The Vasa Museum in Stockholm is well worth a visit for several reasons. One of them is the complete and perfectly preserved wreck of the Swedish fleet's flagship. The Vasa ship sank in 1628, just minutes after the start of her maiden voyage, right in the heart of the young capital of one of the great European powers of the time. A painful episode for national pride.
But the museum also tells the story of the geopolitical context that prevailed when this giant of the seas was built. Its essential mission, with its 64 cannons, was to ensure the security of logistical lines in the Baltic Sea for Swedish troops fighting in Poland, at a time when most of the Baltic Sea was bordered by territories conquered by the Swedes.
Today, with Finland having just joined NATO at the Vilnius summit on July 11, and Sweden, awaiting ratification by the Turkish and Hungarian parliaments (which could take place as soon as the fall), on its doorstep, the Baltic Sea is once again on the brink of a major geopolitical upheaval.
On Wednesday, August 2, Russia, keen to show that it is not intimidated by NATO expansion at its borders, announced through the Ministry of Defense the launch of new exercises in the Baltic Sea. The naval exercise "Ocean Shield 2023" is expected to involve 30 warships and boats, 20 support ships, 30 naval and Russian air and space forces aircraft, and about 6,000 troops. The stated aims of the exercise are to protect maritime communications, the transport of troops and military cargo, and the defense of the coastline. As always, these maneuvers will be closely watched by neighboring countries. Leading the way is Sweden.
A few kilometers from the site of the Vasa's sinking, another Swedish warship, anchored in its home port in the Stockholm archipelago, awaits its turn. The corvette HMS Härnosand has the same mission as the Vasa. Its 64 cannons have been replaced by eight Robotsystem 15 missile launchers with a range of around 100 kilometers, and its hull is made of carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic, a stealth technology designed to make the ship difficult to detect – quite the opposite of the 17th-century ship with its multitude of colorful sculptures designed to impress the enemy.
The current missions of the 4th Warfare Flotilla are coastal defense – the main one, focused on mine clearance and anti-submarine warfare – protection of shipping lanes and intelligence. At the end of July, before the Russian maneuvers began, there were around 3,800 vessels in the Baltic Sea, from cargo ships to sailing boats. "But that can go up to 10,000 vessels," said Captain Anders Bäckström, Commander of the 4th Warfare Flotilla, aboard HMS Härnosand. This makes this almost enclosed sea an area of extremely dense shipping, not to mention wind farms and submarine cables.
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