Many years ago,when our badly damaged merchant ship Wairangi was towed into dry-dock in Stockholm, we found ourselves very near a much more famous marine casualty, the 17th-century warship Vasa.
The hulk of that once-formidable vessel had been laboriously raised from the bed of the harbour in 1961. It was then being carefully preserved in a specially designed facility built over the concrete pontoon on which the sea-damaged ship was placed.
Its story is part of Swedish and indeed marine folklore. This ship was intended to enforce the power and prowess of that country’s warrior king, Gustavus Adolphus.
When it was completed in 1628 it was probably the most powerful warship anywhere on the globe, bristling with an array of bronze cannon on two decks.
The Swedish king was away fighting to gain territory and influence in a war against other Baltic powers, Poland and Lithuania; such a potent and richly decorated vessel epitomised his ambition and stature.
There were some doubts about the ship's stability, but the strong-minded king was impatient for it to take to the sea straight away. Dangerously unstable and top-heavy with armaments, the Vasa had hardly left port then she capsized and sank in relatively shallow waters, although most of those on board managed to escape.
In the 1980s, the Swedish government felt that this symbol of one of the great periods in the country’s history deserved a proper museum of its own.
The magnificent building, with a copper roof and stylised ship masts, was constructed on and around the dry dock of the old naval yard. Then the almost fully intact Vasa was towed into the flooded area.
There was some visible restoration of the masts and other parts that enabled visitors see what the ship had looked like.
Around the ship are models and exhibits depicting its construction with its elaborate decoration. The history of its sinking and eventual recovery are on display.
Today the Vasa museum is the prime visitor and tourist attraction in Sweden, visited by millions.
It reminds Swedes of an era when, led by Gustavus Adolphus, they emerged from being a poor, sparsely-populated country of limited resources to become one of the leading powers not only in the Baltic region but in Europe.
Under his ambitious leadership, Sweden was gaining lands and controlling key areas of the Baltic. Then his attention and that of many Swedes turned to the appalling conflict of religion that was devastating Germany in what became known as the Thirty Years War.
Sweden had embraced the Reformed religion and Gustavaus Adolphus became alarmed when it seemed that that the fragmented Protestant powers were in danger of being overpowered and subjugated by the superior numbers and means of the Catholic alliance.
The intervention of Sweden into the conflict was crucial. Its highly mobile army proved powerful. Its soldiers were well-trained and disciplined. It was efficiently supplied with food, forage and effective musketry.
As well as heavy cannon it had a light version that could be quickly moved on the battlefield.
Under the brilliant generalship of Gustavus Adolphus it inflicted a massive defeat on its opponents when the sides met in battle.
Not long afterwards Gustavus Adolphus was killed in another battle but the Swedish armies were largely successful in a campaign that lasted five years. They were credited with saving and enhancing the power and independence of the Protestant states.
Sweden’s pivotal role could only be undertaken because the country had become so well-organised, making maximum use of its resources and trading opportunities.
Gustavus Adolphus had enforced far-reaching social reforms where prowess was rewarded irrespective of class.
In later centuries the country was to lose much of its Baltic empire but the legacy of its warrior king ensured that it was on the way to becoming a democratic nation that made well-planned use of its human and material assets, with great emphasis on efficiency and good order.
In the modern era, in parallel with its highly competitive industries. it was one of the first countries to introduce universal health care and education. The tens of thousands of Swedes who view Vasa see it as a symbol of the beginning of the country's emergence from a medieval and backward region to the model nation it is today.