The 'Vasa'

“瓦薩”號

From the seventeenth-century empire of Sweden, the story of a galleon that sank at the start of her maiden voyage in 1628 must be one of the strangest tales of the sea. For nearly three and a half centuries she lay at the bottom of Stockholm harbour until her discovery in 1956. This was the Vasa, royal flagship of the great imperial fleet.

King Gustavus Adolphus, 'The Northern Hurricane', then at the height of his military success in the Thirty Years' War, had dictated her measurements and armament. Triple gun-decks mounted sixty-four bronze cannon. She was intended to play a leading role in the growing might of Sweden. As she was prepared for her maiden voyage on August 10th, 1628, Stockholm was in a ferment. From the Skeppsbron and surrounding islands the people watched this thing of beauty begin to spread her sails and catch the wind. They had laboured for three years to produce this floating work of art; she was more richly carved and ornamented than any previous ship. The high stern castle was a riot of carved gods, demons, knights, kings, warriors, mermaids, cherubs; and zoomorphic animal shapes ablaze with red and gold and blue, symbols of courage, power, and cruelty, were portrayed to stir the imaginations of the superstitious sailors of the day.

Then the cannons of the anchored warships thundered a salute to which the Vasa fired in reply. As she emerged from her drifting cloud of gun smoke with the water churned to foam beneath her bow, her flags flying, pennants waving, sails fillng in the breeze, and the red and gold of her superstructure ablaze with colour, she presented a more majestic spectacle than Stockholmers had ever seen before. All gun-ports were open and the muzzles peeped wickedly from them. As the wind freshened there came a sudden squall and the ship made a strange movement, listing to port. The Ordnance Officer ordered all the port cannon to be heaved to starboard to counteract the list, but the steepening angle of the decks increased. Then the sound of rumbling thunder reached the watchers on the shore, as cargo, ballast, ammunition and 400 people went sliding and crashing down to the port side of the steeply listing ship. The lower gun-ports were now below water and the inrush sealed the ship's fate. In that first glorious hour, the mighty Vasa, which was intended to rule the Baltic, sank with all flags flying-in the harbour of her birth.

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1628年，一艘大帆船在處女航時就沉沒了，這個從7世紀(jì)瑞典帝國流傳至今的故事無疑是航海史上最離奇的事件之一。這艘大船在斯德哥爾摩港口的海底躺了將近3個半世紀(jì)之后，直到1956年才被發(fā)現(xiàn)。這就是“瓦薩”號，帝國大艦隊(duì)的皇家旗艦。

當(dāng)時號稱“北方颶風(fēng)”的國王古斯夫斯.阿道爾弗正處在“三十年戰(zhàn)爭”的軍事鼎盛階段，他親自規(guī)定了這艘船的規(guī)模和武器配備。3層的火炮甲板上裝著64門青銅加農(nóng)炮，目的就是要在不斷增長的瑞典勢力中起主導(dǎo)作用。

1628年8月10日，“瓦薩”號準(zhǔn)備首航時，斯德哥爾摩一片歡騰。人們從斯開波斯布朗和周圍的島嶼前來觀看這艘美麗的戰(zhàn)船揚(yáng)帆起航，乘風(fēng)前進(jìn)。瑞典人辛辛苦苦干了3年才建成這件水上藝術(shù)品，它比以往任何船只雕刻得都更加精美，裝飾得都更加華麗。高聳的船樓上雕刻了令人眼花繚亂的神仙、妖魔、騎士、國王、武士、美人魚和小天使，還有用紅色、金黃色、藍(lán)色繪制的光彩奪目的獸形圖案，象征著勇敢、力量和殘暴，以激起當(dāng)時崇尚迷信的水手們的想像。

這時，停泊在港口的其他戰(zhàn)船向“瓦薩”號鳴炮致禮，“瓦薩”號也鳴炮回禮。當(dāng)“瓦薩”號從彌漫的禮炮煙云中出現(xiàn)時，船頭下浪花四濺，艦旗迎風(fēng)招展，三角旗隨風(fēng)飄動，微風(fēng)鼓起風(fēng)帆，金碧輝煌的船樓閃耀著燦爛的色彩。“瓦薩”號展現(xiàn)的壯觀景象是斯德哥爾摩人從未見過的。船上的炮眼開著，炮口虎視眈眈地向外窺視著。

當(dāng)風(fēng)力增強(qiáng)時，突然刮來一陣大風(fēng)，“瓦薩”號奇怪地?fù)u晃了一下，便向左舷傾斜。炮長命令把左舷上所有大炮搬到右舷上來以抵消船的傾斜，但甲板的傾斜度仍在增加。當(dāng)物品、壓艙物、彈藥和400個人轟地一聲滑向陡斜的左舷時，岸上的觀眾聽到了雷鳴般的轟響。下層炮眼已淹沒在水里，涌進(jìn)船艙的水給“瓦薩”號帶來了難以逃脫的厄運(yùn)。就這樣，想要統(tǒng)治波羅的海的大型戰(zhàn)艦“瓦薩”號，在它壯麗的起航時刻，帶著全身飄揚(yáng)的彩旗，沉沒在了它誕生的港口。

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