Vasamuseum in Stockholm

By 1953, Anders Franzen knew that Vasa ought to lie somewhere in the Stockholm harbour. He designed a lead with a core sampler to collect materials from the seabed. On a chart he marked all areas where the depth was approximately 30 meters.

On 20 August the Neptun Salvage Company lifted the Vasa Steel cables were connected to the pontoons, Oden and Frigg. Alongside were two salvage vessels, Sleipner and Atlas, the tender, Sprangaren, and the Navy diving boat, Belos. By alternately filling and emptying the pontoons of water, the Vasa was slowly lifted out of the clay in one piece. In 16 stages she was moved to shallower water, until she lay at a depth of 15 meters near Kastellholmen.

In 1957, Navy divers began their work. The Vasa stood on even keel, sunken in mud and clay up to the lower gun deck. It was decided to drive six tunnels under the hull.
The Vasa’s weight was estimated at 700 tons, including its ballast of stone, clay and sludge. By the summer of 1959, the tunnels had been completed. Two 6-inch steel cables were passed through each tunnel.