Vasa
The Swedish ship Vasa is one of, if not the biggest fiasco in naval history. It sank a few minutes after beginning its maiden voyage, on August 10, 1628, in Stockholm. But what happened?
Considered one of the most expensive vessels of its time and designed to be the pride of the Swedish fleet, the Vasa didn’t even leave the port: all it took was a gust of wind to make it tip over and take on water.
The vessel left moorings late in the afternoon, in apparently calm conditions. As it passed through the Tegelviken area, a sudden gust filled the sails and tilted the ship, recalls . The inclination would not have been, in itself, extraordinary, but it proved fatal because water began to enter in large quantities through the artillery portals on the lower deck, which were open.
The commander ordered them to be closed, but it was already too late: Vasa was rapidly losing stability and sank less than a nautical mile away from the starting point, remaining at the bottom at around 32 meters deep. It is estimated that they were there were around 150 people on board and 30 diedmany of them trapped inside.
The question is: why did it sink so quickly?
The answer lies above all in engineering. In the 17th century, the calculation methods used today to predict the stability of large ships did not exist. The most consensual explanation is that of a structural imbalance: a relatively small hull below the waterline to support the weight of what was above, resulting in a center of gravity too high. This made Vasa fast but vulnerable to even light winds. The risk was aggravated by the fact that the vessel started sailing with the gangways open.
Vasa remained submerged for more than three centuries. It was rediscovered in 1956 by the naval engineer Anders Franzén and, after a complex salvage operation, it was finally raised in 1961, 333 years after the sinking. There was room for unusual ideas, such as filling the hull with ping-pong balls, but the solution involved high-pressure water jets, steel cables and pontoons, in a process that took years.
The cold water helped to preserve the ship exceptionally well. Human remains of at least 17 people and more than 40,000 objects were found inside, from cannons to coins. Today, Vasa can be seen at the Vasa Museum in Stockholm, a virtually unique case of a preserved 17th century warship. Even so, conservatives warn of challenges that still persist: wood has lost much of its resistance since the recovery, leaving a race against time to ensure its survival.
