Easily accessible by Stockholm's pedestrian ferry system, the Vasa Ship Museum is a both fascinating and fun slice of history. Much of what follows is adapted from the museum's website.
In 1955, the city of Stockholm was considering building a bridge between Tegelviken and Beckholmen, and commissioned a detailed survey of the floor of the sound. For years, as a sort of hobby, an engineer named Anders Franzén had been searching for long ago sunken Swedish navy ships.
The Vasa had been legendary because it sank almost immediately after leaving the dock on its maiden voyage in 1628, and through the centuries there had been many efforts to find it and perhaps salvage what could be useful. Franzén had searched archives and consulted with a noted historian, and had assumed the Vasa sank in a different area of Stockholm's waters. But when given a copy of the new survey of the sea floor where the bridge might be built, he noted a curious 50 meter long lump right in front of the Gustaf V drydock. He was told it was rubble from the dock's construction.
That winter, Franzén met senior navy salvage diver Per Edvin Fälting, who told him the lump was not rubble from the drydock's construction, which had been dumped elsewhere. The next summer, Franzén and Fälting drove a coring device into the lump and found... wood! Based on that evidence, they convinced the navy to search more thoroughly, using divers. That autumn, Fälting himself went down, and discovered clear evidence that it was a ship.
Franzén was the last in a long line of people who had tried to find the Vasa, but none before had been so focused and assiduous, and it's extremely fortunate that he was the one whose research led to the discovery. Franzén didn't want merely to pull up artifacts from the ship, he had a far more radical idea: raise it entirely and create a museum around it. And his efforts persuaded the right people to make his idea reality.
I posted about Swedish history here, and some but not all of this section is excerpted from it.
Gustavus Adolphus succeeded his father Karl IX as king of Sweden in 1611. He is considered to have been a brilliant and innovative military leader, and is credited with making Sweden one of the most powerful military (and therefore political) powers of 17th Century Europe. It was he who commissioned the construction of the Vasa warship, which was named after his family dynasty.
When Gustavus Adolphus became king, Sweden was at war with Russia over control of the eastern Baltics and Finland, and the enormously lucrative Baltic trade routes. Sweden was also at war with powerful Poland-Lithuania, whose king Sigismund had also inherited the throne of Sweden, but because Sweden was Lutheran and he was Catholic, was forced to abdicate in favor of his Lutheran uncle Karl, Gustavus Adolphus's father. And Sweden also was at war with Denmark, as it often was back then, the Danish royal families seemingly perpetually claiming the Swedish throne, or the royal families of both countries fighting over their rival claims to the throne of Norway.
During Gustavus Adolphus's reign, Sweden also joined the Thirty Years War, which engulfed much of Europe. Like many of Europe's wider wars, the Thirty Years War was so complex that historians still discuss and debate its causes and consequences. It has been aptly described as either a battle for supremacy between Catholics and Protestants, or between the "Holy" "Roman" "Empire"'s imperial house of Habsburg and the French royal house of Bourbon— both of which were Catholic. Both descriptions are true. The war served different purposes for different leaders and peoples. It also killed a lot of people, including a lot of civilians. At least several million.
Gustavus Adolphus was killed at the Battle of Lützen, which nevertheless was considered a great victory for his Protestant side. He was succeeded by his daughter Kristina, whose adherence to Catholicism resulted in her also having to abdicate, in favor of a cousin who became Karl X. I hope to make a full post on Kristina at some point, because she led a fascinating life, particularly after she left Sweden..
The museum is laid out on multiple floors, each with displays about the history, and cases of artifacts recovered from the ship. Each upper floor also has a balcony, so the ship can be seen from multiple angles and viewpoints. It would not be safe to allow people to walk on it.
Shipbuilding and engineering in the early 17th Century were not completely scientific, and much was designed from experience.
Many ships and their loaded capacities were modified even after launch. Sweden had never before built a ship like Vasa, and it was top heavy, intended for speed. It was built to be the most powerful warship in the Baltic.
The lavish August 10, 1628 launch ceremony took place below the palace, although the king was in Prussia, leading his army in the war against Poland-Lithuania. Huge crowds lined the shores of the harbor, and many people watched from small boats, floating nearby. Vasa's full complement of soldiers was scheduled to board later, and the families of its crew were allowed on board for the big event.
One can imagine the cheers as the last anchors were released and it began to move away from the drydock.
One can imagine the reactions when it promptly listed severely to one side.
As its sails were unfurled, a sudden gust of wind tipped it to one side, and as its cannon doors were open, water poured in. The ship was briefly righted, but it's believed that too much cargo had shifted to one side. It quickly tipped all the way over and sank.
About thirty people died. Many survived by jumping into the water, swimming ashore or rescued by people on the flotilla of small boats who had come out to watch the big event; others frantically climbed the masts, which remained above water. Many crew members, including the captain and the man who originally had been chosen as captain, barely survived, after frantically working below decks to try to rescue the doomed ship.
An inquest began immediately, but it quickly became clear that responsibility for the disaster was widespread. The ship had been badly designed, but Gustavus Adolphus himself had approved the plans. At a test a few days before launch, ballast had been moved side to side, and the ship had tilted so much the test had been stopped. But Sweden was at war. Sweden was at multiple wars, and more were looming. Blaming the king was a non-starter, but Sweden also needed its shipbuilders and admirals.
Fortunately for everyone, the original designer had died a year before, although neither the king nor the shipbuilders nor the admirals had later objected to the design. With such an easy scapegoat available, no one living was blamed, and no one was punished.
The ship finally rose above the surface of the water on April 14, 1961. Three hundred thirty-three years after its brief, doomed maiden voyage, large crowds once again lined the shores to watch. Reporters were sent from media outlets around the world, and the event was broadcast live throughout western Europe.
The cold water of the harbor, the darkness, and the thick mud into which most of the ship sank helped preserve it and its contents.
Some of the more valuable bronze had been salvaged in the 17th Century, but most of the rest of the ship remained. Its 1956 rediscovery was big news in Sweden, as was the debate over how to raise it without causing it to collapse. The long process of recovering small items, tunneling underneath, laying cables and using pontoons to raise it out of the mud, and the eighteen months it took lift it to the surface kept it in the news.
On the right is a butter cask. Two of those recovered contained 333-year old butter.
Cannonball and coins.
Conscript sailors had wooden dishes and utensils, and several at a time would eat out of a single bowl. Officers had dishes and utensils made of pewter and faience.
Many gloves and shoes had been made by the people who wore them.
Buttons.
Carpenter's tools, found in a chest. The iron had rusted away.
Four thousand coins were found, most of them copper.
Only three of the ship's 64 cannons were recovered, and a project to try to locate the rest was launched in 2018 . This includes more under water exploration, and research of 17th Century archival records from multiple countries, to try to trace sales of salvaged cannon. Any help from the public is also welcomed. More information can be found here.
Other than that of one retired sea captain, the names of those who died are unknown. Most were members of the crew or their guests, including family members. Most who died were below the main deck.
Skeletons of about half of the dead have been recovered, but of course none has been identified. Osteological research has enabled reconstruction of what some of them might have looked like, including how they might have dressed.
Two women were found among the dead. Both would have been guests, This woman was about 25 years old, and looks gaunt because she was undernourished. In the Swedish navy even most of the officers were commoners, and aristocratic admirals would have shared quarters with several other men.
This man was about 30, short and slight, and because his skeleton was found near the helm, it is thought that he might have been the steersman.
This man could have been anywhere from 40 to 60, and he was found on the Orlop Deck, the lowest deck on the ship. A musket was found near his skeleton.
The fore topgallant sail.
The beautiful carvings were painted in bright colors.
Of course, it's not possible to walk on the fragile decks themselves.
The museum is, nevertheless, a spectacular and haunting experience.
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