Henrik Hybertsson (or Hendrik Hubertsen) (died 1627) was a Dutchborn master

shipbuilder Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...

working in the

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

navy yard in the early 17th century. He is mostly known for being the designer and constructor of the warship '' Vasa'', which sank on its maiden voyage in 1628 and is now on display at the

Vasa Museum The Vasa Museum ( sv, Vasamuseet) is a maritime museum in Stockholm, Sweden. Located on the island of Djurgården, the museum displays the only almost fully intact 17th-century ship that has ever been salvaged, the 64-gun warship '' Vasa'' that sa ...

. Henrik came from the town of

Rijswijk Rijswijk (), formerly known as Ryswick ( ) in English, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Its population was in , and it has an area of , of which is water. The municipality also includes th ...

, near

Den Haag The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

in South Holland, and for a time in the 1590s was listed as a merchant in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, before moving to Sweden at the beginning of the 17th century. Henrik was hired by the Swedish King

Karl IX Charles IX, also Carl ( sv, Karl IX; 4 October 1550 – 30 October 1611), reigned as King of Sweden from 1604 until his death. He was the youngest son of King Gustav I () and of his second wife, Margaret Leijonhufvud, the brother of King Eric X ...

, at a time when the

Royal Swedish Navy The Swedish Navy ( sv, Svenska marinen) is the naval branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet () – as well as marine units, the Amphibious Corps (). In Swedish, vessels of ...

was expanding rapidly. He worked in

between 1603-1605 and again between 1611-1627. In between he was stationed at various

shipyards A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

in the country. After his return to Stockholm in 1611, he developed an association with the entrepreneur Anton Monier, who had leased the Crown's navy yard in 1620 under a new type of procurement contract, in which private businessmen took on the government's former role in producing war material. In 1621, Monier took Master Henrik into partnership. During autumn 1624, as Monier's contract was running out, Admiral of the Realm

Carl Carlsson Gyllenhielm Baron Carl Carlsson Gyllenhielm (4 March 1574 – 17 March 1650) was a Swedish soldier and politician. He was made a baron (''friherre'') in 1615, appointed Field Marshal in 1616, Privy Councilor in 1617, Governor General of Ingria in 1617 a ...

, Vice Admiral

Clas Larsson Fleming Clas Larsson Fleming (March 1592 – 27 July 1644) was an admiral and administrator involved in the development of a formal management structure for the Royal Swedish Navy under King Gustav II Adolf and Queen Christina. He is remembered as on ...

and Henrik Hybertsson began negotiating the terms of a four-year contract for maintenance and construction for the Swedish Navy. In December 1624. Henrik signed a preliminary version of this with the admiralty, and in January 1625 Henrik and another Dutch entrepreneur, Arent de Groote, signed the final version with King

Gustav II Adolf Gustavus Adolphus (9 December ld Style and New Style dates, N.S 19 December15946 November ld Style and New Style dates, N.S 16 November1632), also known in English as Gustav II Adolf or Gustav II Adolph, was King of Sweden from 1611 to ...

. They would build four ships, two larger and two smaller, maintain existing ships, and manage the navy yard from January 1626 through the end of 1629. '' Vasa'', laid down in February–March 1626 and launched in 1627, was the first of the large ships to be built under this contract. The other large ship, Äpplet, was laid down in 1627 and entered service in 1629. Neither of the smaller ships was built before the Crown cancelled all of its external contracts in the winter of 1628-29. After Henrik Hybertsson's death in the late spring of 1627, his widow, Margareta Nilsdotter (d. 1630), inherited responsibility for completion of the contract, but while she was an accomplished businesswoman in her own right and had responsibility for the management of the rural estates which provided part of the family's income, she was not a shipbuilder. After a brief period of turbulence, the Crown appointed its representative in the navy yard, Captain Söfring Hansson, to manage the yard. Henrik was survived by his wife, who was forced to sell some of their holdings in order to pay debts, and at least one son and two daughters, Margareta and Kristina.

References

* Cederlund, Carl Olof ''Folket som byggde Wasa'' * Cederlund, Carl Olof ''Vasa I: A Swedish Warship of 1628'' * Hocker, Fred ''Vasa, A Swedish Warship'' * ''Den Ointroducerade Svenska Adelns Ättartavlor'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Hybertsson, Henrik 1627 deaths Dutch shipbuilders Swedish shipbuilders Year of birth unknown People from Rijswijk 17th-century Swedish businesspeople