That’s cracking; it puts me in mind of Monster Men.
But the reason it sank so quickly is because the king kept insisting on changes that added to his glory by adding weight (statues, gold, etc.) high above the waterline, where it could be seen and admired by his enemies. Well, for a few minutes at least! And no one dared tell him no.
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Historic context, contemporary naval design, naval tactics, and much more.
For the most part an interview with Dr Fred Hocker, the Director of Research at the Vasa Museum, filmed in the replica of the great cabin.
The TL;DW is that it’s a bit more complicated than “too many guns, too much bling”.
Which is illustrated by the Äpplet, Vasa’s sister ship. Built at the same shipyard and launched less than a year after the loss of Vasa. Äpplet was in active service for ~30 years. The only difference in design is that Äpplet was about 3 feet wider than Vasa, and that might have been achieved by adding extra planking on the hull, mainly below the waterline. Äpplet originally even had the same armament as Vasa; they swapped out the guns on the upper gun deck for smaller ones after her first year in service.
In 1658, Äpplet was sunk deliberately outside Vaxholm as a block ship. The wreck has been rediscovered in 2021 and surveyed in 2022.
And it won’t do to talk about Vasa without at least mentioning Margareta Nilsdotter.
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Safety engineer: “But what about RUSes?”
Manager: “Rapid Unscheduled Submergings? I don’t think they exist.”
/obligs
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Learning from one’s mistakes is important!
I mean, let’s face it, if shipbuilding is a major industry in your country, having one not even be able to get out of the harbor indicates something is seriously, seriously wrong.
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