Five Centuries of Maritime Excellence
always punching above her weight
When you discover that you need to become a sea power in order to secure your nation and its people ... it can't happen over night.
In 1520, the Danish king Kristian II mobilized his fleet and seized Stockholm, thus strengthening his position and control of commerce. In order to oust the Danes and decrease their dominance in the Baltic Sea, Sweden needed a fleet.
King Gustav Vasa purchased ten ships equipped with weaponry and arms from Lübeck and they were delivered on 7 June 1522 at Slätbaken, close to Söderköping, and since then, this day has been recorded as the birth of the Swedish Navy.
...sometimes it takes two years and you have to outsource it ... but ever since then - plucky Sweden has been a Baltic seapower.
Happy birthday to some great professionals with a great history.
Remember, go to settings in YouTube and under closed captioning get it to auto-translate in to English.
What a smart, clever, and oddly moving video. Clearly a people in a tough neighborhood who still believe in themselves.