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Galärvarvsvägen 14

The Ship that almost Sailed

Stockholm is a collection of a number of islands and while there are bridges across most of them, traveling by ferry is still very popular and convenient. We caught a ferry from the dock nearest to our hotel and headed to the island of Djurgarden. The island is primary a natural reserve however also includes an amusement park and museums. The ferry ride was only 10 minutes and while the temperature was a balmy 1 degree on the way out it was quite comfortable sitting outside on the deck.

We spent the day at the Vasa Museum which is dedicated to the massive battle ship by the same name that was built in the 17th century. Sweden was locked in battle against the Polish and the king of Sweden had commissioned the building of the largest gun ship on the world. Over 2 and a half years a massive wooden ship was built with over 40 cannons. On its maiden voyage it sank just 20 minutes out of the harbour when a large gust of wind rolled it and water flowed in through the gun holes. In 15 minutes the ship sank, however since the water was only 35m deep at that point, the top of the ships mast stuck out. There out lay for 333 years.

In the early 1960s, the Swedish government provided funds to recover the Vasa. Fortunately it lay in a channel between fresh and salt water, which combined with the fact that part of the hull had sunk under the mud, meant that it was all still intact. Using navy divers, pontoons, lots of ingenuity and 5 years of effort the Vasa was finally raised and stored in the specially created museum.

98% of the original ship had been recovered and restored and it looks magnificent. Our reminded me of seeing Atlantis when we walked into the Kennedy Space Center a couple of years ago, and how impressive it looked. This was no different. And to think a ship of this size was created almost 400 years ago and survived this long under water. It was one of the most unique museums that I have ever visited as it was solely based around a single item.

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