###The Sinking of the Vasa
Stockholm Harbor, Sweden, 1628 — A Swedish king demanded the ultimate warship, but his mid-construction design changes made the magnificent vessel too top-heavy to float.
In the 1620s, King Gustav II Adolf of Sweden ordered the ultimate warship. Mid-construction, he demanded a major upgrade: an unprecedented second enclosed gun deck. When the original Dutch shipwright died, his assistants were left to cram 64 heavy bronze cannons and massive wooden sculptures onto a 111-foot keel meant for a smaller ship.
The result was a magnificent but terrifyingly top-heavy vessel. On August 10, 1628, the grand warship set out on its maiden voyage while crowds cheered. It only made it about 1,300 meters before a light gust of wind caught its sails, pushing the unbalanced ship sharply to its left side.
Water poured directly into the open lower gun ports. The harbor rushed in, and the King's prized, ultra-expensive mega-ship sank to the bottom of the sea in less than twenty minutes. The brilliant shipwrights knew the physics wouldn't work, but they hadn't dared to argue with an impatient king.
The Sinking of the Vasa — Stockholm Harbor, Sweden, 1628