''Äpplet'' ("the
globus cruciger
The for, la, globus cruciger, cross-bearing orb, also known as ''stavroforos sphaira'' () or "the orb and cross", is an Sphere, orb surmounted by a Christian cross, cross. It has been a Christian Church, Christian symbol of authority since the M ...
"; literally "the apple") was a Swedish warship built in the late 1620s as the sister ship of
''Vasa'', intended as one of the largest and most prestigious ships in the
Swedish navy
The Swedish Navy () is the maritime service branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet (), formally sometimes referred to as the Royal Navy () – as well as marine units, the Amph ...
under King
Gustavus Adolphus
Gustavus Adolphus (9 December N.S 19 December">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 19 December15946 November Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 16 November] 1632), also known in English as ...
. ''Äpplet'' was built in the same shipyard in Stockholm as ''Vasa'' but finished somewhat later and with different proportions. The reason for the different proportions was the replacement of the original shipwright Henrik Hybertsson who died in 1627 with Hein Jakobsson who also attempted to widen Vasa while it was being built.
''Äpplet'' was launched in 1629 less than year after the embarrassing loss of ''Vasa'' on its maiden voyage. The ship was not a great success but served as part of the escort for Swedish troops to Germany as part of the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...
. Smaller ships were generally chosen by Admiral of the Realm since they were more maneuverable. In 1658, Äpplet was in poor condition and deemed too expensive to repair and was sunk outside
Vaxholm
Vaxholm is a city, urban area and the seat of Vaxholm Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden. It occupies the islands of Vaxön and Kullö in the Stockholm archipelago. The name Vaxholm comes from Vaxholm Fortress, which was constructed in 154 ...
to block one of the main inlets to the capital of Stockholm.
at the
Museum of Wrecks in Stockholm located a large wreck in December 2021. During the spring of 2022 it was surveyed and measured,
and was identified as sister ship of ''Vasa'' in October 2022. ''Äpplet'' is considered to be well-preserved even if parts of the upper gun deck have collapsed. The identification of the ship was made due to similarities in the beam construction and that the oak used to build the ships was felled around Mälaren sometime during 1627, as was the case with some of ''Vasa''
's timbers.
References
{{reflist
1620s ships