28 Longleaf Style Fall 2014

THE VASAResurrection

Story & photos by Mary Eloise H. Leake

29 2014 Fall Longleaf Style

Stockholm, Swedens capital, is built on 14 islands and sports 57 bridges. As you walk over one of them to Djurgarden Island, you spot the Vasa Museum, a cavernous contemporary structure topped by three sails.

Inside you find the Vasa, the only conserved 17th century ship in the world, which spent more than three centuries under water. Hewn from more than 1,000 oaks, the vessel is surprisingly 95 per cent bona fide.

Entering the dimly lit museum, you are stunned by the Vasas size, built to carry 445 soldiers and crew. Think Pirates of the Caribbean on steroids.

The heralded warship, ordered by Swedens King Gustav II Adolf, was constructed and ornamented to be his fleets flagship. But in 1628 after traveling less than a mile on its maiden voyage, it sank to the bottom of Stockholms harbor.

What caused the Vasas dramatic swan song?First a bit of early 17th century history. Swe-

dens king and his cousin, King Sigismund III of Poland-Lithuania (a former Swedish king), were in a dynastic as well as a Baltic Sea trade war. Conse-quently the Swedish king ordered a new type of ship with twice as many (64) - and heavier guns.

The master shipwright at the navy yard had never built a vessel of this type before and miscalculated the distribution of weight, says Dr. Fred Hocker, the director of research at the Vasa Museum.

Like Dolly Parton, the ship was top-heavy.The Vasa was also asymmetrical. Four rulers were

found onboard, but they had different calibrations. The two Swedish rulers measured a foot as 12 inches, but the Dutch rulers only had 11 inches. Obviously a multitude of problems resulted from this discrepancy. But they didnt show up until about a month before the vessel sailed, Hocker says.

The only ship stability test at the time strikes todays viewers as funny, but it was very efficient: 30 men sprinted from one side of the deck to the other several times. The Vasa pitched so badly that they cancelled the test. Since no one had the guts to tell the ambitious king, the ship was sent on.

Excitement filled the harbor area on August 10, 1628, as everyone gathered to watch the Vasas launch. With no soldiers on the journeys initial segment, some of the crew had invited family members to join them. Out of the estimated 150 people onboard when the Vasa sank, about 30 died, but only 16 skeletons were found. The museum, using todays CSI technology, fleshed out the faces of several males and a female, now seen in the Face to Face section.

After the tragedy, how does good luck prevail?The Vasas resting place provided an almost perfect

cocoon. In the cold water, the Vasa lay on the harbors dark floor at a depth of about 105 feet. The polluted brackish water kept shipworms (wood-eating clams) at bay. In this environment, preservation was extraordinary. Even six of the 10 sails survive.

About 226 feet long, 38 feet wide and 172 feet high, the formidable wreck was lost over time. Found in 1959, the world watched it rise - with much fanfare - from the harbor waters on April 24, 1961, 333 years after its demise.

Conservation of the national treasure began in ear-

The Vasas resting place provided an almost perfect cocoon. In the cold water, the Vasa lay on the harbors

dark floor at a depth of about 105 feet.

Left: A view of the ornately carved Vasa. The many tiered viewing/informative platforms in the background give one a sense of the museums vast scale.

30 Longleaf Style Fall 2014

nest in 1962. Water in the Vasas wood was slowly replaced with a synthetic waxy additive used in cosmetics, followed by air-drying. These processes required several decades. Now, due to signs of further deterioration, new conservation techniques are being explored, Hocker says.

Opened in 1990, the Vasa Museum also appeals to art aficionados. Some of the 700 ornate carvings enhancing the vessel were copied to exhibit in their original vibrant hues. A one-tenth scale model - with its sails unfurled - reveals her authentic kaleidoscope of colors.

On the many viewing levels, spectators learn about the era and the multiple elements which make this ship unique. Mil-lions of people visit the museum each year because, unlike the Titanic and other museums related to formerly seaworthy vessels, the complete Vasa floats inside.

Thus much like the mythological phoenix with its colorful plumage rising from its ashes, the Vasa, risen from its watery grave, has been reborn and lives again.

The ship and its museum even impressed well-known European travel guru, Rick Steves, who has seen his share of ancient ruins.

The Vasa Museum is my favorite maritime museum anywhere!

Mary Eloise H. Leake, prolific in her travels and lively in her reporting, has contributed dozens of accounts of museum visits, city sites, and explorations for readers to envy, and perhaps even undertake. She and her husband claim to live in Anniston, but they crave the site of ziplines and Old Master paintings and so can be found anywhere these things exist.

Inset: These are copies of some of the ships 700 carvings, displayed as they were originally painted, based on the very small pigments found.

Above: All the wood in the Vasa has been conserved and is 95% original even though the wreck was submerged in the Stockholm harbor for 333 years!