The Vasa Warship
2018 © Maxim Tabachnik
Gunport HatchStern Sculptures of the VasaGun Deck of the VasaUpper Deck of VasaOrnate Panel from the Vasa WarshipRoman Soldier Figurehead on VasaReclining Figures on the Vasa WarshipCrowned Lions and Royal BustDavid with Harp and Moorish WarriorGrotesques and Soldiers on the VasaRoyal Coat of Arms on the VasaStern Ornament with CherubsGrotesque Carvings Beneath the SternFigurehead Supports from the VasaModel of the VasaThe Vasa Warship

The Vasa Warship

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The massive wooden hull of the Vasa (1628) dominates the dark museum hall, its high stern, gun decks, and surviving masts rising above visitors below. Built for the Swedish crown as a heavily armed warship, it embodied ambitions of royal power and Baltic dominance. Its sinking on the maiden voyage and recovery in 1961 preserve an unusually complete record of early modern naval engineering and its structural misjudgments.