds and both somebody who definitely are for excavating shipwrecks and exhibiting them in museums for the benefit of science and hence future generations but more than that for the joy of our generation. Yes, we do know how difficult and expensive it is, but it can be done, no doubt about that.
If you got to choose, what kind of a shipwreck would be the one to be shown in a museum? Possibilities abound, in theory, for there are plenty of shipwrecks in the Baltic Sea, this age-old maritime route. They come from any given period of this water route so important in trade and politics since distant past. What would be of most interest for research and public? A strong candidate would be a Cog, that mysterious carrier of the Hanseatic League, more known from representations in seals and coins than real material remains. Indeed, very few wrecks of cogs have been researched, let alone conserved and placed on museum display.
Heikki Häyhä (FOG) standing inside the Tallinn Cog, January 2018. Photo: Eero Ehanti
Alas, a cog is what we at FOG came about, thanks to Urmas Dresen and Priit Lätti from the Estonian Maritime museum. In 2017 we learned that there was a well preserved wreck of such a ship to be conserved in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, aka Rävel of the Hanseatic times. She is called the Peeter Cog after the digger operator, who unearthed her in 2015 on terrestrial site by the coastline of Tallinn. Analyses proved the wood the be from early 14th century, which verified the fact already evident from the structure, that this indeed was a Cog,
Heikki Häyhä (FOG) and Priit Lätti (Estonian Maritime Museum) cleaning the cog. Red ropes have been used to divide the surfaces in squares for systematical documentation. Photo: Eero Ehanti
The Tallinn Cog is currently undergoing conservation with the clear aim of placing it on display in a designated hall to be constructed inside the Old Town walls. Our company’s tasks are to make the conservation plan and manage the process from the temporary location, where the conservation actions will be carried out, to the permanent location, where the hull needs to have proper supporting structure and of course a brilliant exhibition set up explaining the whole thing along with all historical contexts for present day visitors.
How to go about with this? That’s what we set to explain in this blog as we proceed. So welcome aboard, dear reader!