A diving survey of the 18th-century English warship Northumberland has revealed that options corresponding to its timber decks, chests containing musket balls, and coiled rope have survived ‘remarkably’ nicely – due to being coated by sediment for a lot of of their 320 years underneath water off the Kent coast.
The dives, the primary in two years, had been undertaken by licensee Dan Pascoe and contractor MSDS Marine in July 2024 however the findings are actually being shared to advertise a brand new documentary in regards to the ship.
The Northumberland has been a Protected Wreck Website since 1981, with diving topic to the authority of Historic England (HE), which put it on its Heritage at Threat Register in 2017.
The third-rate 70-gun warship was in-built Bristol in 1679 as a part of Samuel Pepys’ regeneration of the English Navy, however sank in the course of the Nice Storm of 26 November, 1703 on Goodwin Sands.
She was misplaced with three different warships, the Restoration, Stirling Fortress and the still-missing Mary, from the fleet of the final Stuart monarch, Queen Anne.
Excessive threat
Regardless of the surprisingly good situation of natural supplies on the wreck, shifting sands, robust currents and wood-boring sea creatures put the positioning at excessive threat of degradation, says HE.
The ship’s stays cowl a big space at depths of 15-20m and are closely concreted, however extra of its intensive hull construction is changing into uncovered by the day, inflicting HE marine team-leader Paul Jeffery to explain the custodians’ work as “a race towards time”.
The Northumberland is considered mendacity on its port aspect. Way more of the deck planks and body stay than had beforehand been thought, and there may be proof of a number of decks. Certainly one of various chests stays sealed, its contents unknown.
Seven iron cannon have been confirmed on the south-east finish of the wreck-site, with six extra to the north. Additionally current is a part of a timber gun-carriage, swords, muskets and copper cauldrons.
Pivotal second
“The Northumberland has the potential to be one of many best-preserved wood warships within the UK,” says licensee Pascoe, a maritime archaeologist specialising in Royal Navy shipwrecks. “Nevertheless, at 20m underneath water and 9 miles offshore it’s out of sight and thoughts to most individuals.”
“Northumberland is the lacking hyperlink,” says Snow. “Constructed roughly midway between the Mary Rose and HMS Victory, this wreck can fill in essential particulars of shipbuilding and life at sea at that pivotal second in our historical past.
“Now we have the Mary Rose, the ‘Tudor time-capsule’ – nicely, right here’s a Stuart time-capsule to take a seat alongside it.” Shipwreck! Northumberland And The Nice Storm airs tonight (31 July) to Historical past Hit subscribers (£7.99 a month however with a 14-day free trial) and is to be distributed extra extensively later.
Future work on the wreck-site may embrace dendrochronological sampling to study extra in regards to the ship’s building and assist to substantiate its identification.
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