One thing that made Vasa unstable was the extra deck of cannons. Instead of single deck with 20-24 cannon, Vasa had 64 guns spread over three decks.
Carrying more weight higher up made the ship top-heavy and more likely to tip. And cannons need to be at the sides of the ship to shoot through the gun ports, making the ship even more unstable.
The extra weight made Vasa sit lower in the water, pushing its bottom row of gun ports too close to the waterline, so it only took a slight tilt for the sea to rush in.
Touch & play
- Can you stop Vasa tipping?
- Try loading the cannons without capsizing the boat.
- How many can it safely carry?
- Where’s the best place to put them?