1300 plunges into darkness...

Most of us have heard or read about the Vasa. The great ship, built by Gustavus Adolphus to kick the Poles’ asses. It sank during its maiden voyage just after leaving port on 10 August 1628. The disappointed Swedish Navy even theorised about Polish sabotage, but this theory turned out to be wrong (perhaps a pity…) and it was construction errors that caused the ship to sink.

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However, this is not what I wanted to write about today. After watching the attached film, I realized something that is not taught in schools or university lectures… the work and sacrifice that the divers made during the dredging operation. Let’s go back to the late 1950s, to the time when the wreck was found and excavated. In those days, divers did not look like the ones we see today on Discovery.

The diver’s equipment consisted of a watertight rubber suit, a diving helmet with portholes into which a continuous supply of breathing medium was fed through a hose. Additional equipment included a knife. Such equipment ensured constant access to air, but in an emergency situation when the air supply was cut off the diver had no possibility of escape.

In the early 1950s amateur archaeologist Anders Francen finds the wreck of the Vasa. Quite quickly a committee is formed to raise funds and equipment to excavate the historic wreck. Five divers from the Swedish Navy are to help excavate the wreck, which is 60 metres long and weighs 1,210 tonnes. Their goal is to dig six tunnels under the vessel through which the ropes needed to extract the object will be pulled. This is all happening at a depth of 32 metres, with absolutely no visibility.

I cannot list all the deadly dangers that can befall divers. Some of them are getting entangled in the lynchings of li remnants, or the wreck slipping while digging a tunnel and trapping the diver. An amazing 1,300 dives were made during the Vasa recovery operation without a single serious accident.

The work of the divers during the extraction operation was tremendous and admirable. It is worth mentioning the professionalism and courage of these men, because at that time diving was not a hobby but hard and extremely dangerous work. Often underestimated or overlooked in stories about Vasa, the divers did a crucial job. It is important to remember that this is still one of the largest and most spectacular operations to excavate a wooden wreck that has been done. Only Mary Rose’s research can compete with Vasa, but those were different times and different technology. I looked for names and pictures of divers working on the wreck, but I found only one: the dive team leader Per Edvin Falting. I think it is worth remembering this name…

Finally, a film that may give you some idea of how heavy the diver’s equipment was in those days:

Source: podwodna.net