Fogel Grip was a Swedish sailing ship originally built in the Netherlands in the early 17th century. She was used on the first Swedish expedition in 1638 together with Kalmar Nyckel to establish the colony of New Sweden.
Samuel Blommaert (1583-1651)
Kalmar Nyckel was a Swedish ship built by the Dutch famed for carrying Swedish settlers to North America in 1638, to establish the colony of New Sweden. The name Kalmar Nyckel comes from the Swedish city of Kalmar and nyckel meaning 'key' in Swedish. The name was also a tribute to Kalmar Castle which was a symbol of power during the time of the Swedish Empire when Sweden was a military great power. A replica of the ship was launched at Wilmington, Delaware, in 1997.
Calmare Nyckel oil painting by Jacob Hägg, 1922
The Kalmar Nyckel on the reverse of the 1937 Delaware Tercentenary half dollar, designed by Carl L. Schmitz
The bow of the replica Kalmar Nyckel including a two-tailed lion figurehead, one tail symbolizing the old ship and one symbolizing the new ship.
In Chesapeake Bay, 2008, flying from foretop to stern the Finnish, Swedish naval, Dutch and American flags.