Overlooking Göteborg Harbor is the seaman’s tower with a woman looking out to sea. Next to the seaman’s tower is the maritime museum. In this museum the maritime history of Sweden—beginning with pre-Viking boats and going up to modem diesel-powered submarines— unfolds in exhibits of ship models and marine artifacts. On the second-floor Viking exhibit, maps trace the route of Erik the Red to North America (Greenland) in 985 as well as the earlier Viking trips to Paris (845) and Constantinople (865). This exhibit introduces the theme of Göteborg’s sea connection to the world. The technology of ship design and construction that began with the naval architect F. H. Chapman’s books in the 18th century is evident in the lines of the sailing models. In the adjacent exhibit hall is the model of the 360-ton, 16-gun brig Calmare Nuckel, which carried the first Swedish colonists to the colony of Delaware in 1629.
In the next hall, models of the fast clipper ships such as the Sophia Magdalena, operated by the Swedish Indian Company, show the rapid development of the Canton-Göteborg trade in porcelain and tea in the 18th century. One aspect of the sailor’s life on board these sailing ships was the many months far from home. The skill of the Scandinavian sailors in coping with these voyages is demonstrated in the cases of bone carvings, ship models, and ropework.
With the advent of steam-powered iron and steel ships, there was a technological revolution in both ship design and ship construction. The work of Swedish engineer John Ericsson, the designer of the USS Monitor, is illustrated along with the development of advanced technology in Sweden. One of the displays traces the development of the submarine from an early salvage vessel, the Mechanicus (1778), to the American submersible Turtle (1776) and the Confederate submersible Hunley (1863), up to modern Swedish diesel submarines.
Further advances in technology are traced in the Gotaveran Shipyard Hall. Here, the introduction of welded hulls, modular-hull construction, and the use of high-strength steel in different ships is illustrated. The design and manufacture of supertanker hulls also is presented, along with the advent of the large, slow- speed diesel engine for ship propulsion.
One of the special features of the museum is the support of Swedish shipping companies. They have arranged their display models and full-scale bridge controls to introduce the design of a modem ship. In the hall of ship models are car ferries, ice breakers, tugboats, roll-on/roll-off ships, as well as container- ships. When you leave the museum and wait in the Stibergs Liden trolley stop, a submersible and the busts of the Chapman and Ericsson remind you of Sweden’s proud and long heritage in the development of marine technology.