The WASA was originally to be one of the main fighting vessels of the Swedish king Gustavus 11 Adolphus. She was built while the thirty years' War was raging (1618 to 1648). Dutch and Swedish craftsman built a magnificent warship under the direction of Henrik Hybertsson. It has been rumored that the ship was originally designed to be a single deck warship, but that the king insisted on having a large two decker. Her dimensions were: Length, 230 feet (from the bowsprit); Beam, 35 feet; Depth, 14 feet; displacement, 1,400 tons. She had twenty-eight 24-lb. cannon on her lower deck, twentytwo 24-lb. cannon on her upper deck and two I-lb. cannons, eight 2-lb. cannons and six 6-lb. mortars on her weather decks. She carried a crew of 133 seamen and 300 soldiers

On August 10, 1628 the ship sailed on her maiden voyage. It was a bright and sunny afternoon when she was towed to Sodermaim, where the WASA began hoisting her sails. A few hundred feet from the islet of Bechholmen, while still in the waters of the harbor of Stockholm, a sudden gust of wind heeled her over, water poured in through her open gun ports, and she promptly sank like a stone, "sails and flags flying" as was said in a contemporary report.

Her sailing days were extremely short - at this point in her career, she was more infamous than famous. Approximately 50 persons lost their lives (she sank in about 100 feet of water) and the Swedish government lost the equivalent of $50 million and the services of a much-needed major warship. Several salvage attempts were made with little success. Albrecht von Treileben, who managed to bring up most of the 64 bronze cannon using a simple diving bell, made the most successful attempt in 1664-65. After this event, the ship was forgotten.

She again was brought to the attention of the world when Anders Franzen, in 1956, managed to locate and identify the WASA after extensive research. The WASA again saw the light of day 333 years after she had sunk on April 24, 1961. The ship was in remarkably good condition as was the over 25,000 other finds, including construction parts and articles that belonged to the ship and crew.

A new method for preserving the wooden ship and the other parts that came up with the ship was developed. A solution of polyethylene glycol combined with borax to substitute the water was applied to the ship and other wooden artifacts. At the same time the giant jig-saw puzzle that was the many pieces of wood and carvings (over 700) that came up from the ocean floor was put together. A lot of work by ship carpenters and museum curators resulted in a wonderful restoration of the ship.

In 1990 a new, permanent museum was built for the ship and has become a new landmark in Sweden. The museum has an open design. The ship is the centerpiece, visible from a distance and also visible from close up to study both the overall appearance of the ship and the rich details intricately put together to form the ship as she must have looked just before she sank. The sculptures that again adorn the ship have been placed in their original positions.

The WASA (VASA) museum is one of two museums that make up the National Maritime Museums in Stockholm, Sweden. This is a chance for a ship modeler to actually see the ship construction of this period from the real thing. There are several kits available of this ship, the one by Panart/Mantua being the most accurate as far as I know. For those modelers who may have masochistic tendencies, plans of the WASA of 1628 are available from the museum taken from the ship that was raised from the sea (there are over 700 carvings that have to be completed for this model). Also, for those interested, there are a number of books on the WASA, pictures of many of the carvings from the WASA, etc. This is one of a very few ships that sank and rose again from the sea to be viewed by all that are interested.

There are many books that contain material about the Vasa, but there are two that I would especially recommend. At this time, they may be difficult to buy, but they can be obtained through inter library loan.

The Royal Warship Vasa by Bjorn Lindstrom is a beautiful book filled with his drawings and paintings of the Vasa. Many of the illustrations are in color, and details such as flags are clearly delineated. There are views of the ship from various directions, and systematic illustrations of the method used to build the ship and its appearance during various stages of its construction and launch. You may be aware that this Swedish ship was built using methods favored by Dutch shipwrights , which are completely different from the procedures used by English shipwrights. Anyone building a model of the Vasa will find this book very useful.

If wood carving is your thing, The Power and the Glory by Hans Soop is the book for you. This book is a detailed study of the magnificent wood carvings that decorate the Vasa. It contains photographs of hundreds of individual carvings, as well as scholarly discussions of their artistic and historical context. In all there are over 300 photos clearly showing about 500 wood carvings and their position on the ship. Some of Landstrom’s paintings are reproduced in color. You may have wondered why so much effort was devoted to carved wood ship decorations in the 17^th Century. A statement written by the French statesman Jean Baptiste Colbert (1619 - 1683) gives some insights: "Nothing is more impressive nor so benefits of the King than that his ships bear the finest ornamentation yet seen on the high seas."

If your interest is in ship’s plans, you should go directly to the source. The Vasa Museum in Stockholm offers a complete set of Vasa Drawings at a scale of 1:100. According to my memory, the price is reasonable.

You may be interested in looking in the October, 1993 issue of the Scientific American. It contains a study of the colors of Vasa’s sculptures, and includes photos of modern polychrome reproductions of some of Vasa’s wood carvings. The colors differ somewhat from Landstrom’s illustrations. In fact, the colors remind me of the colors of carousel animals. Choices, choices!