On the third day of my recent holiday, we visited the Vasa museum. The Vasa is a 17th century wooden warship which sank on its maiden voyage.
Preserved in the mud for three centuries, it was raised in 1961 and has been restored - parts that had rotted away have been replaced - and is now a major tourist attraction in Stockholm.
During the 1620's, Sweden was at war with Poland.
In 1625 the Swedish king ordered new warships,
among them, the Vasa.
The Vasa was built at the Stockholm shipyard
and was to be the mightiest warship in the world.
Vasa's maiden voyage was on Sunday, August 10, 1628
and the beaches around Stockholm were filled
with spectators and a number of foreign diplomats.
The Vasa set sail and fired a salute. But after only
a few minutes of sailing the ship began to heel over.
She righted herself slightly - and heeled over again.
Water started to gush in through the open gunports.
And, to everyones horror and disbelief, the glorious
and mighty warship suddenly sank!
A brief history extracted from: the Vasa Museum Website
Part of the museum has a display of weaponry from the period and, in the display of pikes, there is the following quote:
"As he climbed up,
some foe below thrust a pike
straight into his flesh,
whereupon, enraged he cursed
his assailant with gross
Pomeranian profanities,
slithered down and struck him
in the head with an axe
so that his attacker
drew the shorter straw."
Polish report from Oliwa, 1627
I just couldn't resist the phraseology used. :-)
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Original Photograph 24-Jul-2009
Comments (7)
Since it's dark in the museum, you've still managed to capture a lot of detail. One of the best shots i've seen of this ship, including my own.
that is fascinating museum!!! cool shot
I had heard of this ship ... your photograph is wonderful! I love the light. Such a warm shot!
Very cool stuff, thanks for the info as well. So old and cool looking.
Good photo, nice light!
What an incredible restoration. I love making models of these types of ships and I love to do the rigging the best. Your capture is spectacular, Kev! An instant fav for me ;)
Cool, love the pov and the history, outstanding capture!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!