The Gribshunden was a Danish-Norwegian warship that basically functioned as a floating medieval death castle. Built between 1483 and 1484, this royal flagship gobbled up 8 percent of Denmark’s national budget.

King Hans used it not to find new continents or spice routes, but to cruise the Baltic in style, showing off to nobles, diplomats, and anyone else who needed a reminder of where the real power resided.

In a new study published in the International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, researchers quite literally dove into the best-preserved shipwreck from Europe’s pre-colonial days of glory. The Gribshunden went down in flames off the coast of Sweden in 1495, but the wreck remained remarkably intact.

Archaeologists discovered oak gun beds, wooden structural elements, and even lead-and-

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