A model of the Vasa, with full sails
© Meredith Mullins

The Shortest Maiden Voyage in History

She was as tall as a four-story building and weighed 1,300 tons.

She housed two gun decks with 64 cannons and could transport more than 450 crew members.

She was both inspiring and intimidating with her 700 intricate carvings decorating the ship.

Intricate carvings on every part of the Vasa ship
© Meredith Mullins

She was the most significant statement of power that King Gustav II Adolf of Sweden had ever created.

She was the Vasa—the mightiest warship of her time.

Inspiring and intimidating at the same time
© Karolina Kristensson/The Vasa Museum

The Maiden Voyage

The Vasa’s maiden voyage on August 10, 1628 was to be a triumph of innovation, firepower, and dominance.

The design and building process had taken two years and a hefty two percent of the total Swedish budget. She was meant to change the way of warfare, with her size and cannon power.

Alas, her legacy became history . . . in a different way.

The lion was a symbol of strength and lethal power.
© Meredith Mullins

She set sail from the Stockholm, with thousands of proud and jubilant Swedes watching (as well as a few spies from enemy Poland and Lithuania). She fired her cannons in a salute to power, and glided gracefully through the harbor.

There were no threatening icebergs that summer day, only an affable breeze, which filled the sails and sent her gently toward the Baltic.

A small gust of wind made her lean slightly, and the crowd gasped. But she righted herself, and all breathed a sigh of relief.

Two decks of gun ports—a warfare statement of power, but a tragic flaw in the end
© Meredith Mullins

Another gust of wind made her lean even further. This time, water came rushing through the gun ports. As quickly as her maiden voyage had begun, it ended. She sank to the bottom of the harbor.

In perhaps the shortest first (and last) voyage in the history of the sea, the ship was lost, along with the lives of thirty men and women. The journey had lasted only 20 minutes.

The Next Chapter

Attempts to salvage the ship were unsuccessful, but several entrepreneurs succeeded in recovering most of the valuable cannons. After that, the Vasa was forgotten.

One of the cannons that remained with the ship
© Meredith Mullins

Lost forever? No. A few attempts to find the ship over the years failed.

But, more than 325 years after that fateful day in 1628, Swedish shipwreck researcher, Anders Franzén, wrote a new chapter of history. With advanced sonar technology and a passion for locating the wreckage, he found the Vasa, more than 30 meters deep in the Stockholm harbor—a unique opportunity for travels to the past.

With several years of careful planning to protect the fragile vessel, the ship was partially raised from the sea on August 20, 1959 and fully raised on April 24, 1961—majestic even covered in mud.

Carvings of mermaids, tritons, and sea creatures survived the 300+ years under the sea.
© Meredith Mullins

Protecting the New Treasure

The ship was in surprisingly good shape. It had been preserved in the cold, brackish water and the oxygen-free mud. But, the more-than-three centuries at the bottom of the sea had taken a toll. Parts had come loose and floated away. The ship had to be rebuilt, like a complex jigsaw puzzle.

Piece by piece, the ship was reconstructed.
© Anneli Karlsson/The Vasa Museum

It also had to be protected from drying out too quickly, so the conservationists used polyethylene glycol (a chemical also found in lipstick and face cream) to keep the ship from cracking.

More than 40,000 items were found on the seabed, including 400 carvings—warriors, lions, emperors, and cherubs. Most of the original brilliant color had faded, but it was clear that the carvings represented the kingdom’s power, faith, courage, and lineage.

Research into the paint fragments has provided information on the original colors.
© Meredith Mullins

The sculptures faced both inwards and outwards on the ship to strengthen the crew’s fighting spirit and to show the world the power of Sweden. These pieces had to be assembled back into position.

Sculptures had to be placed back in position during the reconstruction process.
© Meredith Mullins

Oh I See: Preserving History

The discovery and preservation of the Vasa brought the 17^th century back to life—an “Oh, I See” moment of opportunity coming from tragedy.

The Vasa, for a few minutes, had been a ground-breaking floating community. Now, the ship’s remnants were providing a more in-depth picture of that era.

The clothes, food, and tools were all an important insight into life of the times. Divers found shoemaking materials, which indicated the sailors expected to have time on their hands to entertain a second trade.

Carvings often mirrored renaissance art.
© Meredith Mullins

Clothes were preserved in the cold water, showing the working class fashion of the day. And, a block of butter was recovered and now sits in the Vasa Museum freezer. No one dares to taste this nearly 400-year-old delicacy, but it’s an astounding feat of science that it exists.

Even some well-preserved skeletons were recovered, giving researchers information on what the people of the time ate and what illnesses might have been common.

Continuing research on the paints of the time enables colorful replicas
of the faded wood carvings.
© Meredith Mullins

The Work Continues

Even now, the conservation techniques continue. The Vasa museum is kept at a constant temperature of around 65 degrees F. (18.5 C) and 53% humidity. The space is unusually dark, since light would continue to degrade the wood. Even so, the ship shrinks a bit each year.

No one knows just how long this ship can be preserved. For now, we know that the Vasa Museum is a treasure—a way to travel to the past and learn from this opportunity that history has given us. And . . . it is the only museum in the world that has masts emerging from its roof and centuries-old butter in its freezer.

The Vasa Museum stands proud, with masts emerging from the roof.
© Meredith Mullins

For more information, visit the Vasa Museum.

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