Airfix 09256 Wasa

The ships were famous in various ways - they participated in battles, distant exploratory voyages, they were record speed, great, etc. The case of the 17th-century warship Wasa is different - it went down in history due to its fall and uprising. Launched in 1628, Wasa was one of four ships commissioned by the Swedish monarch Gustav II Adolf, with the intention of strengthening his Baltic fleet so that it would be able to resist the expected invasion of Scandinavia by the German Empire. In 1627, a new ship was ceremonially launched and armed, loading 64 bronze guns weighing a total of over 70 tons on board. The ship's crew consisted of 133 sailors and 300 soldiers. The catastrophe fell on Wase on August 10, 1628, in Stockholm's port, on the threshold of her maiden voyage. A huge squall surprised the crew, who did not manage to secure the lower shooting holes. Through these, enormous masses of water began to burst into the interior immediately, and it became clear that the ship was already lost. In later years, attempts were made to save Wasa many times, but the only success was drawing out most of the cannons in the years 1664-65. Then, for 300 years, all efforts were discontinued, and finally, in 1954, an attempt was made to pull the ship out again using the most modern technology. After five years of preparations, the "storm" began. The hull was tied with 24 ropes to which special pontoons were attached. Filled with air, they gently lifted you to the surface. Gradually moved to shallower water, the ship finally safely reached the dry dock on April 24, 1961 - 333 years after the disastrous disaster. The restoration work, compared to the previous undertaking, seemed to be a minor problem and after a few years the pride of the royal Swedish fleet was made available to the public.