Exemplar Essay On The Vasa Capsizes To Write After

The article entitled The Vasa Capsizes, narrates the events that resulted in the sinking of the Vasa some 300 years ago. It was during the reign of King Gustavus II Adolphus of Sweden, when he ordered the prompt building of the Vasa and other ships to replace the fighting ships that was wrecked by a violent storm sometime in 1925. The demands of the war prompted the king to order the speedy construction of four ships, which includes the Vasa. Five years before the king ordered the ships, Hybertson who was an experienced ship builder was already employed by Antonius Monier. The shipbuilder would later handle the task of designing and building the Vasa. A check on the shipbuilding background of Hybertson showed that he was an experienced shipbuilder who relied largely on the ‘old school’ of building ships. That is, mathematical calculations, the center of gravity and displacement volume were not taken into consideration, and the final product relied heavily on the craftsmanship, skill and experience of the builder.
When the Vasta was ordered, the contract did not indicate the full specifications, as it was customary at that time for the master builder to come up with the forms and proportions of ordered ships. Therefore, Hybertson’s primary responsibility was to calculate the major dimensions and the manner by which the Vasa would be completed, after which, the master builder’s role was confined to overseeing the construction of the ship. Further, the king ordered Hybertson to completely adhere to the majesty’s specifications of which Hybertson replied with a promise to do whatever he can to comply. Unfortunately, Hybertson died in 1628 of an illness before the ship was complete and the completion of the ship rested to Hein Jacobson and Johan Isbrandson who both have minimal experience in ship building. In 1628 the king demanded that the ships be ready by July of that year, otherwise the people responsible will have to answer to the king’s anger. During the testing of the ship, it was found that it was not suitable for sea travel, but the findings were neglected and the Vasa sank on August 10 in 1628, resulting in the death of about 50 of the 125 people on board.
There are several factors that are attributed to the capsizing of Vasa, one of which was the changes that were made in its design. Under the pressure from the king, the Vasa was altered to have two enclosed decks instead of one. The managerial supervision of the ship also suffered when Hybertson was too sick to communicate, and the new builders have no records from which to base the exact specifications of the ship. Further, during the stability test, it was apparent that the ship failed and was observed to be too unstable to stand pressure in the sea. However, despite the outward signs, Admiral Fleming reasoned that the ship builders have built ships in the past. Another factor that resulted to the capsizing of the Vasa was that its construction was based on ‘old school’ of knowledge, devoid of scientific theories and calculations. This was in addition to the several alterations that was not properly communicated to the people concerned. For instance, there was a change in the armament plan which the builders did not take into consideration. Nevertheless, the failure of the Vasa served as a learning experience to Sweden’s ship builders, resulting in the successful building of warships in the coming years.