Today I visited the Vasa, the Swedish warship from the 17th century that sank in Stockholm harbour on her maiden voyage and was salvaged in 1961. I wasn't expecting to spend 3.5 hours looking at an old wooden ship but it was so well preserved and there was so much to see it was fascinating. The ship was not seaworthy from the start as the Vasa had been built in a way that meant it was top heavy and therefore would tip over as soon as a good gust of wind got it. Preservation of the wreck was helped by the fact that Baltic Sea is not as salty as normal sea water meaning that the usually destructive shipworm is not present. The Vasa is therefore remarkably well preserved when compared to the Mary Rose for instance.
After leaving the museum, I walked along the side of the harbour to have a look at a lightship that I had spotted from the other side the previous day. Imagine my surprise (and excitement) when I discovered that it was part of the Maritime Museum collection and open to the public.
I regularly mention lightships on my lighthouse tours but have never been on one. It would not have been particularly pleasant being stationed on a light vessel as, being anchored to the sea bed miles offshore, they would have been constantly rolling around. But I was very surprised at the amount of space available below deck, with each of the 8 crew having their own cabin,
 |
| The Light Tower |
 |
| Captain's Cabin |
 |
| Optic |
No comments:
Post a Comment