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motoxjake t1_itonwhh wrote

Very cool! I've been to the Vasa museum in Stockholm and its quite impressive! Never knew there was a sister ship that didnt sink on its maiden voyage.

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automatvapen t1_itos5wp wrote

They actually made four in total with wasa as the first ship. Let's call it a failed "design concept"

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War_Hymn t1_itpugjs wrote

If I recall, the designer (a Dutch master shipwright) was bedridden from illness during the Vasa's construction and his nephew or assistant took over the project. The ship ended more top heavy than it should had been, contributing to it's instability.

I'm sure the later sister ships were built with improvements and changes, keep in mind the Vasa was at the cutting edge of ship design at the time - they were trying build not only large, but fast.

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Cat5lover t1_itpx6vg wrote

I believe it was also this. In spirit of collaboration, the Dutch did one side and the Swedes did the other. The unfortunate part was that the Dutch inch and the Swedish inch are slightly different which led to one side being heavier than the other causing it to lean too far to one side and take on water some few hundred meters from shore.

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culingerai t1_itrij7t wrote

Source?

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Cat5lover t1_itsb7g2 wrote

I went to the museum itself a few years ago, but I found this which discusses the instability of the ship. https://faculty.up.edu/lulay/failure/vasacasestudy.pdf

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culingerai t1_itswuu0 wrote

Good information, but it doesnt address the claim on the inches. Im only asking as this sounds like some sort of urban legend rather than a factual reason for its failure.

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Cat5lover t1_ituudk0 wrote

That’s a fair assessment. I unfortunately couldn’t find a reference during my brief search, but that was what they said when we went to the museum.

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panckage t1_itqxkoe wrote

That's right. The unusual thing about the Vasa is you could walk the whole length of the gun deck upright. Previous designs you would need to bend over to walk past the crossbeams. It is this extra height that is blamed for the ship rolling over and consequently sinking

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avdpos t1_itoytnj wrote

I'm a swede, and I did not know it either

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clampy t1_itr7amb wrote

It's a really neat museum, but I wish they'd let you go on/in the ship. I get why they don't, but it would have been a lot cooler if they did.

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motoxjake t1_itr9vtw wrote

Yes, you can get pretty close to it but I would have liked to venture into the ship. I totally understand why thats a bad idea and it was still a fantastic experience, regardless. Stockholm is such a beautiful city.

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