CARLSCRONA, a sea-port town of Sweden, in the province of Blekingen, South Gothland. It derives its name from Charles Xl. by w hom it was founded in the year 1680, as a station for his ships of war. lie removed them from Stockholm to this place, which was greatly preferable, both on account of the convenience of its si tuation, and the safety of its harbour. And it has conti nued ever since to be the grand, or rather the only, de pot of the Swedish fleet.
The principal part of the town stands on a small rocky island, which communicates with the main land Iry a strong dike and two wooden bridges. The mole, too, which lies close to the bason where the fleet is moored, is covered with houses ; and there are several little islands immediately adjoining, on which the more weal thy inhabitants have their country-seats and gardens. suburbs are fortified towards the town by a stone wall The town is extensive and spacious, Most of the houses arc built of wood. There are a few tolerable ones of brick. The new town-house is a It ry handsome structure. The arsenal is a spacious and well furnish ed edifice. And of the churencs, one or two ale rather elegant, particularly the German churl II, which has been recently erected, and which has a cupola covered w ith copper.
The harbour of Carlscrona is %cry large and comnio (lions, being capable of holding loo ‘esst Is. It has depth of water sufficient for ships of the largest size carrying their lower tier gulls ; and it is perfectly protected, both by nature and art, from any hostile attack by sr a. Be fore it are many shallow s, and nearly IOU inconsider able islands, which render the navigation quite imprac ticable to strangers. Ships of war, indeed, can only enter the harbour in one way, i. e. between the islands of Aspo and Turko, and these arc furnished with bat teries which completely command the passage. For merly there was another way, hut it has been shut up by sinking some frigates. There is still another en trance, but it admits of no vessels except those of light burden.
The new docks at Carlscrona give to this town its chief interest and importance. Originally ships, on un dergoing repair, were laid on their sides in the open harbour. But in 1714, according to a plan of Nihon, whose mechanical skill is celebrated in Sweden, a dock of considerable dimensions began to be formed, by hol lowing out the solid rock. This, however, though it was not finished till the year 1724, was found to be too small for men of war; and therefore it was afterwards enlarged to the capacity of receiving vessels of the first rate. In length it is 190 Swedish feet, in depth 33, and in breadth 46. When full, it contains 300,000 cubic feet of water, and is emptied by means of chain pumps, which require the labour of 90 men constantly employed for ten hours, and relieved every half hour. A dock so capacious, hewed out of the solid rock, was unquestionably a bold and grand undertaking ; but it is far surpassed by the new docks which, in the language of Coxe, " have been begun upon a stupendous plan, worthy of the ancient Romans." According to the proposed plan, accommo dation is to be provided for twenty ships of the line, which are to be kept dry, and under cover. As these ships were to run directly from the sea into the clocks, it became necessary to erect vast works, by which the violence of the waves might be prevented from doing them injury. For this purpose, it was requisite to have a solid foundation for the walls and dams, and also for the places in which the vessels were to stand, and to provide these with gates of large extent, and great strength. The ground, in its natural state, was not fa vourable for the purposes to which it was to be applied, sonic parts of it being very low, and other parts of it 1.ery high. The latter, therefore, consisting of granite rocks, were removed by means of gunpowder introduced through hollow tubes; and the former were filled up with massy flat stones, cemented with puzzulana brought from Naples, and carefully reduced to a smooth surface.
The form of the new docks is semicircular. From the centre to the circumference it is divided into four divi sions, each division having separate receptacles for five vessels,—a distinct gate, 48 feet in breadth, and nearly flinty in height,—and a detached edifice over it, with a copper roof. The walls, like the bottom, are of hewn granite, about 40 feet thick, and filled up in the middle with earth ; and the roof is supported by rows of gra• nite pillars, which give it a very magnificent appearance. There is one common entrance for the five ships, which each of the principal divisions contains. The docks and buildings connected with them, are separated from the town by a lofty stone wall, remarkable for having been erected by the Russian prisoners captured by Charles till. As this wall, which was intended to provide against the communication of lire, is found to be of no use, Ad miral Chapman has ordered the upper part of it to be taken down, and the materials thus procured to be em ployed for raising more necessary structures. The pro gress which has been made in this vast undertaking, has not equalled the hopes and views that entertained at the outset. It was begun in 1757; and 25,0001. were annually expended. The work, however, as soon as its novelty had ceased to interest, was much neglected. It was afterwards warmly patronized by Gustavus HI.: But it was again allowed to languish. The annual ex penditure was reduced to 6000/. Instead of a dock every year, as was proposed and expected, nine or ten years were wasted in executing the first, after it had fairly commenced ; and even now, of all the four di visions of which the plan consists, only one has been com pleted since the year 1761; and in this, not more than three out of the five docks are ready for use. Of the other divisions little more has been done than to exclude the water.
The ships at Carlscrona are built chiefly workmen. The provinces of Blekingen and not affording a continued supply of oak, this sort of timber is partly imported from Germany. But masts, deals, pitch, tar, and the greatest part of the flax used in the navy, are procured from the Swedish territories. Ropes and sails are manufactured from Riga hemp. Cannon is cast, and gunpowder made with Swedish saltpetre. Carlscrona is the place of residence for the governor of Blekingen, and is the tenth in order of those towns which vote in the diet. It is one of the four places in Sweden in which the Jews were permitted, by a decree of the state, to erect synagogues for their peculiar worship. Of the population of Carlscrona different statements are given by different writers. Catteau, in his General View, 8.7.c. makes it only 9000 ; but in his Travels in Sweden he makes it about 12,000. Coxe says that it is about 18,000 ; Ricchard, between 12,000 and 15,000 ; Torn quist, from 15,000 to 18,000 ; and Kuttncr 12,000. But the most correct information en this subject is to be found in a work entitled Diurberg's Beskrifning om Sverike, vol. i. p. 188 ; in which the population of the principal towns in Sweden is given from the best au thorities. Diurbcrg makes the number of inhabitants in Carlscrona, in the year 1800, to be 13,800. E. Long. 15^ 26' 15", N. Lat. 56° 20'. See Coxe's Travels in Po land, Russia, and Sweden, fS'e. vol. iv. ; Catteau, Voyage en Allemagne et en Suede, 17'e. torn. ii. ; Kiittner's Tra vels through Denmark, Sweden, in 1798 and 1799 ; Diurberg's work, quoted above ; and Malte-Brun's An nate des Voyages, E7c. tom. iii. p. 332. (r)