Tripadvisor Seychelles - Vasa Royal Warship Museum in Stockholm-Sweden

1628 vasa capsizes in Stockholm,

Sweden was at this time a super power of the Baltic Sea region and it stood clear that the Vasa incident of 1628 was an economic and political disaster for the Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus II. Bringing with her somewhere between 30 and 150 sailors, started to tilt and eventually sank just minutes after setting off, the largest in the whole Swedish Navy, but in just a matter of minutes this gigantic warship. The 10th of August 1628 the Swedish warship Vasa left the quay in central Stockholm for her maiden voyage.

How could Vasa sink?

But not to a sufficient degree, in part this was compensated with more ballast (stones) deep down in the ship. Thus the arising stability problem, he ordered the installation of more armament on upper gun deck. But also into a symbol of the powerful Swedish Navy, was to convert Vasa into not only a fierce battle ship, gustavus Adolphus, the intention of the Swedish King. But they were soon to be manipulated. A study of the original drawings of the ship gives us that the initial calculations were more or less correct. The Dutch shipwright that was brought in for the construction of Vasa had miscalculated the stability of the ship giving it a center of gravity problem.

Handing over the responsibility to his assistant, the Dutch shipwright died before the ship was finished. There might also have been some organizational problems during the construction.

What happened with Vasa after 1628?

At that time the divers used diving bells to submerge to the wreck that was resting 32 meters below. The majority of the valuable bronze cannons were recovered soon after sinking in central Stockholm.

This makes Vasa one of the best preserved ships in the world from this period. Making it free of shipworm (Teredo Navalis), during all these years the wood has remained completely intact due to the particular salt balance of the Baltic Sea. What was left was an historic treasure in the waters of central Stockholm. So Vasa remained completely untouched during more than 300 years. It can be pointed out that no one was ever found guilty and punished for this incident. But soon the Vasa project was forgotten.

And was televised live, this unusual project was covered by press teams from several countries. In 1961 the ship was eventually lifted to the surface through complex constructions of lifting pontoons and then sent to a dry dock. He located the exact spot and started a salvage project. In the 1950's a Swedish marine archeologist by the name of Anders Franz�n started investigating the whereabouts of the Vasa ship.

The preservation of Vasa

And some people got the chance to taste br�nnvin (Swedish vodka) that was more than 330 years old, sealed liquor bottles were found. Food and liquors were extremely interesting since they gave a complete picture of the whereabouts at this period, clothing, vasa remained untouched for more than 300 years which means that the study of the ship and all preserved artifacts like sails.

Hence giving the wood the stability that the water gave during the 330 years on the bottom of the sea, the wood was treated with polyethylene glycol which penetrates the wood just like water would do, after this initial preservation of the wood admitting it to acclimatize slowly and controlled. For the first years the ship was maintained in a dock maintaining a very high humidity. The conservation of the wood has been a challenge, since that moment.

Description of the Vasa Museum in Stockholm

More than 300 years later Vasa was removed from the water in 1961 and is on display at the Vasa Museum in central Stockholm. Capsized just minutes after leaving Stockholm (The Old Town) on her maiden voyage on 10th of August 1628, built for King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, the royal warship Vasa.

Films and various displays of objects the Vasa Museum provides guided tours,