In 1626, the
King of Sweden Gustavus Adolphus commissioned a state-of-the-art warship. The Vasa celebrated its launch by sailing for 1300 meters, then capsizing and sinking to the bottom of the harbor. I assume heads rolled soon after the ship did.
In 1961, the ship was recovered, surprisingly intact for its 300+ years as a submerged reef. It was restored and is now one of the most popular museum sites in Stockholm.
(Wiki)
The museum building itself mimics the ship, with reproduction masts reaching the same heights as the ship at sail (again for all of 20 minutes). A scale model of the ship was created to show the elaborate, original decorations and colors.
A (small) selection of images (
more to come in Google photo albums when bandwidth permits).
Wow.. countless elaborate carvings. Can't imagine the designer (and royalty) watching it sink! Thanks for this. At the Hudson River I often imagine the early explorers sailing such ships.
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