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Vasa
Vasa, a 64-gun wooden warship, just over 45 metres (147 ft) in length, built at Stockholm to the order of the Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus, and the only surviving example of the complete hull of a 17th-century warship. On 10 August 1628 she sank in Stockholm harbour on her maiden voyage after a strong gust of wind heeled her over so far that she was flooded through her open gunports. Attempts to raise her later that century failed, but she was rediscovered in 1956. In April 1961 a complicated salvage operation brought the almost complete wooden hull to the surface from a depth of 33 metres (110 ft). Though all her iron nails and bolts had disintegrated, the hull had remained almost intact because it was held together by a large number of treenails. About 25,000 objects, including carvings, textiles, leather, coins, equipment, and a number of skeletons were recovered, as well as parts of the ship. She was housed in a temporary museum and over a number of years her timbers were treated with polyethylene glycol to preserve them, and she was eventually fully restored. In 1990 she was housed in a new Vasa museum in Stockholm where the temperature is controlled. See also marine and underwater archaeology; shipwrecks.
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"Vasa." The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Vasa." The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O225-Vasa.html "Vasa." The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. 2006. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O225-Vasa.html |
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Vasa
Vasa , Pol. Waza, royal dynasty of Sweden (1523-1654) and Poland (1587-1668). Gustavus I , founder of the dynasty in Sweden, was succeeded by his sons Eric XIV (reigned 1560-68) and John III (reigned 1568-92). John III married the sister of Sigismund II of Poland, and their son was elected (1587) king of Poland as Sigismund III . On John's death Sigismund succeeded to the Swedish throne, but his Catholicism led to his deposition (1599) in Sweden, where his uncle Charles IX (reigned 1604-11) succeeded him. The house was thus split into a senior Catholic line (in Poland) and a cadet Protestant line (in Sweden), and the two lines engaged in chronic warfare. Charles IX of Sweden was succeeded by Gustavus II ; on Gustavus's death (1632) his daughter Christina ascended the throne. With Christina's abdication (1654) in favor of her first cousin, Charles X, the Swedish throne passed to the Zweibrücken line of the house of Wittelsbach. In Poland, Sigismund III was succeeded (1632) by his son Ladislaus IV , who was succeeded (1648) by his brother John II . John abdicated in 1668. |
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"Vasa." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Vasa." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Vasa.html "Vasa." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Vasa.html |
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Vasa
Vasa name of a Swedish dynasty, descended from an Uppland family, ruling Sweden between 1523 and 1818.
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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Vasa." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Vasa." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Vasa.html ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Vasa." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Vasa.html |
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