On April 24 1961, the warship Vasa broke the surface of Stockholm´s
harbour after 333 years on the sea bottom.  At that time the "Vasa
adventure" had been going on for five years. After many years of hard
work the shipwreck-specialist Anders Franzén finally found the Vasa in
1956. He quickly found support for the idea of salvaging the ship.



The Vasa was located 30 metres beneath the surface. The Swedish
Navy's heavy divers, under the leadership of head diver Per Edvin
Fälting, dived down to the ship. They managed to flush six tunnels in
the mud beneath her, using specially made nozzles. Steel cables were
drawn through the tunnels. Two lifting pontoons on the surface were to
lift the ship using the cables. In August 1959 the time came for the
first lift.



There was great uncertainty. Would the old wooden ship remain in one
piece? It did. In 16 stages the Vasa was lifted to more shallow water,
there she was made watertight and strengthened before the final lift -
to the surface!



On the day the Vasa broke surface Sweden stood still. Press, radio
and TV from all over the world were there. Swedish television
broadcast live - something very unusual at the time. There was hardly
a TV-set to be bought in Sweden any more - they were all sold out.
The school-children played truant and the industries stopped. It was
even calm at the maternity hospitals, a surprised nurse told the press.



At 9.03 on April 24 1961 the proud royal warship Vasa broke surface.
The first to go on board was Anders Franzén and Per Edvin Fälting.
During that summer the ship was excavated by archaeologists. An
untouched part of the 17th century had warped into the 20th century!



In 1962 the temporary Vasa Museum - the Wasavarvet - opened. The
ship and all the finds were preserved - an effort of gigantic
proportions. The Vasa is the biggest single object that has ever been
preserved. A chemical substance called polyethylenglycol (PEG) was
used. It replaces water in wooden objects to prevent them from
shrinking when dried.

In 1990 the new Vasa Museum was inaugurated.