“Storskaden”(The great damage) 1821, “Den store utroren” (The great embarking), “Skaværet for Andenes” (The storm of Andenes), “Manndrapardagen”(Manslayer day) –
The terrible event outside Andenes in 1821 has been spoken of by many names during the more than 200 years that have passed. Despite accidents of different kinds in Andøy through the years, the 6th of February is still marked as the darkest Tuesday in the history of the people of Andøy.
Six large Nordland-boats with combined crews of 30 men were lost. After several days on land, they would finally set out to try to make up for lost time. They had gotten out to Norhavsbakkan, 10-12 kilometers northwest of Andenes, and had barely started to pull in the fishing nets when the storm abruptly arrived. Today we would probably call it a polar low.
It’s hard to imagine what a blow this was to Andenes and what is Andøy county today. Many children were left without fathers, and the widows were forced to leave Andenes. Five of those who lost their lives were widowers. This left several children as orphans. The population of Andenes was more than halved as a result of this accident, and it would take time for the town to recover.
JONAS FALCH
Jonas Cornelius Falch was born and raised in Sortland. He conducted trade and managed ships in Andenes, and got a guest house license on December 14th, 1816.
Falch’s part in what happened February 6th is uncertain. The story of what happened was mostly passed on orally through the first hundred years after the event. Falch’s role in the accident is therefore difficult to determine. In the classic story, Falch appears as a greedy proprietor who chases and tricks the fishermen to go out to sea against their will. However, Falch might over the years simply have become a symbol for all the factors that caused the accident. How likely is it that experienced fishermen would have let themselves be tricked to go to sea by a few glasses of sherry, if they knew it might cost them their lives? After the accident, Falch moved from Andenes and died in Slottholmen in Vågan, September 27th 1849, around 70 years old.
See a documentary on “Storskaden” here (In Norwegian):
POPULATION
Andenes has always been an important place for fishing. However, the population of permanent residents has seen large variations. We have to assume that the ocean temperature determined how humans lived. At the end of the 1700s, there was a significant decline in fisheries at the same time as streamlining of the fisheries was made legal. In a census from 1801, 201 people were reported to live here, while the census of 1835 showed only 96. At this time, the place was called Andenæs.
THE MONOLITH
The monolith on Værbakkan was unveiled Sunday February 6th, 1921, on the 100-year anniversary of Storskaden. The idea of putting up a monolith came from Bendik Johan Andreassen from Saura, who put the idea forward through a text in the local newspaper, Andöposten. The fundraiser was led by H. Andersen Rabben who was a fish buyer and merchant. The mayor, Daniel Hægstad, held a speech.
After the unveiling, there was supposedly a historically large party in Andenes, where Andenes Hornmusikk and Baptisternes Sangforening provided the entertainment.
In 1967, a memorial plaque of the names of those who had perished at sea since 1920 was added. 75 years after the monolith was put up – in 1996 – there was talk of moving it in regards to a new regulation plan for Andenes. Asbjørn Iversen then spoke up about the need to make a new plaque that also included the fishermen that had perished after 1967. A truck damaged the plaque in February of 2010, and insurance covered a new, updated plaque.
DROWNINGS AFTER STORSKADEN 1821
After “Storskaden 1821” and several other drowning accidents in the 1820’s, there was a higher frequency of drownings. This might be related to the loss of experienced seafarers and a structural change that made it possible to row further and catch more fish. Andenes lighthouse, the moles, and seamarks made it safer to make landfall. Towards the end of the 1800s, the pilot-ships became more seaworthy and were used for rescues. However, it was after the establishment of the Norwegian Society for Sea Rescue in 1891 that we could see a significant reduction in drowning accidents. Today, there are still around 30 people who drown at sea every year in Norway.
THOSE WHO WERE LOST AT SEA, AND THOSE WHO WAITED TO NO AVAIL ON LAND
Here are the names and ages of the 30 men who lost their lives in Storskaden February 6th 1821, and an overview of who lost a husband, father, brother or son.
Martinus Olsen, 32 years old, Bleik. Leaves behind his wife, Maren Bing Johannesdatter and daughter, Johanne Fredrikke, 2 ½ years old.
Torberg Olsen, 26 years old, Bleik. Leaves behind his mother, Birgitte Helene Torbergsdatter, brother, Ellev Olsen, 22 years old, and sister, Inger Karoline, 20 years old.
Ments Olsen, 24 years old, Bleik. Ments was Torberg’s younger brother.
Jakob Vilhelm Sevelon, 38 years old, Andenes. Leaves behind his son, Petter Olai Maar, and daughter, Jonette Karoline.
Elias Hansen, 41 years old, Haugnes. Leaves behind his wife, Cecilie Marie Olsdatter, son, Hans Zakarias, 6 years old and daughter, Olena, 3 years old.
Kristian Hanssen, 54 years old, Andenes. Leaves behind his wife, Petrika Katrina Hansdatter, and daughter, Karoline Edia, 5 years old.
Peder Falentinsen, 32 years old, Andenes/Åse. Son of Falentin Falentinsen, Åse. Leaves behind his wife, Elen Knudsdatter, and son, Karl Kristian Fredrik, 1 years old.
Jon Anderssen, 50 years old, Andenes. Leaves behind his wife, Karoline Marie Schjeldrup, son, Hans Johan, 8 years old and daughters, Birgitte, 14 years old, and Elen Margrete, 4 years old.
Ole Mentssen, 35 years old, Andenes. Leaves behind his wife, Kristine Andersdatter, sons, Ments Olai, 8 years old, and Andreas Martinus, 1 ½ years old, and daughter, Karen Marie, 5 years old.
Otto Torkelsen, 46 years old, Andenes. Leaves behind his son, Peder, 16 years old.
Hans Fly Hanssen, 51 years old, Andenes. Leaves behind his son, Nils Petter Ole, 3 years old.
Lars Christensen, 38 years old, Andenes. Leaves behind his sisters, Barbro, 26 years old, and Birgitte, 30 years old.
Andreas Jonsen, 34 years old, Andenes. Leaves behind his brother, Job Jonsen, and sister, Anne Marta.
Andreas Kristoffersen, 32 years old, Andenes.
Johan Olsen, 26 years old, Otervik. Son of Ole Ingebrigtsen, Otervik.
Jørgen Larssen, 26 years old, Otervik. Leaves behind his wife, Malene Olsdatter, son, Ole Andreas, 2 years old, and daughter, Inger Marie.
Jørgen Petter Heggelund, 27 years old, Stave. Son of Kristen Hans Heggelund.
Hans Kaurin Heggelund, 18 years old, Stave. Hans is probably the younger brother of Jørgen.
Fredrik C. Rosenkilde, 20 years old, Stave. Son of Dverberg-priest, Claudius Winther Rosenkilde (Priest in Dverberg from 1806 to 1814).
Hans Henrik, Bredal, 39 years old, Stave. Originally from Rødøy. Leaves behind his daughters, Ellen Edia Heggelund, and Henrikke Hansdatter (born 1821).
Kornelius Olsen, 43 years old, Stave/Bjarkøy. Leaves behind his wife, Ingeborg Dortea, and sons, Nils Olai, 11 years old, and Ments Mikkel, 1 years old.
Johannes Ingebrigtsen, 33 years old, Stave. Leaves behind his wife, Johanne Marie Pedersdatter, son, Johannes, 5 years old, and daughters, Gjertrud, 3 years old, and Elen Bertine, 2 years old.
Ole Torkelsen, 40 years old, Skogvoll. Leaves behind his wife, Doret Hansdatter.
Ingebrigt Rasmussen, 33 years old, Skogvoll. Leaves behind his daughters, Olena Larine, Serina Marie, Elea Johanna, and Bertine, 2 years old
Jon Rasmussen, 19 years old, Skogvoll. Leaves behind his brothers, Hans, 23 years old, and Elias, 20 years old, and sister, Lavina, 26 years old.
Nils Petter Pedersen Uhre, 42 years old, Nordmela. Leaves behind his wife, Martha, sons, Peter Martinus, 10 years old, and Andreas Ure, 3 years old, and daughters, Anna Birgitte, and Magnhild, 6 years old.
Ole Martinus Mikkelsen, 34 years old, Åse. Leaves behind his wife, Johanne Knutsdatter, sons Mikkel Olai, 5 years old, and Andreas Martinus, 3 years old, as well as daughter, Kristine Cecelie, 9 years old
Torber Johan Ingebrigtsen, 33 years old, Åse. Leaves behind his wife, Marie, son, Ingebrigt, 3 years old, daughters, Matia Pauline, 6 years old, Elen Johanne, 5 years old, and Elisabet Kristiane, 1 ½ years old.
Jakob Andreas Pedersen, 26 years old, Breivik. Leaves behind his wife, Lavine Rasmusdatter, and son, Elias, 1 years old
Kristoffer Benonissen, 23 years old, Steilo.
Source: Andøy historielag
THOSE WHO FOUND THEIR WAY HOME
On the day which has since been called “Storskaden in Andenes”, only two of eight boats got to land. Ole Hansa Styrmann and Dannel Styrmann were captains on these two boats. There were probably many on land back in Andenes who had given up, as three days passed before the tired crew of Ol’Hansa docked by the Falch-pier. Several more days would pass before Dannel Styrmann came home to Andenes with his crew.
Both boats that made it had realized that to get into Nordhavbøen would be completely impossible. The whole of the skerries and seaways were one big raging sea. The only salvation they could see was to set course across the many miles wide Andfjord, but also here they would be met with the Arctic Ocean’s full wrath.
At dawn they arrived somewhere in Troms county, about 250 kilometers from Andenes. One of the boats found land by Bergsøya in Senja. The other one came ashore close to Tromsø.
The hardest voyage, however, befell the crew of one of the boats that were lost. They made it at first, and came ashore on one of the bird islands outside of Sørøya in Finnmark. But they were not found until spring, by people who came to collect eggs, and were buried there as strange men by strange hands in strange earth, as the story says.
STORSKADEN 1821 IN LIVING MEMORY
The accident lives on in the memory of the people. The cultural life does its part to keep the memory alive. In 2021 there was a 200-day fundraising for the Norwegian Society for Sea Rescue. 200 000 kroner was collected this year, which marked 200 years since the accident.
The large standing stone which was put up in 1921 in memory of the accident was also the starting point of the town’s walking theater, which happened in Sjøgata the summer of 2021. It was about Storskaden, and the parts were played by local youths.
In the fall of 2022, the employees of the Andøy Museum created a haunted house in Kiilgården with the same theme for Halloween.
