Possible 17th-Century Warships Found Near Sweden

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN—According to a report in The Guardian, two shipwrecks thought to be seventeenth-century warships have been found in the Swedish archipelago in a strait that leads to Stockholm. One of the vessels may be the sister ship of the Vasa, which was built between 1626 and 1628, equipped with 64 cannon, and capsized and sank on its maiden voyage in the brackish waters of the Baltic Sea, just outside Stockholm’s harbor. The Vasa’s well-preserved hull is now on display in Stockholm’s Vasa Museum. Maritime archaeologist Patrik Höglund said three other ships built by the same shipwright—Applet, Kronan, and Scepter—may have been deliberately sunk in the same area after they were decommissioned from the Swedish navy. Wood samples from the wrecks will be dated and analyzed. “Then we can even see where the timber has been cut down and then we can go back and look in the archives and I think we have good chances to tell exactly which ship this is,” added maritime archaeologist Jim Hansson. To read more about the wreck of Vasa, go to "History's 10 Greatest Wrecks..."