In the early 17th century, Sweden was busy building an empire around
the Baltic Sea in northern Europe. A strong navy was essential. During
the 1620s Sweden was at war with Poland. In 1625 the Swedish king
Gustavus Adolphus ordered new warships. Among them the Vasa.

The Vasa was built at the Stockholm shipyard by Henrik Hybertsson -
an experienced Dutch shipbuilder. His experience was much needed
as the Vasa was to be the mightiest warship in the world, armed with
64 guns on two gundecks.

In 1628 the ship was ready. Sunday August 10 was the day of the
Vasa's maiden voyage. The beaches around Stockholm were filled with
spectators, among them foreign diplomats. The maiden voyage was
to be an act of propaganda for the ambitious Swedish king Gustavus
Adolphus.

 

The Vasa set sail and fired a salute. But only after a few minutes of
sailing the ship began to heel over. She righted herself slightly - and
heeled over again. Water started to gush in through the open
gunports. And, to everyones horror and disbelief, the glorious and
mighty warship suddenly sank! Of the 150 people on board, 30-50
died in the disaster. When Vasa had been salvaged in 1961,
archaeologists found the remains of 25 skeletons.



After the disaster the captain of the Vasa - Söfring Hansson - was
arrested. The Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus was not in Sweden at
the time. He was waging war in Poland. It took two weeks for him to
learn about what had happened. When he did, he wrote angrily that
the disaster had happened because of "imprudence and negligence"
and that the guilty parties had to be punished. Söfring Hansson and
many others were called to inquiries at the Royal Castle of Stockholm.

At the inquest people were troubled by the fact that the shipbuilder
Henrik Hybertsson had died the year before the Vasa was completed.
Instead his brother and partner, Arendt de Groot, was held
responsible for the completion of the ship. But in the end no one was
condemned for causing the disaster. The people in charge of the
inquiries concluded that the ship was well built - but badly
proportioned.