Les épaves de la bataille de la Hougue (Manche)

Abstract

An important programme ofunderwater archaeological research has been led, since 1990, by the authors on the site of the wrecks from the battle of the Hougue, near the isle of Tatihou in the Channel. Discovered by a norman diver in 1985, the wrecks studied are those offive first-rate vessels setfire to in thè bay ofthe Hougue by enghsh fire-ships, after having participated on may 29, 1692, in a fight bringing together the french fleet and the anglo-dutch coalition off Barfleur. The réhabilitation of the isle of Tatihou and the project to create a departmental naval muséum there, has incited the « Conseil Général de la Manche » to finance an extensive archaeological programme on the remains of vessels conserved around the island. About a hundred searchers have totalized in five campaigns, almost 4500 hours of underwater work to perform this study. The five first-rate vessels at Tatihou have a dual interest in providing construction dates extending over more than a quarter of a century, from 1664 to 1691, and coming from three royal naval shipyards: Toulon, Rochefort and Brest. They bear witness to the evolution of the building of large french ships ofthe Une in the last third of the 17th century. The characteristics ofeach archaeological entity have led up to the choice of four of the sites which appear both, the most preserved and the most likely to supply complementary information: the wrecks designated as A-B, C, E and F. The two first have the traditional Levant architecture based on a simple frame - this principle of construction shows a notable evolution between the two wrecks - whereas the third has already, a structure of double frames which tended to be predominant in the west, at the end of the century. The last one, presents a specifie structure of double frames which could be a middle technical solution between the traditional simple frame and the continuous double frames used in the 18th century. The comparison of the materia! with the written documents allowed us to specify for each wreck, its original identity. The observation ο f tool traces and woodwork techniques, the way it was all assembled and the insertion séquences of architectural pieces should enable us, at last, to obtain consistent data on the structural construction and design of vessels at the end of the 17th century.