That should have been the end of the story, buried within the silt of the bay holding the silent tomb.

Anders Franzen found reference to the ship and spent 3 years searching for her remains. People thought he was nuts, but when the ship was found intact in the cold worm-free waters of the north in the year 1956, an impressive plan to raise her began. Swedish Navy divers flushed 6 tunnels under the ship and strung steel cables underneath to try and raise her in one piece. It was a slow process, but she broke the waterline in 1961.

How did this happen? Sigismund was a Polish king who had rights to the Swedish throne...along with his cousin Gustarvus Vasa. It helped that Sigismund was in Poland and Vasa was sitting on the throne....occupancy amounts to something! The rivalry escalated to war. Gustarvus wanted a mighty ship with a double canon decks( never done before) with 48 gunposts to shiver the timbers of any approaching warships. The king hired the sculpture marten Redtmer who painted the sculptures in gold gilt, indigo, Spanish green ad red lead for an impressive bravado. The main ship required 500 live oak trees to be felled in winter when the timber would be stronger. At full staff the ship was meant to hold 150 seamen and 300 soldiers of war in stiffling....filthy....smelly....dangerous....confinement. The museum has displays to give you a smidgen of an idea of what it would have been like to live below deck. Movies show what the era was like, and everyday artifacts show how the common man lived with items like wooden backgammon games. One display addresses the 25 skeletons that were found...including 2 women in their twenties.

There is a very nice cafeteria here to grab lunch. They serve hot and cold items along with gourmet sweets. A hefty sandwich will cost about $7us. There is a garden here in summer that highlights heritage plants of the late 1600's. This is one of the most unique and interesting museums of the world !