1628, Sweden
Casualty of the elements, the Wasa sank on her maiden voyage.
The Wasa was laid down in 1626 and launched in 1628. During this period her design was modified following specific requests from king Gustavus Adolphus. However, flaws in the design were noticed by subordinates but never challenged. The ship’s ...
1628, Sweden
Casualty of the elements, the Wasa sank on her maiden voyage.
The Wasa was laid down in 1626 and launched in 1628. During this period her design was modified following specific requests from king Gustavus Adolphus. However, flaws in the design were noticed by subordinates but never challenged. The ship’s structural problems made her unstable and she sank on her maiden voyage after having sailed less than a nautical mile.
Thus disappeared the most advanced technique of naval warfare of the time: 64 guns, 70m hull, 50m masts, 10 sails, 1,275m² sail, a high stern used as firing platform and capable of carrying 300 soldiers. At the time, she had the largest concentration of artillery on a warship and she had the heaviest combined weight of shots that could be fired on one side. Her colourful ornamentation and numerous gilded sculptures were a means to glorify the reputation of the monarch and intimidate the enemy.
Her bronze cannons were salvaged in the seventeenth century; she then fell into obscurity and she was salvaged in 1961. Her near intact hull and the many artefacts recovered gave historians some knowledge on naval warfare, shipbuilding techniques and everyday life on board of this three-century year old warship, hence her historical importance. She currently is in the Stockholm Vasa museum.