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SWEDEN 15

~;;;!;! Gun-Port lion Stern>-
Some 200 carved Vasa's stern was badly damaged
but it has been painstakingly restored
to reveal the ship's magnificent NORTH
ornamentation. SEA
SWEDEN

•VASA,M.USEUM" rJ
~ S TO-( KHOLM E;TON
\ G:>Ihenbu '\1 lATVIA
D~NMA:~ 8~i~/C ~
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THE SHIP
lhsa was built as a symbol of Swedish might
by King Gustav II Adolf, who was steadily
~;;;!;! Gun Ports increasing Swedish influence over the Baltic
Vasa carried more heavy region during the 1620s, through war with
cannons on its two gun Poland. lhsa was the largest vessel in the
decks than earlier vessels
of the same size. This history of the Swedish fleet and was capable of
probably contributed to carrying 64 cannons and more than 445 crew
its capsizing. From its 170-ft (52-m) high stern it would have
been possible to fire down upon smaller ships.
~;;;!;! Replica lhsa was equipped for both traditional close
of the upper combat and artillery battles. The musketeers
gun deck:
had shooting galleries for training, and on the
upper deck were so-called "storm pieces,"
erected as protection against musketry fire.

LIFE ON BOARD
lhsa's intended destination on its maiden
voyage was the Alvsnabben naval base in the
southern Stockholm archipelago, where more
soldiers were to embark. Each man's life on the
ship would have been determined by his rank.
The officers would have slept in bunks and the
admiral in his cabin. Officers also ate better
food than the crew, whose meals were very
basic, and consisted of beans, porridge, salted
fish, and beer. The decks would have been very
crowded-the small space between every two
A model of Vasa to guns was the living and sleeping quarters for
a scale of 1:10 seven men (gun deck) There was no fresh
food, so many of the crew would have had
scurvy and died from deficiency diseases before
WOOD CARVINGS they reached battle.
The woodcarvers who made the
sculptures and ornaments on Vasa THE SALVAGE OPERATION
came from Germany and Holland. The marine archeologist Anders Franzen
Main film Motifs taken from Greek mythology, had been looking for lhsa for many years. On
~;;;!;! Upper Deck: auditorium the Bible, and Roman and Swedish August 2 5, 19 56, his patience was rewarded
The en tr a nee to the cabins was history were carved in oak, pine, when he brought up a piece of blackened oak
towards the stern. This area was and lime in late-Renaissance and on his plumb line from lhsa, I ocated 1 00 ft
the grandest part of the ship, early-Baroque styles.
reserved for senior officers. (30m) beneath the surface. From the autumn
of 1957, it took divers two years to clear
tunnels under the hull for the I ifting cables.
The first lift with six cables was a success,
KEY DATES
after which lhsa was lifted in 16 stages into
1625 1628 1956 1961 1990
shallower water. Thousands of plugs were then
King Gustav II Adolf Vasa is ready for its Archeologist Anders Vasa is raised to the The Vasa Museum opens inserted into holes left by rusted iron bolts. The
orders new warships, maiden voyage, but t Franzen locates Vasa and surface after 333 years as a permanent museum, final lift started on the morning of April 2 4,
including Vasa. capsizes in Stockholm's participates in its salvage. on the seabed. showing the restored
harbor. Vasa and its treasures. 1961, and on May 4, lhsa was finally towed
into dry dock after 333 years under water.