On 5th March 2022 the Ursula Essberger passed the wreck site of the Huis te Warmelo. The almost 100 metre long chemical and oil tanker sails under the Dutch flag and was on its way to the Finnish port of Porvoo to pick up a cargo.
The captain of the Ursula Essberger, Auke Bijlstra, has a special connection with the frigate Huis te Warmelo. He comes from Medemblik. That is also the place of origin of the eighteenth century frigate and a large part of its crew. Since the identification of the Huis te Warmelo, Auke Bijlstra has sailed past the wreck site in the Gulf of Finland several times and his thoughts go out to the unfortunate sailors who died there 307 years ago.
The picture below was taken from the bridge of the Ursula Essberger. The sea is free of ice and calm. At this location, 64 metres below sea level, lies the wreck of the Huis te Warmelo. In the distance on the horizon a tiny vertical line is visible. That is the silhouette of the Kalbadagrund lighthouse. The lighthouse marks the dangerous rock that sealed the fate of the frigate from Medemblik in 1715.
Photo by Auke Bijlstra.