Burial at Sea

Narrator: 

In the 19th century, Norway set sail as a great seafaring nation. 

Elisabeth Koren: 

This was at the time when young boys from the South of Norway could go out and see the whole world, and that homes on the south coast were full of exotic souvenirs from China, South America, and Africa. 

Narrator: 

Elisabeth Koren, department director at the Norwegian Maritime Museum, says that Norwegian schooners sailed between Copenhagen and Rio de Janeiro, Hamburg, and Hong Kong. The ships were international working communities. Crews could assemble on and off in the ports they visited. So, boys from Porsgrunn worked side-by-side with sailors from Sao Paolo and New York. 

And there is a small glimpse of this life captured by Carl Sundt-Hansen in his painting "Burial at Sea". 

The crew in this picture are standing around the captain of the ship, who has died while on the voyage. 

Elisabeth Koren: 

You can see that the widow is present. It wasn’t unusual for the captain to take his wife with him to sea. These sailing ships went all over the world, and could be away from home for years, so it wasn’t uncommon to bring your wife with you - at least when you were newly married and wanted to be together! Before having children. 

Narrator: 

We don’t know what has befallen the captain. The signal flags on the railings of the ship in the painting only tell us that they have attempted to call for medical assistance. But the captain's life was not to be saved. 

What we do know is that often, when someone died, their body did not return home, but remained at sea. 

Elisabeth Koren: 

Burials at sea were common. If you had the material needed, maybe you would build a coffin, but mostly it was common to sew the corpse into sailcloth, together with some stones or something heavy, so that it would sink. 

Narrator: 

The crew gathered on deck, and hymns were sung. The mate would read a prayer. 

Elisabeth Koren: 

...and then the body is lowered into the sea while the ship's bell is rung.