Shipbuilding of the 17th century and your unsuccessful development projects: find five differences
At the Monitorama conference, Pete Cheslock of Threat Stack drew a parallel between the construction history of the Swedish vessel Vasa and failed development projects. We share with you a fragment of his speech.
The ship "Vasa" was supposed to be the main fighting ship of the Swedish fleet, but sank with a gust of wind at the first exit from the harbor in 1628, 53 crew members were killed. The surviving captain was immediately sent to prison: during the interrogation, he swore that the guns were securely fastened and the crew was sober. After the investigation, no one was punished or convicted, and the incident was classified as “God's will”. Why sank ship and where does project management?
3.5 years earlier, Gustav II Adolf, the king of Sweden, signed a construction contract
four ships: two 108-foot and two 135-foot. The fleet then lost ten ships in battle.
')
"I need four ships, immediately!"
So the Vasa was actually conceived as a small 108-foot ship, and everything turned out quite differently. A couple of months later, the requirements have changed: now the king wanted
120 foot ship. But since they were going to build a completely different, enough wood
only at 111-foot.
Therefore, they built a 111-foot ship. And then the king learned that Denmark was building a ship with TWO gun deck. And instead of starting over, they decided to scale it up.
It is worth noting that when the king changed the plan, it turned out that no one in Sweden had ever made ships with two gun decks.
When it came to guns, a number of amendments came from the king: 12-pound cannons, 24-pound cannons, 40-pound cannons ... Their number was also constantly changing. In the end, they were able to make only 48 of the 64 planned guns - all due to lack of time.
When these guns were later studied in the 1960s, it turned out that because of the haste the guns were so poorly made that they most likely would not have worked anyway. So if he had not drowned, he probably would have exploded.
The king also wanted this ship to be decorated with hundreds of ornate carvings: “Vasa” should have made an impression and outdo the frigging Danish ship. Spared no money.
And all this decoration led to the fact that the center of gravity was too high. And that was the main problem. According to the calculations, "Vasa" was so unstable that it would tip over when heel even less than 10 degrees. The ship knocked a gust of wind at 8 knots
(~ 14.5 km / h). According to modern calculations, the ship would turn over even from half less strong wind.
The main shipbuilder fell ill and died while this project was being done. And, as was customary at that time, only he knew the whole scheme. Because, well, you understand why documentation is needed? From a managerial point of view, the project, of course, was already a failure. The admiral (or captain) carried out a stability check, which consisted in the fact that 30 people moved back and forth several times. And they had to stop after three times, because the ship was so unstable that it could roll over.
So they just have to add ballast, right? But the design has changed so many times that there was simply no room for the ballast. And if they did, the guns would simply be under water. You probably think: “Why run if the test fails?”. But I will tell you more - as it turned out, the shipbuilders did not even attend this test, and indeed they were not informed about it.
The king ordered the ship to be lowered, he should have set off on July 25, and, if he had not been ready by that time, quote: "The guilty will fall into disgrace of his highness." The first flight started two weeks later than expected. Almost had time!
So, what do we know about the project "Vasa"?
1. "Vasa" was launched in a short time, and the requirements were serious.
2. Many revisions were made already during the construction of the ship.
3. The documentation was not updated because it did not exist at all.
4. Awkward transfer of authority.
5. No one in Sweden has ever built a ship with two gun decks.
6. Many improvements had to be made due to constantly changing requirements.
7. No one really imagined how much the ship has grown in 3.5 years of construction.
8. The lack of a scientific method for calculating the center of gravity and stability.
9. Run after an unsuccessful test. Who does that at all ?! Well, that is, we all did that
understandably ...
10. The test results were known to some, but there was no interaction within the team.
In short, those who do not know the story are doomed to repeat it. Do not let your projects be like “Vasa”.
On the official website of Vasa, by the way, this is the 404th.
The ship "Vasa" was supposed to be the main fighting ship of the Swedish fleet, but sank with a gust of wind at the first exit from the harbor in 1628, 53 crew members were killed. The surviving captain was immediately sent to prison: during the interrogation, he swore that the guns were securely fastened and the crew was sober. After the investigation, no one was punished or convicted, and the incident was classified as “God's will”. Why sank ship and where does project management?
3.5 years earlier, Gustav II Adolf, the king of Sweden, signed a construction contract
four ships: two 108-foot and two 135-foot. The fleet then lost ten ships in battle.
')
"I need four ships, immediately!"
So the Vasa was actually conceived as a small 108-foot ship, and everything turned out quite differently. A couple of months later, the requirements have changed: now the king wanted
120 foot ship. But since they were going to build a completely different, enough wood
only at 111-foot.
Therefore, they built a 111-foot ship. And then the king learned that Denmark was building a ship with TWO gun deck. And instead of starting over, they decided to scale it up.
It is worth noting that when the king changed the plan, it turned out that no one in Sweden had ever made ships with two gun decks.
When it came to guns, a number of amendments came from the king: 12-pound cannons, 24-pound cannons, 40-pound cannons ... Their number was also constantly changing. In the end, they were able to make only 48 of the 64 planned guns - all due to lack of time.
When these guns were later studied in the 1960s, it turned out that because of the haste the guns were so poorly made that they most likely would not have worked anyway. So if he had not drowned, he probably would have exploded.
The king also wanted this ship to be decorated with hundreds of ornate carvings: “Vasa” should have made an impression and outdo the frigging Danish ship. Spared no money.
And all this decoration led to the fact that the center of gravity was too high. And that was the main problem. According to the calculations, "Vasa" was so unstable that it would tip over when heel even less than 10 degrees. The ship knocked a gust of wind at 8 knots
(~ 14.5 km / h). According to modern calculations, the ship would turn over even from half less strong wind.
The main shipbuilder fell ill and died while this project was being done. And, as was customary at that time, only he knew the whole scheme. Because, well, you understand why documentation is needed? From a managerial point of view, the project, of course, was already a failure. The admiral (or captain) carried out a stability check, which consisted in the fact that 30 people moved back and forth several times. And they had to stop after three times, because the ship was so unstable that it could roll over.
So they just have to add ballast, right? But the design has changed so many times that there was simply no room for the ballast. And if they did, the guns would simply be under water. You probably think: “Why run if the test fails?”. But I will tell you more - as it turned out, the shipbuilders did not even attend this test, and indeed they were not informed about it.
The king ordered the ship to be lowered, he should have set off on July 25, and, if he had not been ready by that time, quote: "The guilty will fall into disgrace of his highness." The first flight started two weeks later than expected. Almost had time!
So, what do we know about the project "Vasa"?
1. "Vasa" was launched in a short time, and the requirements were serious.
2. Many revisions were made already during the construction of the ship.
3. The documentation was not updated because it did not exist at all.
4. Awkward transfer of authority.
5. No one in Sweden has ever built a ship with two gun decks.
6. Many improvements had to be made due to constantly changing requirements.
7. No one really imagined how much the ship has grown in 3.5 years of construction.
8. The lack of a scientific method for calculating the center of gravity and stability.
9. Run after an unsuccessful test. Who does that at all ?! Well, that is, we all did that
understandably ...
10. The test results were known to some, but there was no interaction within the team.
In short, those who do not know the story are doomed to repeat it. Do not let your projects be like “Vasa”.
On the official website of Vasa, by the way, this is the 404th.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/336398/
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