Marine archaeologists from the Museum of Wrecks in Stockholm have found the wreck of the 17th Century war ship Äpplet - The Apple - just outside Stockholm.
Jim Hansson and his team at the Museum of Wrecks say the ship, which was launched in 1629, was constructed by the same shipbuilder that built the ship Vasa only one year earlier.
The Vasa, nowadays housed in a museum in Stockholm, is the world's best preserved 17th century ship and was salvaged 60 years ago after it sank on its maiden voyage in the middle of Stockholm in 1628.
Unlike Vasa, that sank after sailing about 1,300 m (1,400 yd), The Apple sailed in the Swedish navy for 30 years before it was scuttled near Vaxholm, some 30 kilometres east of Stockholm and used as a reinforcement of the fortification of the capital.
The museum's maritime archaeologists in collaboration with the navy discovered the ship last December. The team took samples and measurements and compared them to the Vasa ship and could thereby determine that it was a sister ship.
"We haven't found anything that points to another ship. It's just everything we see and all the datings and analysis is just telling us that this is The Apple," Hansson said, adding that the ship appeared to be well preserved and that more dives were being planned.
The Vasa is one of Sweden's most popular tourist attractions but Hansson said the plan for The Apple was for it to stay on the seabed where it is better protected. Using 3D modelling, the team will do reconstructions of the hull and show the wreck at the museum in a digital way.
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