Instead of one layer of guns, he wanted two. He want it to be the mightiest one out there so he could defeat Poland. So he contacted the head of the ship yards and ordered the new ship. In those days, they didn't draw out the plans like we do today. The ship master, had all the information in his head so he just ordered the materials needed and off they went.
Since the desire to have two floors of cannons was a radical new idea, the gentleman in charge, just added enough supplies to build the second row. Once all the supplies came in, 400 men worked hard to build the ship. In the picture you see a scale model of the ship up against the side of the real one. The final ship was 63 meters long by about 57 meters tall. It was described as being the equivalent of a four story building.
One day in August, when the ship was complete, the King and other dignitaries gathered to send off the mightiest ship. It had sailers, the admiral in charge of the navy, a few women who were there to be with family members and would be let off just before the ship left the coastal region. The ship set sail on a nice day. It wobbled a bit but nothing bad until the wind picked up. At this point the ship started listing so much, water flooded in through the gun ports. People struggled to escape but about 15 were trapped including two women and the admiral but the ship sank.
The designer of the ship didn't take into account the added weight of the second row of guns. Back in those days, they put rock in the bottom of the ship as a counter balance to the weight further up. If done properly, it kept the ship upright so it could handle the wind.
Unfortunately, the ships designer made the bottom of the ship too narrow and didn't use enough weight so the ship was top heavy. As the ship set sail, it wobbled due to having the center of gravity in the wrong spot. When the wind began, it threw everything off and the ship listed and fell to one side. Once it listed, the ship could not right itself.
The designer based everything on prior experience rather than doing calculations so he got the math wrong. If they'd drawn plans, calculated weight and such, they might have built the ship so the bottom was wider so it could accommodate additional stones and this would have countered the extra weight.
The ship is the Vasa. It sank in August 1628 about 100 meters out into the bay. It stayed buried until 1959 when it was finally discovered again. The Swedish government raised the boat, preserved it, and it is now in a museum. The ship is impressive. Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear. Have a great day.
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