Stockholm
In the morning, we took a bus to the Vasa Museum, which houses the flagship Vasa, launched in 1628 with much fanfare as a symbol of Sweden’s power and status as a mighty Baltic empire. Unfortunately, it was not seaworthy and it sunk inside the harbor on its maiden voyage after having traveled only a few hundred meters.
Even before launching the ship, the captain had expressed his concern that it was too top-heavy to sail. King Gustavus Adolphus, who commissioned the ship and ordered it to be the largest in his fleet, demanded that the ship have two rows of cannons. This extra row of cannons gave the ship a more ominous appearance and also made it potentially more lethal in battle, but it also required that the ship’s designers and engineers build the ship higher than usual. They did not, however, make the ship wider. Nor did they create adequate space in the bottom of the ship for ballast. Before sailing, the captain tested the ship’s seaworthiness by having several crew members run back and forth from port to starboard, at which point he noticed that it swayed too much. However, as captain of the ship, he did not have the authority to call off its maiden voyage. Only King Gustavus Adolphus could have cancelled its launching and he was not present on the day the voyage began. Exactly as the captain feared, the ship began to list when the winds picked up and soon thereafter it sank, killing an estimated 30 of the more than 300 persons aboard. After an inquiry, nobody was held responsible, as ultimately it was designed as the king had wished it to be designed.
The Vasa rested on the Baltic seabed until the 1950s, when a private salvager located its position and received permission to raise it and bring it to land. For the next several decades, the Swedish government oversaw its restoration and preservation, and in 1990 it was placed in a magnificent new museum. It now attracts nearly a million visitors each year and for good reason: it is a rare example of a nearly intact war vessel from the 17th century. The brackish muck of the Baltic seabed had preserved it unusually well.
In the afternoon, we went one of three expeditions. Some of us hopped on a bus and traveled about an hour to the Gripsholm Castle and the nearby town of Mariefred. The castle was used by the Vasa dynasty for centuries. Most impressive were the portraitures that date back to the era of King Gustavus Adolphus. Others visited the National Historical Museum, the most renowned museum for Swedish history in the country. Still others visited the Millesgården and Waldemarsudde Art and Sculpture museums.
