The 'Vasa'
From the seventeenth-century empire of Sweden, the story of a galleon that sank at the start of her maiden voyage in 1628 must be one of the strangest tales of the sea. For nearly three and a half centuries she lay at the bottom of Stockholm harbour until her discovery in 1956. This was the Vasa, royal flagship of the great imperial fleet.
King Gustavus Adolphus, 'The Northern Hurricane', then at the height of his military success in the 'Thirty Years' War, had dictated her measurements and armament. Triple gun-decks mounted sixty-four bronze cannon. She was intended to play a leading role in the growing might of Sweden.
As she was prepared for her maiden voyage on August 10,1628, Stockholm was in a ferment. From the Skeppsbron and surrounding islands the people watched this thing of beauty begin to spread her sails and catch the wind. They had laboured for three years to produce this floating work of art; she was more richly carved and ornamented than any previous ship. The high stern castle was a riot of carved gods, demons, knights, kings, warriors, mermaids, cherubs; and zoomorphic animal shapes ablaze with red and gold and blue, symbols of courage, power, and cruelty, were portrayed to stir the imaginations of the superstitious sailors of the day.
Then the cannons of the anchored warships thundered a salute to which the Vasa fired in reply. As she emerged from her drifting cloud of gun smoke with the water churned to foam beneath her bow, her flags flying, pennants waving, sails filling in the breeze, and the red and gold of her superstructure ablaze with colour, she presented a more majestic spectacle than Stockhomers had ever seen before. All gun-ports were open and the muzzles peeped wickedly from them.
As the wind freshened there came a sudden squall and the ship made a strange movement, listing to port. The Ordnance Officer ordered all the port cannon to be heaved to starboard to counteract the list, but the steepening angle of the decks increased. Then the sound of rumbling thunder reached the watchers on the shore, as cargo, ballast, ammunition and 400 people went sliding and crashing down to the port side of the steeply listing ship. The lower gun-ports were now below water and the inrush sealed the ship's fate. In that first glorious hour, the mighty Vasa, which was intended to rule the Baltic, sank with all flags flying -- in the harbour of her birth.
在十七世纪的瑞典帝国，一条大帆船在其1628年处女航中沉没可能是最奇怪的事情了。将近三个半世纪以来她躺在斯德哥尔摩港的海底，直到1956年被发现。这就是Vasa，帝国舰队的皇家旗舰。
King Gustavus Adolphus,“北方飓风”，在“十三年战争”中获得胜利，设计了这艘穿的尺寸与武器。三组炮甲板上固定了64门青铜加农炮。她被设计成在瑞典日益增加的力量中的领导角色。
1628年8月10日，她准备处女航的日子，整个斯德哥尔摩陷入了激动之中。附近Skeppsbron等几个岛上的居民看到扬帆前行的美丽景象。他们花了三年时间创造这件漂浮着的艺术品。有比以往任何一艘船都豪华的装饰与雕刻。高高的船尾雕刻有上帝，魔鬼，骑士，国王，战士，美人鱼，小天师，以及闪动着红、金、蓝色的动物形象。代表着勇气，力量，与残忍。显示出当时水手间流行的迷信心理。随后军舰鸣炮致礼，同样Vasa回应。伴随着礼炮的烟幕她出现了，在她下面水面翻动着泡沫。她在微风中扬帆起航，三角旗在飘扬。船身上闪动着红色与金色的光芒。她成为了斯德哥尔摩从为有过的庄严展示。
所有的炮口都是打开的，而且能隐约看到炮眼。当风在那里变强后变成一种奇怪的暴风，结果船奇怪地开始向着港口移动。军火指挥官下令将所有的加农炮加到右舷以抵消这种倾斜，但是甲板的倾斜度却增加了。随后隆隆的雷声传到了岸边的观察者那里。货物，压舱物，军火弹药以及400余人都滑行并彻底掉落向船体倾斜的一边。低处的炮眼已经在水面以下，涌入的海水决定了船的命运。在开始的一个小时内，强大的Vasa,带着统治波罗的海的愿望，在彩旗的伴随下，沉入了海底--在她出生的海港。
