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Friday, July 1, 2016

Vasa Museum

The Vasa sunk in the Stockholm harbour on her maiden voyage in 1628.........but since the ship was newly built and the waters were cold, dark and mostly oxygen free the wood was well preserved
The ship was salvaged in 1961 after being in the water for over 300 years. The exposure to oxygen caused a chemical change in the wood, so to prevent cracks and shrinkage the ship was sprayed with a water soluble wax
Thousands of small steel bolts were inserted to hold the structure together and some of the upper parts of the ship were reconstructed
The ship was housed temporary at the Wasa Shipyard until it moved to the Vasa Museum in 1990
The museum has had over 29 million visitors to see this Swedish warship
During the 17th century Sweden went from a poor northern European kingdom to one of the major powers in the Baltic
The Vasa was unstable and top heavy which led to her demise. Future ships were built smaller but well suited to escort and patrol the expanding Swedish empire
Many ships were lost during wars but also from running aground as nature really shows who has the power 
Sweden was sparsely populated during the 17th century, but with the rise of the navy and power came the people and culture 
In closing.......a model of the Vasa

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