During the 17th century, Sweden went from being a sparsely populated, poor, and peripheral northern European kingdom of little influence to one … See more

Sinking
On 10 August 1628, Captain Söfring Hansson ordered Vasa to depart on her maiden voyage to … See more

Vasa posed an unprecedented challenge for archaeologists. Never before had a four-storey structure, with most of its original contents … See more

Although Vasa was in surprisingly good condition after 333 years at the bottom of the sea, she would have quickly deteriorated if the hull had been simply allowed to dry. The large bulk of Vasa, over 600 cubic meters (21,000 cu ft) of oak timber, constituted … See more

Just before Vasa was ordered, Dutch-born Henrik Hybertsson ("Master Henrik") was shipwright at the Stockholm shipyard. On 16 January 1625, … See more

Less than three days after the disaster, a contract was signed for the ship to be raised. However, those efforts were unsuccessful. The earliest attempts at raising Vasa by … See more

Vasa sank because she had very little initial stability—resistance to heeling under the force of wind or waves acting on the hull. This was due … See more