English translation by Clayton Johnson

 

 

Once upon a time :

 

WASA

 

 

by Hervé Sasso

 

A monograph is being prepared at Vasamuseet.

It is about Wasa. It will be composed of 5 books, 300 to 500 pages in lenght.

The first volume is titled : "Vasa I : The Archaeology Of A Swedish Warship Of 1628".

This volume is mainly about the wreck and the salvage.

Carl Olof Cederlund, one of the salvors, is the principal author.

Fred Hocker, director of research at Vasamuseet, is series editor

The rest is being prepared will be edited as time passes by.

It is a great and beautiful work!

 



 

1 - The ship from port.

The spot marks the level of the stern.


2 - Upper gallery from starboard


3 - Port stern.

We can see the longboat close to the bow and the two guns on the floor


4 - Details of the inner structure.


5 - Details of the inner structure


6 - Here we are in the starboard gallery.

You can notice that the elements in the structure of the gallery have a very nice shape compared to the large timbers of the hold.

 


45 - Draw from Vasamuseet

Drawing courtesy of National Maritime Museums of Sweden



7 - Close-up of the starboard side.

Notice : the wales and planking are made with only moderate straightness,

while  the scarf joints are made with a hight precisions.



8 - In the hold.


9

10

11

12

9 to 12 - This deck was deformed due to blasting rubble from the construction of nearby docks being dropped on the shipwreck.


13

 

14

13 to 14 - The head.


 

15 - Rake of the mainmast.


40 - Mainmast step.

39 - Documentation on the mast step from Vasamuseet.

Drawing courtesy of National Maritime Museums of Sweden


16 - The bilge.

 


17 - The whipstaff


18 - Reconstitution at scale 1/1. The original mask is in the archives


21


22


23


24


26

 

26 and 28 - Technique of assembly used for Wasa


29 - These two railing elements are one meter apart in elevation.


30 - Notice the rake on the main mast.



31

32

31 to 32 - Another interesting point is the mainmast rake verses the maintop tilt.

This makes the maintop difficult to stand on.

 

33 - Vasamuseet plan


34 - Mainmast


35 - This drawing was made in 1987 and shows the locations of framing timbers over a length of the ship.

Drawing courtesy of National Maritime Museums of Sweden


36 - Looking carfully, you can see that the deck-beam over the bitts has sagged down.


 


43

Drawing courtesy of National Maritime Museums of Sweden


44

Drawing courtesy of National Maritime Museums of Sweden


37 - Check points and distortion of the hull: to see how the hull has moved over the years, 400 controlled points were placed to make 14 series of measurements possible.
Measurments are in 3D and are being used to make 2D distortion graphs

Picture : geometric display of the check (control) points

 




38 - Changes in shape of the stern between october 2000 to april 2005.

For clarification, the scales of the mould and the deformations are disproportional.

 


41

42

 

46

47

41 à 47 -  Few exemples of archive data from Vasamuseet.

Drawing courtesy of National Maritime Museums of Sweden

 


48 - These two knees are separate and have been shaped from a natural tree fork. Because of the necessary dimensions, knees are composed of two parts attached to the keel.



49 - The blue flexible pipe is used to circulate conditionned air in the hold.


50 - Vasamuseet archive data concerning the maintop.

Drawing courtesy of National Maritime Museums of Sweden


 


55 - The gundeck (reconstruction at 1/1 scale)

 


56 - Life on board.


57 - Cannons (reconstruction).


58 - Cannons (reconstruction).


59 - Door of the admirals cabin.(Reconstruction).


60 - Underside view of some weather deck grating, from two decks below.


61 - In the hold.


62 - Section of the upper gun deck.


63 - In the captain’s cabin.


64 - Cross section of the ship from the Vasamuseet plans.
Drawing courtesy of National Maritime Museums of Sweden


65 - Stern (From the Vasamuseet plans)
Drawing courtesy of National Maritime Museums of Sweden


66 - Vasamuseet plan.

Drawing courtesy of National Maritime Museums of Sweden


67


68 - Starboard gallery
Drawing courtesy of National Maritime Museums of Sweden


69


70

71

72

73

 

70 to 73 - A quantity of cannon-balls in different shapes.
Men always have a good imagination to create these kinds of toys.

Looking at the following pictures you can see the great comraderie between sailors of these battleships.

 


74 - The fabulous and long voyage of the Wasa.


 

75

76

77

78

75 to 78 - "The infernal puzzle"


79

80

81

82

83

84

85

86

87

79 to 87 - Spots of the stern.


 

Pictures of reproduced carvings painted as they were in 1628.

All carvings were painted, and the ships upperworks were painted red, contradicting the idea that they were blue.

 

88 - Wasa family shield with wheatsheaf.


89 - The three crowns (Tre Kronor) emblem of the Swedish monarchy.


90 91 92 93

94 95

90 to 95 – Different types of carving include Roman warriors, tritons, nereides and consols.


96 - The construction of a ship at the Royal dockyard:

we can easily see how the Dutch method of shipbuilding was conducted.


97

98

97 and 98 - Two drawings that define the shape of the Wasas hull.


104

105

106

104 to 106 - Diorama of the Royal shipyard. Vasamuseet.


109


107 - Level of the silt on the bottom of Strommen in which Wasa sat.

(indicated by a mark on the left)


108

110 111

112 113

114 115

108 to 115 - Manuscript data that came from the Vasamuseet archives.

Drawings that were made after raising the wreck.

Drawing courtesy of National Maritime Museums of Sweden


116

117

118

119

120

116 to 120 - Bow views :
The carvings are Roman emperors.


121

122

123


127

Drawing courtesy of National Maritime Museums of Sweden

128

129

130

131

132

133

127 to 133 - Détails of the shrouds


134 - Lion mask attached to the inside of the gunport lid to scare the ennemy when openning.

There were 56 but we have only 48 today.


135

136

138

 

139 140

Drawing courtesy of National Maritime Museums of Sweden

135 to 140 - Only 3 guns where found on the wreck since most of the guns were salvaged quickly after she sank.

For salvage, a diving-bell was used since the ship sunk in 32 meters of water.

A large part of the guns have been sold to Germany.

Plans of the carraige are from Vasamuseet data.

Drawing courtesy of National Maritime Museums of Sweden

488

Drawing courtesy of National Maritime Museums of Sweden

 

490

 

491

492

493

494

495

496

497

498

499

500

503

487 to 503 - Guns and carriages.

 


141 - The Vasamuseet shop sells an interesting 25 minute long DVD : The Warship Wasa.


142

 

143

Drawing courtesy of National Maritime Museums of Sweden

144

 

145

142 to 145 - A few inner details.


 

146

147

148

149

146 to 149 - Starboard side view.

You can see the lions heads on the port-lids.

The walkway on the last picture is used to go into the ship.


150

151

 

152

153

149 to 153 - Port different views.


154 - You can see an empty space let by an emporor carving that was never found.

155

154 à 155 - Details of carving elements.

 


156

Drawing courtesy of National Maritime Museums of Sweden

157

156 to 157 - A drink to the health of Wasa.


158

159

160

161

162

163

164

165

166

158 to 166 - Some pictures of the Wasa longboat. Parts of 6 ships boats were found around the wreck. This is the only one from Wasa that has been rebuilt. It is 12 meters long and can carry 12 people. This longboat had been finished and used before the maiden voyage of Wasa.

Thanks to Roberth for his help.


167 - General view of the 1/10 scale model of Wasa at Vasamuseet.


168 - A drawing of the stern of the Wasa at the same scale as a french 74 guns.



169 -  If we line up the load waterlines, we can formulate questions!!


170

 

170b

170/170b - A "message" gunport. Used for taking on and discharging mail from the ship.


171 - Captain’s table with dishes and eating utensils found on board. Notice the passglass from before in the middle of the table. Butter was a find on Wasa that was in good condition.


172 - Reconstruction of a sailor' face based on a skeleton and made with scientific police tools. Man is shown at his actual size on a stand in the museum.


173

174

175


176 - Wasa model in the Berlin museum.


177

178

179

180

177 to 180 - Wasa model in the Berlin museum.

Scale model is 1/24.


The Wasa was buit by two Dutch brothers nammed Hendrick and Arendt Hybertsson. One died from an illness in 1627, before the maiden voyage of Wasa.
These two men were good workers and during the lawsuit of 1628, they were found to not be responsible for the sinking of the ship. It was the Kings claim that they built the ship to be unseaworthy.


181

182

183

184

185

185 - A color symphony.

The magnificient views from each end of the ship and quarter galleries.

 

186

188

189

190

190 - A ¾ stern view.

191

 

181 to 191 - Pictures from Berlin. Thanks to Markus Leber.

 


192

193

192 and 193 - Two pictures of Batavia + drawing to show similarities.
(Batavia 1628, 1300 T merchant ship, sank in 1629)

Details of the mutiny of Batavia :

http://www.mandragore2.net/dico/lexique2/lexique2.php?page=voyage-batavia

194


195

196

197

198

195 to 198 - Victor Yancovtich’s Wasa pictures. This model was built from the Vasamuseet drawings and was made with Sergal kit carvings. You can notice that legends about Wasa have long lives.

Wasa was red and not blue as is built it kits 99% of the time. Thanks Victor



199 - Some views of the raising of the Wasa.
A picture showing the salvage fleet and the two pontoons of the Neptune company.
Oden and Frigg are positioned along the sides of Wasa which is still under water.


200

201

200 and 201 - Two pictures of the salvage operation in Vasamuseet.
On the second photo, you can see the tunnels made by the divers who have taken risks to their personal well being in particularly difficult conditions.

202

203

204

205

202 and 205 - The foor pictures are from the Vasamuseet archives that show the lifting system.

Drawing courtesy of National Maritime Museums of Sweden


206 - A diorama of the lifting device.


207 - Drawing explaining how the ship was raised in increments to shallower and shallower water in many lifts. The raising of the Wasa was not possible in only one lift.


208 - Archive data showing the differents locations of the ship during the salvage.
Drawing courtesy of National Maritime Museums of Sweden


209

216

209 to 216 - Demonstration of the water jet lance (Zetterstrom-Jet) for the digging of the sling tunnels under Wasa. The principle of operation: a powerful water jet is directed forward to dig into the mud while discharge is directed backwards by the peripheral crown.

The divers worked in complete darkness in very cold water that was 30 meters deep. They risked the ship falling on them as they burrowed forward in a narrow tunnel while not knowing of the solidity that the surrounding material had to hold the ship up.

 


 

219 - Carving of theWasa


 

 

223

223 - René Vanhouche carving.. Thanks René

 


224 - Anchor

Drawing courtesy of National Maritime Museums of Sweden


225

226

225 and 226 - The Polish men
There are two fearful looking men crouching under small benches, one on the port side and the other on the starboard side at the bow. These two men are quite odd figures and are unlike any of the other sculptures on Wasa.

The men are Polish, which is clearly visible from their clothing and their facial features. These sculptures refer to a Polish punishment practised in Poland at the time that took bad behaving or criminal men and forced them to crawl under a bench and bark like a dog, confessing their bad deeds. The proximity of these men to the Roman warriors suggest that unworthy Polish lives should be spared after showing their cowardice. This is a very subtle way of humiliating Poland, the enemy. Also, when the crew used the beak-head as a toilet they had a clear view of the crounching Poles.

 


227 - Carvings of Roman Emperors stand in chronological order from the immediately aft of the figurehead to the stem.

The first under the crouching Polish figures is Tiberius.


228 - The great lordly warrior.

 

 

231 - Model at 1/1 scale of a Polish.


 

311- A wood cathedral.

 

 

314

 

315

 

316

 

317

314 to 317 - Port spot of castle details.


 

 

318

 

319

 

 

320

 

322

 

323

 

324

 

325

 

 

326

 

327

 

328

 

329

 

330

 

331

 

 

332

 

334

 

335

 

336

 

337

 

338

 

340

 

344

 

345

 

347

 

351

344 to 351 - Top of sterncastle.


 

 

412

 

414

415

416

417

418

 

419

412 to 419 - Bow views.

 


 

 

420

421

422

 

423

 

424

420 to 424 - Détails of port galleries.

 


 

 

425

426

427

428

429

430

425 to 430 - Détails of starboard galleries.

 


 

 

 

432

 

433

434

436

437 


433 to 437 - Gunports détails.



440 

441 

442 

443 


444 


445 

446 


447 


448 

449

450

451

452

 

453

454

455

456

 

458

459

 

440 to 459 - Weather deck views.


 

 

 

461

462

463

464

465

461 to 465 - Lion figurehead.


 

 

469

470

472

469 to 472 - Maintop.


 

 

 

475

476

475 and 476 - Capstan.


 

 

481

482

483

484

 

482 to 484 - Anchors

 


 

 

505

506

507

508

509

510

511

512

 

 


 

 

Some books on Wasa

 


Wasa

Wasa in numbers.
Length over all : 69.0m – 226ft
Length of the hull : 61.0 m – 200 ft
Length between perpendiculars : 47.50 m – 156 ft
Length of the keel : 38.3 m – 37 ft
Beam at the main frame within planking : 11.10 m – 36 ft
Beam at the main frame ouside planking  : 11.40m – 37.4 ft
Height from the keel to the main truck : 52.2 m – 171 ft
Draft at the after end of the keel : 4.80 m – 16 ft
Displacement : 1210 T
Ballast : 130 T
Sail area : 1275 m² - 13800 sq.ft
Number of sails : 10
Crew : 457 men
We can see that this ship was very large for this period.


 

VASAMUSEET

http://www.vasamuseet.se/

 



I invite you to view the website of my friend Clayton.
He tries what is rare: to carry out a model of Wasa that has a fully framed hull.The frames of this ship are not completely known and he is being advised by Fred Hocker, Director of Research at Vasamuseet.

It is a very interesting experiment.

Pages of his website on Wasa:
http://clayton707.googlepages.com/

Pages of his website on carving:
http://clayton707.googlepages.com/carvingpracticum

 

Johan Avard : Regalskeppet Vasa

http://hem.bredband.net/johava/WASA.htm

 


THE END

 

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Photographs and texts were extracted from a report carried out by Herve Sasso on the Wasa forum of Gerard Delacroix.

© Concieved and built by G. Delacroix 1999-2006

http://forum.aceboard.net/5500-323-31467-0-Wasa-news.htm



 

Thanks to Patrick Warnier Touscollectionneurs.com