The disaster of galleon Vas. He sank after swimming only 1,300 metres

On August 10, 1628, the Stockholm wharf was filled by residents who wanted to see the virgin voyage Vases, one of the most powerful warships of that era. The Swedish galleon was to be a symbol of the strength of the kingdom on the Baltic and could soon be directed against the Republic. No one thought his first voyage will end after only 1,300 metres.

On that day, the Stockholm wharf was filled with residents who wanted to see the first exit of the new ship of the royal fleet. Smaller boats with observers appeared on the water and on board Vases, in addition to the crew, her loved ones, including the women and children who were to land in Vaxholm before the ship would go further into the sea.

None of the followers suspected that the first voyage It'll take about 20 minutes.

A ship to show the strength of Sweden

Vasa was a Swedish royal galleon that impressed both size and weaponry for the first half of the 17th century. It was about 69 metres long along with a bushflake, about 12 metres wide. Galleon armament Vasa were 64 cannons of different rangers, including 48 24-pound divisions deployed on two artillery decks. The ship was also richly decorated, and its representative character was to emphasize the power of King Gustav II Adolf and Swedish fleet.

The building began in 1626 when Sweden carried out intensive operations in the Baltic and needed ships with high firepower. Starboard volley Vases It may have weighed about 250 kilograms, which, according to the Vas Museum, made it the most powerful ship in the Baltic and perhaps also in the world.

However, there was a very specific objective behind this momentum. Sweden then waged war with the Republic of Both Nations and after reaching the fleet base on the island of Älvsnabben Vasa He was expected to await further orders that could direct him to forces leading to the blockade of Gdańsk or the Stralsund area.

However, the ship built for war against the Republic of Poland never even reached the open Baltic.

It was known Vasa has a problem

Even before the first cruise there were signals that there was something wrong with the new galleon. During the stability test, thirty people ran from one side to the other to check the structural behaviour. After several passages Vasa He started rocking so hard that the test was interrupted in fear of turning the ship.

The problem was in the construction itself. Vasa was high, had two partition decks and a large mass concentrated in the upper part of the hull, while located at the bottom ballast was not enough to ensure adequate stability. In the 17th century, shipbuilders had not yet had methods to accurately calculate stability The designed structure, therefore, when shaping it, consisted primarily of experience and intuition.

Despite the disturbing outcome of the test, the ship was prepared for its first voyage.

1,300 meters and the end of the maiden voyage

On the afternoon of August 10, everything began as planned. Vasa He left the stop and moved through Stockholm port, having open partition gates, and after placing some of the sails he gave a solemn salute. On the waterfront there were still people observing the virgin voyage a ship to soon join the Swedish fleet.

But peace did not last long. The first stronger wind blows over Vasa To the port side, although the ship still managed to return to the vertical. The next one turned out to be much more dangerous because heel It was large enough that through the open gates of the lower partition deck into the interior of the hull the water began to enter.

In front of the people standing on the shores, the ship, which was just a moment earlier to be a demonstration of the Swedish fleet's force, began disappearing beneath the surface. After swimming less than 1,300 metres Vasa sank at a depth of about 32 metres, and of the crew and guests on board about 30 people lost their lives.

Who was responsible for the crash?

After the sinking, an investigation began during which the commander, crew members and persons associated with the construction of the ship were interviewed. They looked for mistakes made during the cruise, checked the deployment of weapons and crew behaviour, but it quickly became clear that the main problem was insufficient stability the hull itself.

Eventually, no one was found guilty. The chief builder Henrik Hybertsson had been dead for over a year, and the ship's design was created with the participation of many people and under pressure from royal expectations. So the wreckage was left at the bottom, although in the following decades a significant part of its valuable department was recovered.

In time Vasa He disappeared not only underwater, but also from the memory of the people of Stockholm.

After 333 years Vasa back to the surface

The wreck found the Swedish researcher Anders Franzén in 1956, who searched for a sunk ship for years. His discovery began preparing for an extremely difficult operation to extract a wooden hull, which spent more than three centuries underwater.

April 24, 1961 Vasa After 333 years, he reappeared above the surface. The state of conservation of the ship proved to be exceptional, with the conditions prevailing in the waters of the Baltic and about 98 percent of the structure currently presented in museum are original elements.

Today Vasa stands in a specially built museum in Stockholm and is one of the best preserved 17th-century warships in the world.

So the story turned out completely different from Gustav II Adolf. The ship, which was to fight for Swedish influences in the Baltic and could be directed against the Republic, fought no battle and did not even reach the sea. But he survived almost four centuries, so today we can see almost entirely a warship from when Sweden and the Republic fought for control of the Baltic.