Ship Vasa

In 1625, King Gustav II Adolf of Sweden commissioned the finest warship ever built. He hired the best ship builder, grew a special forest of the mightiest oaks, and started work on the ship Vasa.

The king kept making requests to make the ship grander and grander, with ornate decorations everywhere. At some point, he decided that he wanted a ship with two gun decks, unlike any in the world. His ship was going to be the most powerful in the ocean. And he needed it right away because of a diplomatic issue that was popping up.

Of course, the ship builder had designed the ship with only one gun deck in mind, but because the king asked for it, he got his extra gun deck. Because they were in a rush, the builders didn’t have time for “lurch” tests, where a group of sailors would run from one side to the other to make sure the ship didn’t rock too much (in other words, wasn’t too top heavy).

On the inaugural voyage, the Vasa sank within a few hours. While adding all the “features” to the ship, they managed to make it unseaworthy. The Vasa sat at the bottom of the North Sea until early in the 20th century, when the well-preserved ship was raised and placed in a museum.

And here is the interesting question: whose fault was the sinking of the Vasa? The king, for asking for more and more features? Or the builders, who built what he wanted without vocalizing their concerns loudly enough? Look around at the project on which you are currently working: are you creating another Vasa?