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Engineers (or anybody involved in a botched product launch) may be interested in the story of the Vasa. It was a Swedish warship launched in 1627. At the time i

by ogou 3y ago

Engineers (or anybody involved in a botched product launch) may be interested in the story of the Vasa. It was a Swedish warship launched in 1627. At the time it was the most powerful warship in the world. It took many years to build at a shipyard in Stockholm within sight of the King's palace. The ship was launched at a public ceremony and made it 1300m out into the harbor. To fire a celebratory salute, its gunports were open. A strong wind came and tilted it over, letting water rush in through the gunports. It sank in minutes. The cause was poor design and a lack of appropriate ballast, rushed into production despite flaws. It sat at the bottom of the harbor for 300 years, perfectly preserved. In the 1970s, the Swedes decided to recover the ship by refloating it. It was a huge effort, but it worked. It has been completely restored and sits in a multi-story museum built around it. I saw it last month and was awestruck by the size and craftmanship. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasa_(ship) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasa_(ship)

moneywoes 3y ago
What were the consequences for the engineers
- StevenRayOrr 3y ago
  > An inquiry was organized by the Swedish Privy Council to find those responsible for the disaster, but in the end no one was punished.[1] [1]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasa_(ship) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasa_(ship)
fsloth 3y ago
As a funny anecdote engineering students placed a modern miniature statue on the ships deck as a prank just before it was raised ( in Finnish but translation tools help https://fi.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasa-jäynä https://fi.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasa-jäynä )
- tsm 3y ago
  Google Translate link: https://fi-m-wikipedia-org.translate.goog/wiki/Vasa-j%C3%A4yn%C3%A4?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp https://fi-m-wikipedia-org.translate.goog/wiki/Vasa-j%C3%A4y... for "ice", read "prank"
srvmshr 3y ago
I visited Vasa museum in May this year. It is a beautiful ship and one of its kind, which has been painstakingly restored to full glory indoors ー including the ornate decorations & few of the 46 cannons. They even explained details of years-long restoration process of replacing the wood's moisture entirely with some polymeric binder (can't remember the compound). Every stage with photographs - starting with how they found it, salvaged it & bringing it to current state. They have even managed to salvage & reconstruct the faces of few of these seamen. It was incredible learning experience about medieval seafaring. Highly recommend, and it is bang next to the Gamle Stan (the old city seen in almost all stock photos of Stockholm).
- belorn 3y ago
  There are actually three sister ships to the Vasa. One of those called the Apple and was discovered a few ago outside Stockholm. They are very similar to Vasa but are built slightly smaller in height and about a foot greater in width. The Apple did have the same large sized cannons in the first deck, which was one of the major fault in the design of Vasa. The other two sister ships had smaller cannons on the first deck in order to avoid this problem.
- trilbyglens 3y ago
  The 1600s are not really considered medieval. The middle ages are mostly considered to have ended with the reformation.
Pungsnigel 3y ago
For anyone visiting Stockholm, make sure to visit the Vasa Museum. So cool
marcosdumay 3y ago
> The cause was poor design and a lack of appropriate ballast, rushed into production despite flaws. The Vasa is a textbook case of vanity stakeholders demanding deep last minute changes in complex engineered systems. It wasn't exactly rushed into production, the changes were rushed, not the entire thing.
hfsh 3y ago
> the most powerful warship in the world. Prime example of 'theory vs. practice'.

by ogou 3y ago

moneywoes 3y ago

What were the consequences for the engineers

StevenRayOrr 3y ago
> An inquiry was organized by the Swedish Privy Council to find those responsible for the disaster, but in the end no one was punished.[1] [1]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasa_(ship) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasa_(ship)

fsloth 3y ago

As a funny anecdote engineering students placed a modern miniature statue on the ships deck as a prank just before it was raised ( in Finnish but translation tools help https://fi.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasa-jäynä https://fi.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasa-jäynä )

tsm 3y ago
Google Translate link: https://fi-m-wikipedia-org.translate.goog/wiki/Vasa-j%C3%A4yn%C3%A4?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp https://fi-m-wikipedia-org.translate.goog/wiki/Vasa-j%C3%A4y... for "ice", read "prank"

srvmshr 3y ago

I visited Vasa museum in May this year. It is a beautiful ship and one of its kind, which has been painstakingly restored to full glory indoors ー including the ornate decorations & few of the 46 cannons. They even explained details of years-long restoration process of replacing the wood's moisture entirely with some polymeric binder (can't remember the compound). Every stage with photographs - starting with how they found it, salvaged it & bringing it to current state. They have even managed to salvage & reconstruct the faces of few of these seamen. It was incredible learning experience about medieval seafaring. Highly recommend, and it is bang next to the Gamle Stan (the old city seen in almost all stock photos of Stockholm).

belorn 3y ago
There are actually three sister ships to the Vasa. One of those called the Apple and was discovered a few ago outside Stockholm. They are very similar to Vasa but are built slightly smaller in height and about a foot greater in width. The Apple did have the same large sized cannons in the first deck, which was one of the major fault in the design of Vasa. The other two sister ships had smaller cannons on the first deck in order to avoid this problem.
trilbyglens 3y ago
The 1600s are not really considered medieval. The middle ages are mostly considered to have ended with the reformation.

Pungsnigel 3y ago

For anyone visiting Stockholm, make sure to visit the Vasa Museum. So cool

marcosdumay 3y ago

> The cause was poor design and a lack of appropriate ballast, rushed into production despite flaws. The Vasa is a textbook case of vanity stakeholders demanding deep last minute changes in complex engineered systems. It wasn't exactly rushed into production, the changes were rushed, not the entire thing.

hfsh 3y ago

> the most powerful warship in the world. Prime example of 'theory vs. practice'.