August 10, 1628 was a beautiful summer day in Stockholm, the Swedish capital. People filled the harbor docks when the great royal warship Vasa made its first voyage to the Swedish Navy after three years of construction.
Vasa was no ordinary warship. King Gustav II Adolphus Vasa wanted her to be the most powerful in the world. Some say he ordered the construction of a second cannon bridge after learning that the Danes were building a ship with two cannon decks. He wanted the ship named after him to be less than none.
His departure was to be a living demonstration of his royal power and glory. He was armed with 64 pistols and adorned with over 700 sculptures and ornaments. Its price was equivalent to more than 5% of the Swedish gross domestic product. This mighty war machine and floating art exhibit was possibly the most glorious ship built during this period. It's no wonder people applauded with pride as they passed Stockholm's docks!
Disaster and humiliation
However, Vasa had traveled less than a mile [just over a kilometer] when a gust of wind turned his heel. The water gushed through the open portholes and disappeared. It was perhaps the shortest maiden voyage in maritime history!
The audience was amazed. The glory of the Swedish Navy has faded, not in battle or in a violent storm at sea, but by a simple gust of wind in its own port. The death of about 50 people on board caused further dismay. Instead of being the subject of national pride, Vasa has become synonymous with disappointment and shame.
A court has been called to find the person responsible for the humiliating disaster. But no one was charged, probably because the testimony concerned the king and the second-in-chief of the Swedish Navy, Vice Admiral Klas Fleming.
The king's demands prompted the builders to experiment with unknown projects. Thus, Vasa has become disproportionate. Shortly before capsizing, Admiral Fleming organized a stability test. Thirty men ran side by side on the ship. After three runs, the admiral realized that if they continued, the ship would sink at this point. He therefore interrupted the test, but did not interrupt the maiden voyage. With such important figures as the king and the admiral, the charges were dropped.
In 1664-65, a former Swedish officer retrieved most of the weapons from Vasa with a simple diving bell. Vasa was then gradually forgotten as it sank deeper and deeper into the mud 30 meters below the surface.
From the mud
In August 1956, an amateur archaeologist, Anders Franzén, used a barrel to remove a piece of oak from the floor. For years he rummaged through old documents and looked for Vasa under the sea. Now he had found her. Thanks to a delicate rescue operation, Vasa was removed from the mud and carefully transported under all the water to a waiting dock.
On April 24, 1961, the Stockholm docks were again filled with enthusiastic spectators. After 333 years on the seabed, Vasa has returned, this time as a tourist attraction and treasure for marine archaeologists. More than 25,000 artifacts have revealed fascinating details about this 17th century warship, providing a unique glimpse into contemporary shipbuilding and sculptural art.
Why have Vasa and its artifacts been so well preserved? Some factors suggest that when it sank it was new, the mud had a preservative effect, and the wood-destroying sea worm does not grow in low-salt water.
Vasa had about 120 tons of ballast. Experts estimate that stabilization took more than twice as long, but there was no space. Also, this extra weight would have brought the lower cannons closer to the water. She was gorgeous in appearance, but her poor balance made her a catastrophe.
Today it is the oldest surviving, complete and fully identified ship in the world and is safe in its own museum. There, 850,000 visitors per year experience the royal splendor of the 17th century, which was frozen by the catastrophe of 1628. It is reminiscent of the madness of the leaders who, out of ego and recklessness, chose to ignore good shipbuilding practices. .
Nice