Londoners watched an 18th century full-rigged ship pass under Tower Bridge this morning (Monday, August 8).
The replica, modelled on the Swedish East India Company trading vessel the Götheborg, constructed in 1738, passed beneath Tower Bridge at 8.30am.
It has now moored at South Dock Quay, next to Canary Wharf, where it will be open to the public from Tuesday 9 to Thursday 11 August.
Tony Green, a retired photographer who came to take snaps of the ship said: “The hull is quite brutal because of the age of it. It’s before cutting edge design came in. It’s not like tall ships that were built for speed as it was built for trade.”
He said his favourite thing about the ship was the complex rigging, made from ten tons of hemp rope. But he was disappointed that the ship didn’t fire its canons as had been expected.
The original ship, which had a crew of 144 and traded as far as China, sank in 1745 on its way into Gothenburg Harbour.
It was wrecked after crashing into a well known underwater rock called Knipla Börö. Astonishingly, it was visible on the water for several years after it crashed, slowly sinking over the following years.
How its experienced pilot Caspar Matthisson made such an elementary mistake has long puzzled historians.
Some believe a phenomenon called ‘dead water’, in which fresh and saltwater mix to create treacherous ‘internal waves’, might have been to blame.
The tragic tale of nine Walworth scouts who drowned off the coast of Sheppey 110 years ago
Marine archaeologists excavated the ship from 1986 and 1992, discovering tea, mother-of-pearl shells, pepper, silks and porcelain in the hull.
The replica ship was built in 2005, costing the equivalent of almost £33 million using 40% Swedish public funds and various private sponsors.
It has docked at harbours across the world including Cape Town, Jakarta, Canton and Gibraltar, and last visited London in 2007.