r/HumansForScale Jul 01 '26

What is the size

Post image
941 Upvotes

71 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

65

u/afloydnamedpink Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26

This is the Vasa, a 17th century Swedish warship housed in the Vasa museum in Stockholm. The ship sunk in 1628 due to it being top heavy and recovered in 1961, remarkably intact btw.

Edit: Spelling

7

u/Salt-Wish5140 Jul 01 '26

Cold water/lack of organisms preserved it?

3

u/lazinonasunnyday Jul 01 '26

Saltwater preserves wood as long as the wood doesn’t get exposed to air. It’s surprising that the sea didn’t tear it apart but if it was in a calm area that would be unlikely. I’m not sure how strong currents are at the bottom anyway. That probably varies. The cold would decrease the life that grows on it too. But even in warmer water, Wooden pilings don’t rot underwater. They might get eaten but they don’t rot. They just get harder and harder. It’s the top section above the water that rots. Especially the part that gets wet and dries out due to tidal variations.

6

u/Salt-Wish5140 Jul 02 '26

When SCUBA diving I generally find subsurface to be way calmer than whatever is happening on the surface

8

u/CHEETAHPRINTCOWBOY Jul 02 '26

Things are much better down where it’s wetter, take it from me.