Wreckage of 17th-Century Swedish Warship Identified

Swedish maritime archaeologists have discovered the long-lost sister ship of the 17th-century warship Vasa, which sank on its maiden voyage, the Swedish Museum of Wrecks has said.

Launched in 1629, Äpplet (the Apple) was built by the same shipbuilder as the famed 69-metre Vasa, which was carrying 64 cannons when it sank on its maiden voyage outside Beckholmen, in the capital, Stockholm.

“Our pulses raced when we saw how similar the wreck was to Vasa,” said Jim Hansson, a maritime archaeologist at the museum.

Hansson said the construction and the dimensions seemed “very familiar”, raising hopes it could be one of Vasa’s sister ships. While parts of the vessel’s sides had fallen off, the hull was preserved up to the lower gundeck, and the parts that had dropped showed gunports on two levels.

The huge shipwreck was discovered in December 2021 in a strait off the island of Vaxholm, just outside Stockholm, according to the museum. A more thorough survey was carried out in the spring of 2022, which revealed details that had previously been seen only on Vasa.

The museum said technical details as well as measurements and wood samples confirmed that it was indeed Äpplet.

In 2019, the museum reported the discovery of two other warships in the same area.

Archaeologists at the time believed that one of them could have been Äpplet, but further investigations showed that those vessels were in fact two medium-sized warships from 1648 named Apollo and Maria.

“With Äpplet, we can add another key piece of the puzzle in the development of Swedish shipbuilding,” Hansson said, adding that this enabled researchers to study the differences between Äpplet and Vasa.

Named after the house of Vasa, the royal dynasty at the time, Vasa was meant to serve as a symbol of Sweden’s military might but capsized after sailing just over 1,000 metres.

It was salvaged in 1961 and is on display at the Vasa Museum in Stockholm, one of Sweden’s most popular tourist spots.

Three other ships were ordered from the same shipwright: Äpplet, Kronan (the Crown) and Scepter, and unlike their predecessor, they served in the Swedish navy and participated in naval battles.

The ships are believed to have been sunk on purpose after they were decommissioned, serving as underwater spike strips to snag enemy vessels.