▲Lessons from the Vasa Shipwreck(ft.com)
21 points by bookofjoe 3 days ago | 13 comments
▲manarth 4 hours ago
The FT article is an extremely superficial description of the events, which does a disservice to the depth and span of archaeological research and discovery which has taken place since the Vasa's discovery.

If anyone's visiting Stockholm, the Vasa museum is well worth a visit.

For those further afield, the museum's website offers a wealth of details about its conception, history, discovery, and our contemporary understanding of the wreck.

Vasa Museum: https://www.vasamuseet.se/en/explore/vasa-history/inquest

▲stanpinte 4 hours ago
Agreed, not being a museum person at all I enjoyed a lot - also recommend fotografiska, insane collection!
▲ 2 hours ago
▲tikotus 57 minutes ago
Finnish technology students played an elaborate prank when the ship was being lifted. Just before the event, a group dived down to the ship and planted a statue of Paavo Nurmi, also known as "The Flying Finn", on the deck. When the ship was finally lifted, the legendary Finnish runner was one of the first things they discovered. This played well with the friendly rivalry between the neighbours, though the Swedes did not appreciate it as much.

https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasa-jäynä

▲fifilura 49 minutes ago
Fantastic! This was never part of the Swedish storytelling. Wonder why?

This word translated poorly, so the translation was a bit hard to read :)

https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%A4yn%C3%A4

▲zabzonk 2 hours ago
Lessons from Vasa regarding C++ standardisation [pdf]: https://www.stroustrup.com/how-to-write-a-proposal.pdf
▲dosshell 1 hour ago
And Scott Myers talk:

"Why C++ Sails When the Vasa Sank"

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ltCgzYcpFUI

▲SoftTalker 1 hour ago
The story of the Vasa is one of my favorites for lessons in building software or anything complicated. Though I'm not sure how much of the story is actually true, it's still a good fable if nothing else.
▲manarth 47 minutes ago 

    "I'm not sure how much of the story is actually true"
The history and archaeology of the Vasa has been extensively studied by experts in their relevant fields – archaeology, history, dendrochronology, marine biology…

Some stories – like the one published here by FT – are overly simplistic. For a good, accurate, scientific history of the Vasa, the Vasa Museum's site is extremely detailed (and also separates supposition and apocryphal tales from established science).

Website of the Vasa Museum in Stockholm: https://www.vasamuseet.se/

▲SoftTalker 37 minutes ago
Yeah I didn't mean the truth is unknown, just that the popular version of the story (major design changes mandated late in the build by an executive who didn't understand the consequences of what they were asking for) might not be exactly true, depending on who is telling the story.
▲_doctor_love 15 minutes ago
The deeper issue was that no-one had the ability to push back on the king's demands. When the king rules by divine right, pushing back on the stakeholder is pushing back on God. Back in the day that was a great way to expedite the process of your head being separated from your torso.
▲dunsany 2 hours ago
It is an amazing museum. Highly encourage anyone passing through Stockholm to check it out.
▲mgaunard 1 hour ago
I feel like people use this "remember the Vasa" idea every 6 months.

Yes, we all remember the Vasa, and understand how it applies to any untested overengineered idea.

▲_doctor_love 14 minutes ago
> Yes, we all remember the Vasa, and understand how it applies to any untested overengineered idea.

We clearly do not given that this story repeats over and over again.

▲bookofjoe 3 days ago
https://archive.ph/cac8I
▲sillysaurusx 27 minutes ago
Are your comments no longer pinned at the top? I was surprised to see this so far down. It was what I needed.
▲chiefgeek 4 hours ago
I visited the museum two summers ago and it is really impressive. Even though I had caught some kind of cold and felt terrible, I thoroughly enjoyed my visit. Highly recommend.
▲parpfish 1 hour ago
What percentage of folks in this thread saw the Vasa because of “Intro Days”?
▲ 3 hours ago
▲lifestyleguru 40 minutes ago
The lesson was not to invade Poland and Lithuania but they didn't draw the conclusion.
▲_doctor_love 13 minutes ago
"I just want a deluge. Just one little deluge. Is that too much to ask?"
▲kayo_20211030 3 hours ago
I no longer have access, but this I remember being a good paper on the Vasa in the context of product design and project management https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=31396
▲bookofjoe 3 hours ago
I found this: https://www.scribd.com/doc/72476571/vasacasestudy
▲fifilura 2 hours ago
I find it ironic that the most prominent museum in Sweden is for a ship that only made it 3km before sinking.

While in Norway you can visit and walk aboard the "Fram". The most successful Arctic Exploration ship.

https://frammuseum.no/our-exhibitions/fram/

▲Hikikomori 1 hour ago
Vasa is a fair bit older, are there any other as well preserved from its time?
▲jccooper 45 minutes ago
There's not much older than the Vasa that is essentially intact. The Vasa is in good enough shape to have been recovered as a ship, and not as a shipwreck or an archaeological dig, which is pretty remarkable. I think there's one Ottoman galley a bit older that's been continuously maintained, and that's about it.
▲fifilura 35 minutes ago
The reason it well preserved is the brackish water in Baltic Sea where the shipworm doesn't thrive.
▲fifilura 1 hour ago
I would say it is about 4 times older and 1000 times less successful. A factor of 250 in favor of Fram.