The Sinking of the Vasa: A Shipwreck of Titanic Proportions by Russell Freedman (review)

Swedish King Gustav II Adolph was fighting a war in Prussia in 1628 when his newly constructed warship Vasa heeled over in a light breeze and sank less than a mile from its launching place before the eyes of a large crowd of well-wishers; it was carrying not only crew but also many of their wives and children along for a short leg of the maiden voyage. Even before the king could receive the report and unleash his outrage, an investigation was underway to pin the blame for this national embarrassment. When it became clear that the king had approved the design for a ship topheavy with masts and sails and overburdened with cannons, the matter was dropped without a formal conclusion. This dark chapter turned into a cause for national pride, however, when in the mid twentieth century the ship was raised, preserved, reconstructed, and turned into Sweden’s most visited museum. Freedman is regrettably stingy on details, assigning no timeframe for early efforts to salvage the ship and no indication of the number of lives lost and saved. Likewise, Low’s illustrations, which recall the painterly style of Northern European masters, don’t fully match the text in describing the cradle of cables that secured the Vasa as she was lifted. It’s an interesting tale nonetheless, calculated to pique the interest of maritime disaster fans, and a list of sources will lead readers to accessible information at the stellar Vasa Museum website.