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Published online 20 February 2002 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news020218-15
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Acid could wreck wreck
Raised warship's quandary underlines need to let sunken ships lie.
If you are planning to visit the restored wreck of the Swedish ship, the Vasa, get your skates on - by a quirk of chemistry, the ship's timbers are producing sulphuric acid and threaten to consume themselves from within.
Due to the overzealous addition of one too many gundecks, the top-heavy warship keeled over and sank on its maiden voyage in 1628.
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