Daily Mail : 170 years old.. a giant wooden ship sailing on the Thames in London
Replica of historic 18th century Swedish trading ship made its first visit to London for more than 15 years
The Götheborg of Sweden sailed up the River Thames and underneath the capital’s iconic Tower Bridge
Vessel, standing at 150ft tall and stretching 36ft wide, painstakingly reconstructed by shipbuilders in 2005
Original Gotheborg sank in 1745 following a voyage to China where it traded for silk, tea and exotic goods Daily Mail Online reported
An historic replica of an 18th century Swedish trading ship that sank more than 270 years ago wowed commuters on their way to work today as the boat made a triumphant return to London for the first time in 15 years
The Götheborg of Sweden sailed up the River Thames and underneath the capital’s iconic Tower Bridge on Monday morning with its crew in rigging and singing sea shanties to a delighted crowd.
The extraordinary galleon, which stands 150ft tall, stretches 36ft wide and boasts more than two dozen sails, was painstakingly reconstructed by shipbuilders on a 1:1 scale before it was finally completed to great fanfare in 2005.
Once the world’s largest wooden seafaring ship, the original Götheborg sank in mysterious circumstances after running aground on a notorious submerged rock in 1745.
Today’s replica remains one of the largest operational wooden sailing vessels still used in the world today.
It will dock in London for the next four days, where visitors are encouraged to learn of the ship’s epic past, which saw it travel to China in the 18th century and help propel Sweden’s second city into an economic powerhouse.
