The ship 'Vasa' was built in 1628 and was intended to be the pride of the Swedish navy. Unfortunately she was far too tall for her width, and with two separate gun-decks she was extremely top-heavy. Within 15 minutes of being launched, as she fired a broadside in salute to the watching King (who had ignored all the warnings about her lack of stability) she heeled over so that water poured into the open gun-ports. She sank instantly and settled into the mud at the bottom of Stockholm harbour where she lay for 333 years.
She was raised in 1961, and has been painstakingly preserved. Over 80% of her original timbers remain intact, and in 1990 the museum which had been specially constructed for her opened to the public. Since then it has been Sweden's most popular museum, having attracted 30 million visitors to date. For more information about the Vasa I recommend the Wikipedia page about her.
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General view of the Vasa |
The impressive bows |
There were two gun-decks |
Inside a mock-up of one of the gundecks |
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The ornately-carved stern |
This view of the stern shows how tall and narrow she was |
The original carvings were lavishly gilded and painted |
and finally ... these days the Swedish are more safety-conscious and even put hard-hats on their statues when there is construction work taking place near them
All pictures on this site are © Allan Jones unless otherwise stated
