Don't Let the King Be Your ArchitectOne of the Vasa's problems was that she was specified and re-specified by the king himself. The boat was midway between the "small boat" design and the "large boat" design of the day. The keel was originally laid for a small boat, and then lengthened somewhat. This inhibited the builders from making her appropriately wider, although they tried. In the end, the Vasa became a tall, narrow boat. Additionally, she had two gun decks. Originally, she was designed to have only one. But the king heard that a boat was being built in rival Denmark with two gun decks, and he wanted to be competitive. The late addition of the second gun deck made the boat top-heavy. Software people have a term for this. It's called a kludge. |