Another neat ship I told the lady at EZ Storage about was the Swedish warship Wasa. The ship was ahead of its time in that it was the first double decker warship. If the ship had worked, it would've given the Swedish Navy a huge advantage in naval combat. Unfortunately, ship building at that time was hit and miss and, this ship missed. The ship was top heavy. Swedish naval authorities knew the ship had problems. Swedish Vice Admiral Klas Fleming was present during a test done at the ship's pier where 30 men ran up and down the rigging. The ship nearly capsized at the pier. Fleming is reported as saying he wished the King (Gustav II Adolf) were there. Presumably so, the King could see the problems his ship had.
On August 10th, 1628, the ill-fated ship set sail. It didn't even make it out of the harbor before the ship heeled to port, took massive amounts of water through its gun ports and capsized. Later, in 1956, Anders Franzen researched and searched for the sunken Wasa. With the help of diver Per Edvin Falting, he successfully found the Wasa. He would arrange salvage and, in 1961, the Wasa returned to the surface. In 1990, the museum that displays the Wasa was opened (Source:http://www.vasamuseet.se/en/The-Ship/Life-on-board/).
The ship is incredible and 95% original. It looks very much like a ghost ship. Also, the ship is huge. The museum that holds the magnificent ship is approximately 3 stories high. In my opinion, this museum is one of the must see museums in Stockholm. The ship is really impressive and is a time capsule into the 17th century. As far as I know, it is the only surviving 17th century warship in the world. I highly recommend this incredible museum. A web site with information in English about the ship can be found at: http://www.vasamuseet.se/en/
