Why did the wood survive so well?

The Baltic's low salt keeps shipworms away

What threatens the ship today?

Acids and rusting iron in the wood

Vasa Museum Quiz: Preserving Stockholm's 1628 Warship

This Vasa Museum quiz steps aboard the preservation story of Stockholm's famous warship. Play 10 interactive questions on its 1628 maiden voyage, Anders Franzén's 1956 discovery, the 1961 salvage, why the Baltic preserved it, years of spraying with polyethylene glycol, how much is original, painted sculptures, the 1990 museum and ongoing fights against decay.

Start Vasa Museum Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

City
Which city is the Vasa Museum in?
Year
When did the Vasa sink?
Finder
Who found the wreck in 1956?
Raised
When was the ship raised?
Why
Why did the wood survive so well?
PEG
What was sprayed on the ship for years?
Original
About how much of the ship is original?
Carvings
What decorates the ship?
Museum
When did the Vasa Museum open?
Threat
What threatens the ship today?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Which city is the Vasa Museum in?
Answer: Stockholm
It is on Djurgården island.
Q2: When did the Vasa sink?
Answer: 1628
It was its maiden voyage.
Q3: Who found the wreck in 1956?
Answer: Anders Franzén
He was an amateur researcher.
Q4: When was the ship raised?
Answer: 1961
Crowds watched it surface.
Q5: Why did the wood survive so well?
Answer: The Baltic's low salt keeps shipworms away
Cold water also helped.
Q6: What was sprayed on the ship for years?
Answer: Polyethylene glycol
It replaced water in the wood.
Q7: About how much of the ship is original?
Answer: About 98 percent
It is remarkably complete.
Q8: What decorates the ship?
Answer: Hundreds of carved sculptures
They were once brightly painted.
Q9: When did the Vasa Museum open?
Answer: 1990
It was built around the ship.
Q10: What threatens the ship today?
Answer: Acids and rusting iron in the wood
Climate control helps.

How a Sunken Warship Was Saved

The Swedish warship Vasa sank in Stockholm's harbor on its maiden voyage in 1628. It lay on the seabed for over three centuries until Anders Franzén, an amateur researcher, found it in 1956. In 1961 the ship was raised and towed into dry dock as crowds watched.

The wood survived because the Baltic's low salt keeps away shipworms, which destroy wrecks in saltier seas. To stop it cracking as it dried, conservators sprayed the hull with polyethylene glycol for many years, replacing water in the wood. About 98 percent of the ship is original, including hundreds of carved sculptures once brightly painted.

The Vasa Museum opened in 1990, built around the ship, and it is one of the most visited museums in Scandinavia. Preservation continues: acids forming in the wood and rusting iron bolts threaten the hull, so the museum carefully controls temperature, humidity and light.

What This Quiz Teaches

History fans will enjoy these questions.

When the ship sank
How it was found
How it was raised
How it was preserved
What threatens it today

Did You Know?

New steel supports are being installed to hold the hull.
Skeletons of crew members were found aboard.
A scale model shows the ship's original colors.
Visitors cannot board the real ship.
The museum shows films about the salvage.