The History Behind the Famous Sunken Swedish ‘Vasa’ Warship That Was Recovered Over 300 Years Later

Ryan Socash of It’s History traveled to Sweden to dive into the fascinating story behind the Vasa, a 17th century warship that sunk within minutes of setting sail.

Joining Socash was Dr. Fred Hocker, who explained the history of the doomed ship, specifically how it was built, the materials used, and the naval architects who were too afraid to tell King Gustavus Adolphus that the ship was not seaworthy.

In 1628, Sweden launched what was meant to be the most powerful warship of its time—the Vasa. But within 20 minutes of setting sail, it tragically sank right in Stockholm’s harbor. Now, nearly 400 years later, the Vasa Museum holds one of the best-preserved shipwrecks in history, offering an unparalleled look into 17th-century naval warfare and engineering failure.

Hocker and Socash also talked about why the ship sank and how it was recovered from the bottom of Stockholm Harbor in 1961. The hull was largely intact and was eventually fully restored, with some setbacks here and there. The recovered ship finally came to rest at Vasamuseet (The Vasa Museum), where it remains today.

This museum construction started in 1987 and the site chosen was over a dry dock, so the central part of the museum was a functioning dry dock. We did not build the museum over the ship, instead the museum was built.. and in December of 1988 the ship was moved about 200 M from where it had been restored and brought into the dry dock. We call it Vasa’s only successfully completed voyage.