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Anglo-Swedish connections: the Mary Rose and the Vasa
Anglo-Swedish connections – the Mary Rose and the Vasa
Beth Baxter, Tilly Goldman and Mimi de Trafford on a nautical partnership between schools
Each autumn, 45 Swedish sixth formers visit the UK aboard their tallship TS Gunilla. They link up with students from Portsmouth Grammar School (PGS). Following a workshop in 2019 at the Mary Rose and an Anglo-Swedish Model United Nations Conference, we three PGS IB Diploma students were inspired to work towards our Portsmouth Youth Ambassador Award by exploring an unusual international connection between our respective nations. [Portsmouth Youth Ambassador Award is an initiative from Shaping Portsmouth, an organisation that seeks to foster cooperation between local business, education and the community. To achieve the Award, young people complete a project in which they engage with an aspect of the city and communicate what they have learned to others]. This article presents a flavour of our findings.
What and where?
In 1545 Henry VIII’s flagship, the Mary Rose, sank in the Solent: the stretch of water between the Isle of Wight and the south coast of the UK. Eighty-three years later, in 1628, the Vasa sank on its maiden voyage, immediately after leaving Stockholm harbour. Although it is widely believed that the Mary Rose
Tudor Times: UK and Swedish pupils at the Mary Rose too sank on her maiden voyage, the ship had actually already been in service for thirty-four years, although recently re-fitted. The remains of both ships are now displayed in their respective cities, Portsmouth and Stockholm.
Contrasts and contexts?
The Mary Rose was built between 1509 and 1511 in Portsmouth; ironically, the place in which she would sink four decades later. Both the Vasa and the Mary Rose were built in anticipation of being highly symbolic of the power that their King possessed, each becoming the flagship of the fleet. When built from 1626 to 1628, the Vasa demonstrated the strength of Sweden during the aptly named ‘age of greatness’, as the country developed into a prominent and powerful nation. The Swedish dominated the Baltic, which perhaps made all the more ironic the fact that their navy lost both the Vasa and two other ships in the space of a month. The somewhat anticlimactic forms of their demise – poor planning (Vasa), running aground (Kristina) and a storm (Riksnyckeln) – greatly contrasted with the loss of the Mary Rose in battle.
Both the Vasa and the Mary Rose were built in a period of threat for their nations: England was threatened by war from Scotland and France, while Sweden was engaged in war with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Prior to Henry VIII’s reign, the British ‘navy’ had mainly comprised merchant ships called to action when necessary; this was both slow and inefficient. It therefore made the Mary Rose’s creation all the more significant as it marked the true beginning of the British navy. The building of the Vasa was, similarly, a significant turning point for the Swedish navy, which had previously consisted of small to medium ships and was escalated by the Vasa to become one of the first fleets with a ship with two gun decks.
Solving the question of the sinking?
The Mary Rose sank in July 1545 in the Battle of the Solent, in which Henry VIII’s navy engaged with the French fleet at Portsmouth. There are many theories behind why it sank: a strong gust of wind while turning, top-heavy overloading following a recent re-fit, or French cannonball fire. However, in our view the most likely key cause was human error: failure to predict the effect of the weight of her hull, guns and 415 crew members – many on top decks – can be seen as propelling the fateful sinking. Most men on board (and the ship’s dog) drowned, with just 25 surviving.
The Vasa capsized in 1628 in Stockholm harbour. It had made only two nautical miles when a gust of wind caused it to heel, leaving water to fill the ship through its gun portals, and drowning 30-53 men. We know that the original Vasa design was traditional and commonly used in ship-building. However, it is believed that no specifications or drawings had been made for it. A major factor which led to its sinking seems to have been the ever-changing ideas put forward by the King to Hybertsson, the lead ship-builder. This led to no plans being found for the larger, more complex version which the King was expecting. It is believed that, due to time pressure, Hybertsson decided to scale up the dimensions set for the original ship; this led to the upper parts of the ship becoming wider than originally planned, leaving the ship’s centre of gravity higher than designed. Like the Mary Rose, a significant cause of the Vasa’s sinking may also have been human error.
Preserving and protecting?
Both ships are now displayed in purpose-built museums in their respective cities: the Mary Rose and the Vasa Museum, attracting thousands of visitors each year. Due to the fact that the wreck of the Mary Rose was discovered nearly 20 years after the Vasa, its salvage (1982) and conservation can draw on lessons learned from the Vasa. Unlike the Vasa, which was treated in a way that had not been used before, the Mary Rose’s excavation and treatments could build on what was known to have been successful in Sweden. One big difference in the modern displays is that when the Vasa sank, it was almost an empty ship as it had not been fully victualled. The Mary Rose, meanwhile, was a ship full of supplies and artifacts, giving a valuable insight into Tudor life. 19,000 artifacts have been recovered from the wreck site, which has taken more than 30 years to excavate. The two museums reflect this difference with, by contrast, more of the Vasa’s hull being preserved.
If the ships were combined into one, we would have the perfect archaeological find!
Lessons learned?
Given that more of the ship’s structure has been preserved on the Vasa than on the Mary Rose, and more artifacts preserved on the Mary Rose than on the Vasa, if the ships were combined into one, we would have the perfect archaeological find! From investigating both ships we have gained an insight into what life was like during these periods, and how the past is preserved in a modern city, creating employment and tourism opportunities. It is also striking that there are often many theories behind, say, their sinking, but not necessarily a common agreement about which (if any) are correct! Finally, we learned that, despite being from different countries and times, there were many similarities between the ships, their crews and their fortunes. One day we hope to visit the Vasa too, to check out this research for ourselves.
Further information
Mary Rose Museum: https://maryrose.org/ Vasa Museum: https://www.vasamuseet.se/en TS Gunilla: www.ockerogymnasieskola.se/otherlanguages/aswedishschool undersail.4.48177e2156d6bbd29c74d8.html https://www.archaeology.org/exclusives/articles/647-mary-roseportsmouth-henry-viii-vasa-stockholm-king-gustavas https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/92yi71/both_the_ vasa_and_mary_rose_sank_when_water/ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-europe-22704985/a-look-aroundsweden-s-mary-rose
Beth Baxter, Tilly Goldman and Mimi de Trafford are Year 13 IB Diploma students at Portsmouth Grammar School, UK
