On This Day… The Mightiest Warship In The World!

Written by: Peter Fishlock : 08 Sep 2019

It was on this day, 24th April, back in 1961 when a large crowd gathered at the Stockholm harbour and one-hundred million people tuned in globally as the crown jewel of the Swedish navy was raised off the Baltic sea-bed where it had rested for more than 300 years. The Vasa was a Swedish warship that was built between 1626 and 1628. She was commissioned by Swedish King Gustav II Adolf to be the mightiest warship in the entire world.

The wreck of the mighty warship being raised

On August 10th, 1628, she fired a barrage of canon shots in front of the royal palace in Stockholm and began her maiden voyage on a journey to dominate the seas. The Vasa only sailed around 1,300 metres before she sank. Unfortunately, she did not have enough ballast to counteract the weight of her sixty-four guns. Interestingly this story of disaster has a happy ending, as she was raised to the surface with her hull largely intact. thousands of artefacts were recovered including the remains of fifteen of her crew. The Vasa is now one of Sweden’s top tourist attractions and has received over thirty-five million visitors since her salvage.

Are you already curious to discover what happened tomorrow? Have a great day.

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