Carl Gustaf Anders Franzén (23 July 1918 – 8 December 1993) was a Swedish marine technician and an amateur naval

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...

. He is most famous for having located the 1628 wreck of the Swedish

galleon Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships first used as armed cargo carriers by European states from the 16th to 18th centuries during the age of sail and were the principal vessels drafted for use as warships until the Anglo-Dutch ...

'' Vasa'' in 1956 and participated in her salvage 1959–1961. He also participated in the exploration for the wrecks of Swedish warships '' Kronan'', ''Riksäpplet'' and '' Resande Man'' as well as Gustav Vasa's flagship ''Lybska Svan''.

Biography

Franzén studied

naval architecture Naval architecture, or naval engineering, is an engineering discipline incorporating elements of mechanical, electrical, electronic, software and safety engineering as applied to the engineering design process, shipbuilding, maintenance, and ...

at the

Royal Institute of Technology The KTH Royal Institute of Technology ( sv, Kungliga Tekniska högskolan, lit=Royal Institute of Technology), abbreviated KTH, is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden. KTH conducts research and education in engineering and technolog ...

(KTH), but instead developed a strong interest for history and never graduated. He took employment with BP and later changed to the Swedish Naval Administration (which was a single-service forerunner to the

Defence Materiel Administration The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration ( sv, Försvarets materielverk, FMV) is a Swedish government agency that reports to the Ministry of Defence. The agency is responsible for the supply of materiel to the Swedish defence organisation. It ...

, FMV) where he became an expert on oil and fuels. At the same time, Franzén was conducting amateur historical research in archives, where he was searching for information on old shipwrecks of the Swedish Navy. Early on, he had realised that in the

brackish water Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

conditions in

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

, wrecks of old wooden ships could survive without being attacked by

shipworm The shipworms are marine bivalve molluscs in the family Teredinidae: a group of saltwater clams with long, soft, naked bodies. They are notorious for boring into (and commonly eventually destroying) wood that is immersed in sea water, including ...

. Around 1950 he had compiled a list of a dozen or so ships worth investigating further. From 1954, he focused his efforts on ''Vasa'' which he located in 1956 in Stockholm harbour. He combined his efforts with an experienced salvage diver Per Edvin Fälting (1911-1995). Franzén had strained relations to the

Maritime Museum A maritime museum (sometimes nautical museum) is a museum specializing in the display of objects relating to ships and travel on large bodies of water. A subcategory of maritime museums are naval museums, which focus on navies and the milita ...

, which for a long time seemed to regard Franzén as an unwelcome competitor, while the

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 ...

and the city of Stockholm were a lot more interested. Franzén never worked for the Maritime Museum, but was given a position at his ''alma mater'' KTH, which also recognised him with an honorary doctorate in 1983, KTH's Great Prize in 1988, and a personal title as professor (approved by the Swedish government) in 1992. He was a founding member of the

Sea Research Society The Sea Research Society (SRS) is a non-profit organization promoting research and education in marine science and history. Founded in 1972 by underwater archaeologist Dr. E. Lee Spence, SRS undertakes archival research and underwater expeditions ...

and served on its Board of Advisors. In 1972 Franzén was awarded the Society's research/professional degree of Doctor of Marine Histories from the

College of Marine Arts The College of Marine Arts was operated as the Sea Research Society's formal higher education wing from 1972 until 1978. It was initially located in Columbia, South Carolina and later moved to Mount Pleasant, outside of Charleston where it was hous ...

Personal life

Franzén was married to Helena Grönquist. He died in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...

and was buried at Galärvarvskyrkogården.

References

Other sourcers

*Greta Franzen (1990) ''The Great Ship Vasa'' (New York: Hastings House) * Anders Franzén (2009) ''His Majestýs Ship VASA 1628'' (Stockholm: KTH Royal Institute of Technology) .

External links

Vasa Museum website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Franzen, Anders 1918 births 1993 deaths Swedish archaeologists Academic staff of the KTH Royal Institute of Technology Underwater archaeologists Burials at Galärvarvskyrkogården 20th-century archaeologists