Vasa 1628: Strange Fate of a King's Warship
Brought to South Australia by Saab Systems and Kockums
26 September 2002 - 27 January 2003
South Australian Maritime Musuem
126 Lipson Street, Port Adelaide
http://www.history.sa.gov.au/maritime/maritime.htm
King Gustavus II of Sweden commissioned the Vasa
to be the mightiest and most splendid warship in the world. It was launched
in August 1628 before crowds of spectators but disaster struck. Vasa fired
its first salute, keeled over and sank. This was a tragedy for the King
but became a gold mine for 20th century archaeologists when it was lifted
from the bottom of Stockholm harbour in 1961. This is the first time the
exhibition has left Sweden.
Vasa Museum in Stockholm: http://www.vasamuseet.se/Vasamuseet/Om.aspx
SPEECH REPORTS
By David Seaton, Consul of Sweden
Seaton welcomed the Minister, the shadow minister, and
distinguished guests to the Vasa exhibition opening. He mentioned to the
audience that he only knew three Swedish words: seagull; welcome; and
skål. Speaking as chair of the Centre, Seaton welcomed the guests.
The Scandinavian Studies Centre is based at Flinders
University, and is directed by Prof. Tony Griffiths. Prof. Griffiths does
a lot of very important work connecting Australia, and particularly South
Australia, with Scandinavia through his Study Centre. The speaker pointed
out that apart from the Vasa exhibition, the Scandinavian Studies Centre
had been very instrumental in at least two other major exhibitions. One
had been the Milles exhibition in Stockholm, and the other a very exciting
visit from the Mooms theatre in Malmö.
This is a theatre group for intellectually disabled
people, who produced a wonderful performance in Tandanya.
Flinders University and Adelaide Universities have a
constant stream of full time Scandinavian students attending their campuses.
Other cultural exchanges between Scandinavian countries and South Australia
include the twenty-five students who, each year, come from Sweden, to
spend six weeks at the Regency park international college. And by way
of exchange, the Scandinavian Studies Centre is endeavouring to assemble
anexhibition of Australian indigenous art or artefacts to tour Scandinavia
in the future. Discussions are being held about this great possibility.
Seaton concluded that cultural exchange between Scandinavia
and Australia is reasonably well established. He pointed out however that
such exchanges were not possible without sponsorship. In particular, The
Vasa exhibition has been made possible by the generosity of Kockums Pacific
and Saab. Seaton then proceeded to introduce his very good friend and
fellow sailor Mr.Göran Granberg, who is also the deputy-managing
director of Saab systems, based at Mawson lakes.
Göran Granberg, Saab Systems
Granberg told the audience that Saab, and Kockums (a
company with which he is also associated) had been in the warship business
for a long time: not in the time of the Vasa, but within fifty years of
that historic event.
He then mentioned the role of Saab and Kockums within
South Australia, namely that the two companies are not only involved in
the building of submarines here, but have also delivered to the defence
industry a number of technologies for employment in surface vessels.
This work has led not only to exhibitions like the Vasa
exhibition coming to South Australia, but to an exchange of people as
well. In fact, at the moment there are eight Australians working for Saab
in Stockholm, and eight Swedes working here in Adelaide. This exchange
has been of great benefit to all.
Granberg assured the audience that the disaster that
befell the Vasa was not due to Saab, which of course did not exist at
the time. It appears that the Swedish King, although not in Sweden at
that time as he was away fighting in Germany, had left orders for the
Vasa to carry a large number of canons. Canons were very important in
warfare at the time - there were sixty-eight guns on the Vasa, compared
to a modern warship that is usually equipped with only one. The King insisted
on an extra deck for canons, a decision that compromised the stability
of the ship. The Naval Architects involved in the project had to do as
he ordered however - the customer is always right!
And so the maiden voyage of the Vasa in 1628 went down
in history. It was launched into the Baltic. A strong wind was blowing
from the mountains. The Vasa started to tilt - and sank.
Three hundred years later, thanks to the efforts of
a marine architect in Stockholm who conducted research on the Vasa, its
position was found. This had not been easy, as the ship had been covered
over with silt and sand up to the mast over the centuries, and the technology
of that time was not quite as advanced as that of today. He also had a
big job convincing the government to finance the rescue of the ship. But
his perseverance paid off; three hundred and thirty years later the ship
was raised and the speaker was present at this awesome and moving historical
occasion.
The newly raised Vasa was taken some hundred miles to
a temporary museum, where it was constantly sprayed to preserve it; a
process that took many years. It is now the number one attraction in Sweden,
attracting about eight hundred thousand people every year. Granberg mentioned
that when he hears about Australians planning to stay in Stockholm, he
always advises them to go and see the Vasa. Everyone says it is fantastic
- and the speaker expressed his confidence that the South Australian Maritime
Museum's exhibition will be a great success.
He urged everyone to tell their friends about the exhibition
and to convince them to come. He then concluded his speech with a toast
to the success of the exhibition. |
In
Adelaide they had lengthy discussions with Pro Vice Chancellor International
Dean Forbes, Helen Stephenson of International Student Services, Colin
MacMullin, Dean of the School of Education, Faith Trent, Head of the Faculty
of Education, Humanities, Law and Theology, Brian Glover, Faculty Registrar,
Eugenie Miller, also of EHLTH, Vice Chancellor Research Chris Marlin and
Vice Chancellor Academic Hilary Winchester.
