Vasa

Vasa was a Swedish warship built between 1626-1628. 

It was commissioned by King Gustav II Adolf for the Thirty Years War.

On Sunday the 10th of August 1628, cannons were fired & the Vasa set off on its maiden voyage. 

All was well for the first 1250m, until there was a bit of wind & it tipped over. Hilarious.

Water came rushing in through the open gunports & it quickly sank:

On the 14th of April 1961, the Vasa returned to the surface - 333 years later.

It had been located 5 years earlier by Andres Frazen & Per Edvin Falting, who had in turn been searching for it & other famous shipwrecks for a number of years.

Six tunnels were cut through the clay under the ship with special water jets. 

Then steel cables were drawn through the tunnels & taken to two lifting pontoons on the surface, which were to pull the ship free.

The diver's equipment weighed nearly 100 kilos.

The suit is a one-piece unit of thick canvas with a middle layer or rubber.

In order to drive the cables through the tunnels, the divers had to go down to a depth of approx. 40m.

The temperature there was 4c.

Conservation of such a large wooden structure had never been attempted before. 

A lot of the techniques used were experimental.

For 17 years, the Vasa was sprayed with PEG (polyethylene glycol) - a chemical compound that replaces the water in waterlogged wood to prevent shrinking & cracking.

Unfortunately, this also stripped the wood of all its paint & colour, that had actually remained intact for 333 years. 

Here's a model of what the ship actually would have looked like: 

Over 40,000 objects were found within the Vasa.

Most were stored in water tanks while waiting for conservation.

Here are examples of some of the restored sculptures that adorned the ship: to express the power, strength & glory of Sweden & the King:

Approximately 150 people were on board, of which around 30 died. 

The remains of at least 16 skeletons were found during excavations of the ship.

None of the bodies have been able to be identified but through the study of osteology, researchers have come to probable conclusions about their appearances, etc.

An inquest into the disaster was held immediately after the sinking.

No charges were laid, however nowadays most blame is attributed to the Captain.

Just before the Vasa sailed, tests were undertaken that proved the ship was extremely unstable.

But ultimately, the Vasa was built top heavy but with an insufficient ballast, the lower gunports were poorly designed & laid just above the surface & should've been closed:

7 months after the salvage, the Vasa moved into a provisional museum, the Wasa Shipyard.

In 1988 the Vasa makes one final journey to a new home, & the Vasa Museum is officially opened on June 15 1990.

It is the largest wooden ship in the world: