Holidays: Stockholm
Last week, I was on holidays with my mother, we spent 4 days in Sweden's capital: Stockholm.
One of Stockholm's best known tourist attractions is the Vasamuseet, the museum dedicated to Sweden's most famous man'o'war, the Vasa.
The Vasa was was built from 1626 to 1628. The ship sank on her maiden voyage (August 10th, 1628) after sailing less than a nautical mile.
The ship was salvaged in 1961, almost entirely intact. This is because the water in Stockholm harbour is brack water, that menas not so salty and not as good as a breeding ground for the common ship-worm.
The Vasa was one of the largest and most heavily armed warships of her time, adorned with hundreds of sculptures, all of them painted in vivid colors. King Gustavus Adolphus wanted her to be a shining example of swedish power and glory. (Not so much, eh?)
On the day of her maiden voyage, there was only a light breeze. The ship was towed out of the harbour and set sail. The gun ports were open to fire a salute while leaving. There were large crowds of spectators watching her go. When a gust of wind filled the sails, the ship leaned over to the left quite a bit, but uprighted itself again. When the second gust came, however, the ship heeled further to the left and the water flowed through the lower gun ports. The ship sank - and quickly. About 50 people were taken with her into the depths.
It was later found that the ship had sunk because of its contruction: Too top-heavy and no sufficient ballast, as this picture illustrates.
All of the officers and bulders were questioned, but no one was ever sentenced as guilty. Chief constructor Henryk Hybertsson had already died in spring of 1627 - the work had continued, but no one had felt really responsible or daring enough to criticize, obviously.
The museum was well made and interesting, it had a rebuild of both the mizzentop and a gundeck (unfortunately for me, there was a film crew on the gundeck the day we visited, so I coud not access it. :( Mean.) It was also great to see the model of the vasa whicht htey had repainted in the actual colors that were used originally. And the giant ship in the middle was just awesome. You could walk around it across several staircases. They also exhibited things they found in the wreck such as board games, pottery, piecesof rope and sail and the like.
The pics are taken from the Wikipedia article. It is worth a read!
One of Stockholm's best known tourist attractions is the Vasamuseet, the museum dedicated to Sweden's most famous man'o'war, the Vasa.
The Vasa was was built from 1626 to 1628. The ship sank on her maiden voyage (August 10th, 1628) after sailing less than a nautical mile.
The ship was salvaged in 1961, almost entirely intact. This is because the water in Stockholm harbour is brack water, that menas not so salty and not as good as a breeding ground for the common ship-worm.
The Vasa was one of the largest and most heavily armed warships of her time, adorned with hundreds of sculptures, all of them painted in vivid colors. King Gustavus Adolphus wanted her to be a shining example of swedish power and glory. (Not so much, eh?)
On the day of her maiden voyage, there was only a light breeze. The ship was towed out of the harbour and set sail. The gun ports were open to fire a salute while leaving. There were large crowds of spectators watching her go. When a gust of wind filled the sails, the ship leaned over to the left quite a bit, but uprighted itself again. When the second gust came, however, the ship heeled further to the left and the water flowed through the lower gun ports. The ship sank - and quickly. About 50 people were taken with her into the depths.
It was later found that the ship had sunk because of its contruction: Too top-heavy and no sufficient ballast, as this picture illustrates.
All of the officers and bulders were questioned, but no one was ever sentenced as guilty. Chief constructor Henryk Hybertsson had already died in spring of 1627 - the work had continued, but no one had felt really responsible or daring enough to criticize, obviously.
The museum was well made and interesting, it had a rebuild of both the mizzentop and a gundeck (unfortunately for me, there was a film crew on the gundeck the day we visited, so I coud not access it. :( Mean.) It was also great to see the model of the vasa whicht htey had repainted in the actual colors that were used originally. And the giant ship in the middle was just awesome. You could walk around it across several staircases. They also exhibited things they found in the wreck such as board games, pottery, piecesof rope and sail and the like.
The pics are taken from the Wikipedia article. It is worth a read!