Wreck Site Research Articles

Mishaps in the Land van Eendracht: Exploring the Cause of Zuytdorp’s Wrecking

AbstractZuytdorp is one of four known Dutch East India Company shipwrecks off the western Australian coast. Believed to have foundered in the fall of 1712, its wreck site was located in 1927 on a remote stretch of the central western Australian coast. Since its identification in 1958, the site has been investigated during several archaeological expeditions. The cause of Zuytdorp’s wrecking, however, has never been properly assessed. Some researchers assume the ship crashed into shore due to an inaccurate longitude determination. Others believe the ship reached the Australian coastline safely and foundered due to a storm or other mishap. This study will use various lines of evidence to answer the question of how Zuytdorp wrecked. These include an assessment of contemporary cartographic and navigational knowledge, charts that would have been available on the vessel, coastal visibility, and signs that ships were nearing land as found in contemporary ship logs. It will be shown that Zuytdorp’s officers had access to the necessary cartographic information in order to navigate the Indian Ocean and Western Australian coastline, that there were numerous warning signs the vessel was nearing the coast and various measures taken to avoid a collision, and that meteorological conditions at the wreck site likely drove the ship ashore. Through a thorough analysis of these lines of evidence, it will be demonstrated that a sudden and unexpected encounter with the shore is an unlikely scenario. Instead, Zuytdorp could have reached the Australian coastline intentionally and most likely wrecked due to a storm.

Optimization of Legal Protection for the Leato Wreck Site: Discourse on Cultural Heritage Law and Maritime Conservation Law

Cultural heritage regulations and maritime conservation area regulations intersect and overlap in terms of legal protection, and nowhere is this more obvious than at the Leato underwater site/Japanese cargo ship wreck, referred to as the Leato wreck site in this paper. This legal issue later became a stumbling block in optimizing the legal protection of the Leato/Japanese cargo wreck underwater site. The study used two approaches: the statute approach and the conceptual approach. Analysis: a shipwreck can be defined as a catastrophic event that occurred in the past, with potential socio-economic benefits in the future, contingent upon optimal efforts to conserve history and culture, with great socio-economic potential if its exploitation is successfully optimized, with an eye to conservation efforts. The combination of these legally binding regulations is the key to optimizing the legal protection of the Leato underwater site. The maritime conservation area regulations safeguard the shipwreck's location as an integrated and interconnected ecosystem. By contrast, cultural heritage regulations protect the core zone of the Leato underwater site as a maritime cultural heritage from potential natural or human-caused damage. Other important issues that need to be considered are the empowerment of local communities in realizing a sustainable environment and cooperation between institutions in maintaining and preserving underwater cultural heritage.

Fluorescent analyses of sediments and near-seabed water in the area of the WW2 shipwreck “Stuttgart”

Motorship wrecks on the seabed pose a serious threat to the marine environment due to oil leaking from their fuel tanks. Such substances can penetrate the sediments and enter the water. There is a need to analyse bottom water and seabed sediment samples for the content of toxic petroleum substances. Tests were undertaken on samples collected near ​​the site of the World War II shipwreck of the s/s “Stuttgart”. The wreck is located in the Baltic Sea, in the Gulf of Gdańsk. To answer whether toxic hydrocarbons from wrecks enter the sea environment, a fluorometric analysis was carried out based on measurements of excitation-emission ultraviolet spectra for sediments and near-seabed water. The results of these analyses indicate the presence of oil substances in the sediments and the bottom water at some sampling points close to the wreck site. Studies have shown that the applied method of the so-called fluorometric indicator allows for determining the sites of water pollution with oil substances hidden in sediments.

Mesoscale ocean eddies determine dispersal and connectivity of corals at the RMS Titanic wreck site

The sinking of the RMS Titanic on 15 April 1912 remains one of most iconic maritime disasters in history. Today, the wreck site lies in waters 3800 m deep approximately 690 km south southeast of Newfoundland, Atlantic Canada. The wreck and debris field have been colonized by many marine organisms including the octocoral Chrysogorgia agassizii. Because of the rapid deterioration of the Titanic and the vulnerability of natural deep-sea coral populations to environmental changes, it is vital to understand the role the Titanic as well as other such structures could play in connecting ecosystems along the North American slope. Based on Lagrangian experiments with more than one million virtual particles and different scenarios for larval behavior, given the uncertainties around the biology of chrysogorgiids, the dispersal of larvae spawned at the Titanic wreck is studied in a high-resolution numerical ocean model. While the large-scale bathymetry shields the Titanic from a strong mean flow, mesoscale ocean eddies can considerably affect the deep circulation and cause a significant speed up, or also a reversal, of the circulation. As a consequence, the position of upper and mid-ocean eddies in the model largely controls the direction and distance of larval dispersal, with the impact of eddies outweighing the importance of active larval swimming in our experiments. Although dependent on larval buoyancy and longevity, we find that the Titanic could be reached by larvae spawned on the upper slope east of the Grand Banks. Therefore, the Titanic could act as a stepping stone connecting the upper to the deep continental slope off Newfoundland. From the Titanic, larvae then spread into deep Canadian waters and areas beyond national jurisdiction.

Wat is er gebeurd? Een interpretatie van de scheepsramp van de 18e-eeuwse koopvaarder Queen Anne

What happened? An interpretation of the shipping disaster of the 18th-century merchantman Queen AnneThis paper focuses on the depositional phase of the Queen Anne, a large, three-masted freighter that sank on the Zuiderzee (a shallow bay of the North Sea, in the north-western Netherlands) sometime between AD 1715 and 1720. This depositional phase entails the moments of a shipping disaster and should be taken into consideration in order to fully understand a wreck site. However, as information on most shipping disasters is solely recorded in historical sources and oral traditions, it can be hard to connect the disaster itself to specific a shipwreck, and vice versa. In the case of the Queen Anne, no information has been found in historical records on the ship’s sinking, and oral accounts have disappeared over time. Fortunately, the excavation of the shipwreck revealed several clues that may help to reconstruct the final moments of this vessel.

The Introduction of American Naval Ordnance in the Caribbean Sea in the Late Modern Period: Operational dimensions and American expansion

Since the 1970s, the Caribbean has been a hub for nautical archaeology, often focusing on European naval ordnance as evidence of early modern maritime occupation. The mid-nineteenth century ushered in a new military context with rapid American expansion, introducing contemporary innovations in American naval artillery. This study delves into the significance of American naval ordnance in the late nineteenth-century Caribbean, with a focus on its potential for revealing new imperialism and evolving regional dynamics in the archaeological record. It analyses the late nineteenth-century naval operational context in the Caribbean, concentrating on USS Kearsarge and its guns’ history from 1862–94 and its loss on Roncador Cay. Primary sources provide insight into their evolution associated with the wreck site, with emphasis placed on Dahlgren shell guns as a potential identifying feature.

Using Open-Data Portals, Remote Sensing and Computational Modelling to Investigate Historic Wreck Sites and Their Environments: 45 Years on from Muckelroy

Using Open-Data Portals, Remote Sensing and Computational Modelling to Investigate Historic Wreck Sites and Their Environments: 45 Years on from Muckelroy

Fish assemblages on shipwrecks versus natural reefs in Colombo, Sri Lanka

Shipwrecks provide important habitat for reef fishes, but few studies have addressed how fish assemblages on wrecks compare to natural communities on nearby reefs in terms of species composition, diversity, richness, and density, particularly in the Indian Ocean. To fill this knowledge gap, we conducted standardized diver-operated video transect surveys on three shipwrecks and three nearby natural sandstone reefs in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The shipwrecks provided a habitat that is structurally more complex than the surrounding reefs. A total of 2918 fish from 20 families and 30 genera were recorded, with 749 observed on reef sites and 2169 on the wrecks. A higher mean density of fish was observed on wrecks [mean (SE) = 17.2 (5) fish per 125 m2] than on natural reefs [11.9 (4) per 125 m2]. This difference was predominantly due to the snappers (Lutjanidae), which tended to aggregate in large schools in and around wrecks and constitute a resource for local artisanal fisheries. Wrecks and natural reefs presented similar levels of diversity at the family and genus level and shared 86.7% of genera. They nonetheless showed significant differences in community composition at both the family and genus level. Higher abundances of snappers, cardinalfishes (Apogonidae), and fusiliers (Caesionidae) were recorded on wreck sites while the natural reefs presented higher abundances of damselfishes (Pomacentridae) and barracudas (Sphyraenidae). These results differ from previous similar studies, indicating that differences in fish communities between wrecks and natural reefs can be idiosyncratic. This study highlights the role of shipwrecks as artificial reef structures and their relevance for small-scale fisheries and SCUBA diving tourism.

Shipwrecks act as de facto Marine Protected Areas in areas of heavy fishing pressure

AbstractUbiquitous, industrial use of bottom‐towed fishing gear since the 1800s has altered marine communities and ecosystem services. Outside of legal protection, only areas inaccessible to trawlers are offered any protection. Shipwrecks present hazards to fishing gear and are rarely subject to trawling pressure. As many have been in situ for >100 years, they offer a baseline of ecological potential when trawling pressure is reduced or removed. Five shipwrecks were surveyed off the Berwickshire coast, some within the Static Gear Reserve and others outside. Video transects were collected of shipwrecks, the surrounding 50 m radius and control locations >150 m from the wreck site. Species identified were assigned a category based on their vulnerability to trawling. The effect of distance from a shipwreck on ecological communities within sites Open and Closed to trawling was investigated. The ecological importance of shipwrecks increased relative to trawling pressure. In Open sites, abundance was 340% greater on Wreck locations than Control. Conversely, within Closed sites, abundance was 149% greater in Control locations than Wreck. In Open sites, shipwreck communities are more similar to those in Closed sites, than to the habitat surrounding the shipwreck. Vulnerable species, mostly large, sessile filter feeders, are almost entirely absent from Open sites, but account for ~28% of the total abundance on shipwrecks in Closed sites. This study offers a quantifiable method to evaluate the ecological contribution of shipwrecks in disturbed areas and suggests their role may warrant further research, and consideration in conservation policy, such as inclusion in 30 × 30 objectives. Our findings also demonstrate the possible ecological gains of expanding or including static gear reserves across Marine Protected Areas.

Underwater Detection of Ancient Pottery Sherds Using Deep Learning

This paper outlines the creation of a machine learning model designed to identify ancient pottery fragments near a submerged shipwreck off Modi Island, Greece. We trained multiple iterations of the YOLOv8 model using a custom dataset comprised of underwater videos taken during diving expeditions at the wreck site. The primary goal of this research is to integrate the resulting object detection system into a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) for automated pottery shard recognition, thereby aiding archaeological excavations. The paper elaborates on the model's development methodology and presents comprehensive experimental and evaluative results. These findings underscore the model's potential to significantly enhance the efficiency and accuracy of underwater archaeological exploration and analysis.

Fishing in the Gulf of Mexico in the Nineteenth Century: An Historical Overview and the Likely Context of Two Deep-Water Shipwrecks

The Gulf of Mexico emerged as an American fishing frontier in the nineteenth century. Maritime activities expanded and matured in terms of technology, scope, and scale. This activity left a substantial archaeological record on the seabed in the Gulf. Two deep-water shipwrecks offer archaeologically well-preserved, essentially undisturbed opportunities to assess vessels likely engaged in the fishing industry in and around the Gulf in the nineteenth century: the 7000-Foot Wreck (c. 1890–1920), and the Green Lantern Wreck (c. 1890–1920). These two deep-water wreck sites are significant for their presumed archaeological integrity as sites associated with a type of vessel and trade not often studied archaeologically, and are worthy of further work.

Preserving Sunken Military Vessels as Underwater Cultural Heritage in Colombia: Legal Challenges and Prospects for the USS Kearsarge Wreck Site

This study examines the legal challenges related to preserving sunken military vessels as Underwater Cultural Heritage (UCH) in Colombia. These challenges include Spanish galleon shipwrecks, limited international cooperation, and the lack of legal recognition for sunken military vessels under domestic law (Law 1675 of 2013). To address these issues, this article reviews the concepts of warship and sovereign immunity as they relate to the status of sunken military vessels. The study places a particular focus on the USS Kearsarge, a military shipwreck in Colombian territorial waters protected by the Sunken Military Craft Act of 2004 (SMCA) of the United States. Additionally, it analyzes the legal frameworks and management of UCH in both Colombia and the United States, as well as providing two lists of Colombia’s sunken military vessels and foreign sunken military vessels in its waters. The research concludes by highlighting the complexities of managing UCH in Colombia and offering a prospectus on the future of the USS Kearsarge wreck site as shared heritage. Ultimately, this study underscores the need for a more comprehensive legal framework and greater international cooperation to ensure the preservation and protection of sunken military vessels in Colombia.

Industrialisation, Warfare, and Science: An Archaeological-Historical Insight into Technological Changes of Mid-18th to Early 19th-century European Naval Ships

For European naval powers, whose economic and political well-being depended on the success of naval enterprises, warships played a fundamental role. Based on a multi-scalar and comparative approach, evidence from post-medieval (or historical) shipwrecks, can contribute to a better understanding of modern technology and society. This article deals with the innovations of British, French, and Spanish warships that sailed from about 1750 to 1815. An archaeological, archaeometric, and documentary study of wreck sites, with emphasis on ships’ structure, equipment, and ordnance, provided novel data to address the development of naval technology of the period. Based on this comprehensive approach, the information obtained allowed for a discussion of the impacts of industrialisation, warfare, and science on the innovation dynamic developed within the aforementioned states.

THE SMALLS SWORD GUARD: DISCOVERY, SIGNIFICANCE AND EXPERIMENTAL REPLICATION OF A HIBERNO-URNES MASTERPIECE

One of the finest examples of secular Hiberno-Urnes art from England and Wales was discovered by a diver on the offshore reef known as The Smalls (Welsh Gwales), Pembrokeshire, in the Irish Sea. The guard was probably made in Ireland about ad 1100–25 in a distinctive Hiberno-Scandinavian decorative style and technique with niello and silver inlays, and it illustrates the skills of a master craftsman or saer working for secular and ecclesiastical patrons. The findspot is now designated as historic wreck site under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1976 (no. 38).

Application of Parametric Sub-Bottom Profilers for Responsible in Situ Management of Underwater Shallow-Buried Archaeological Materials

The application potential of parametric sub-bottom profilers (SBPs) to in situ management of underwater archaeological sites at risk from degradational loss of shallow-buried materials is presented. This approach is based on the process-driven in situ preservation and research frameworks advocated by the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage and provides a basis for greater uptake by the archaeological community. Results from research at a purposely prepared sub-seabed site and on the adjoining James Matthews (1841) wreck site in Western Australia demonstrate how noninvasive SBP-derived data support responsible management of underwater cultural heritage (UCH) sites by: (1) identifying and/or confirming the presence of sub-seabed UCH material, (2) identifying the potential level of risk of further material loss from ongoing degradation, (3) providing key information with which to make a sound in situ management or site-research plan for the sub-seabed material, and (4) delivering monitoring feedback regarding the success of in situ management actions.

Unearthing South Australia’s Oldest Known Shipwreck: The Bark South Australian (1837)

In early 2018, a collaborative team composed of maritime archaeologists, museum specialists, and volunteers from the South Australian Department for Environment and Water, South Australian Maritime Museum, Silentworld Foundation, Australian National Maritime Museum, MaP Fund, and Flinders University surveyed for and located the shipwreck site of the bark South Australian. Lost at Rosetta Harbor (at the western end of modern-day Encounter Bay) in December 1837, South Australian is South Australia’s oldest documented shipwreck. Its significance also derives from its use as one of the earliest immigration ships to ferry European settlers to the colony of South Australia, as well as careers as a postal packet and “cutting-in” vessel for shore-based whaling activities. South Australian’s historical background is addressed, as are efforts to locate and confirm the identity of its wreck site via archaeological investigation.

Combining Historical, Remote-Sensing, and Photogrammetric Data to Estimate the Wreck Site of the USS Kearsarge

Colombia has hundreds of historical shipwrecks, but systematic research on this topic is scarce, which makes locating wreck sites problematic. Colombia is home to the Caribbean archipelago of San Andres, Old Providence, and Santa Catalina. Its complex environmental conditions make it a “ship trap”. On 2 February 1894, the USS Kearsarge ran aground on Roncador Cay, one of the Archipelago’s islets, and the location of the wreck site remains uncertain. Due to its role in the American Civil War, the Kearsarge is important naval heritage. Based on historical and cartographic records, orthophotographs, Landsat images, and light-detection-and-ranging (LiDAR) data, this study aimed to estimate the location of the wreck site in a Geographic Information System (GIS). Court-martial records, particularly nautical data and astronomical coordinates, were reviewed, including a study from 1894 indicating the wreck’s location on a map without coordinates. Nautical charts were also analyzed to find the Kearsarge wreck symbol. To identify the wreck site’s ordnance, logbooks and information on previous salvage efforts were examined. The analysis of nautical charts revealed a few shipwrecks, but not the Kearsarge. Historical and remote-sensing data were processed in a GIS, along with the most recent nautical chart of Roncador Cay from 2017, to obtain a possible geographical location. This resulted in coordinates, which were used to detect features associated with the USS Kearsarge in the processed data. Although the wreck was not detected, the data helped to estimate the approximate coordinates for where the wreck could be located, quantifying our degree of uncertainty.

Ballasting a Mid-19th Century Chilean Navy Armed Transport: Archaeometallurgical Insights into Cast Iron Ingots Recovered from the Barque Infatigable (1855)

Ballast is essential for vessels to lower their centre of gravity, improve stability, and ease their motion during sailing. During the modern period, heavy materials used for ballasting ships were an issue of particular concern for both authorities and ship owners, subjected to increasing control, regulation, and standardisation. These items represent a very common find in wreck sites and deserve special attention, as their characteristics, distribution, and provenance can deliver critical information for assessing where the vessel was ballasted, sailing routes, ship tonnage, and site formation processes. This article is centred on pig iron ingots, introduced in the early 18th century in sailing warships and shortly thereafter in sizeable merchant vessels, a type of ballast which is frequently overlooked in archaeological research. In particular, specimens retrieved from the Chilean Navy armed transport Infatigable (1855) were analysed through macroscopic and physicochemical characterisation using LM, SEM-EDS, WD-XRF, and IGF. The results obtained indicate the ingots were manufactured with cast iron of different quality, suggesting they may have come from different production centres. The investigation resulted in a better understanding of ballasting practices on a South American navy ship in the early post-independence period and provided new data for discussions of off-site and non-nautical technological issues, such as the materials, knowledge, and techniques associated with the production of pig iron in the mid-19th century.

‘For the Want of Them may Ruin a Voyage’: Analysis of Glass Beads from Channel Wrecks, Including the Dutch East India Company retourschip Rooswijk

Glass beads from two maritime sites were analyzed: the Dutch East India Company vessel Rooswijk, wrecked in 1740 on Goodwin Sands off the Kent coast, UK, and an unidentified vessel known as the Bead Wreck, located off Saint Peter Port, Guernsey, in the Channel Islands. Both vessels were carrying drawn, lead glass beads, which are found mainly in 17th- and 18th-century contexts. The study demonstrates the value of analysing glass beads from wreck sites because the information has the potential to help characterize unidentified vessels and further refine bead chronologies at post-medieval archaeological sites.

Warship wrecks and their munition cargos as a threat to the marine environment and humans: The V 1302 "JOHN MAHN" from World War II.

In addition to endangering sea traffic, cable routes, and wind farms, sunken warship wrecks with dangerous cargo, fuel, or munitions on board may emerge as point sources for environmental damage. Energetic compounds such as TNT (which could leak from these munitions) are known for their toxicity, mutagenicity, and carcinogenicity. These compounds may cause potential adverse effects on marine life via contamination of the marine ecosystem, and their entry into the marine and human food chain could directly affect human health. To ascertain the impending danger of an environmental catastrophe posed by sunken warships, the North Sea Wrecks (NSW) project (funded by the Interreg North Sea Region Program) was launched in 2018. Based on historical data (derived from military archives) including the calculated amount of munitions still on board, its known location and accessibility, the German World War II ship "Vorpostenboot 1302" (former civilian name - "JOHN MAHN") was selected as a case study to investigate the leakage and distribution of toxic explosives in the marine environment. The wreck site and surrounding areas were mapped in great detail by scientific divers and a multibeam echosounder. Water and sediment samples were taken in a cross-shaped pattern around the wreck. To assess a possible entry into the marine food chain, caged mussels were exposed at the wreck, and wild fish (pouting), a sedentary species that stays locally at the wreck, were caught. All samples were analyzed for the presence of TNT and derivatives thereof by GC-MS/MS analysis. As a result, we could provide evidence that sunken warship wrecks emerge as a point source of contamination with nitroaromatic energetic compounds leaking from corroding munitions cargo still on board. Not only did we find these explosive substances in bottom water and sediment samples around the wreck, but also in the caged mussels as well as in wild fish living at the wreck. Fortunately so far, the concentrations found in mussel meat and fish filet were only in the one-digit ng per gram range thus indicating no current concern for the human seafood consumer. However, in the future the situation may worsen as the corrosion continues. From our study, it is proposed that wrecks should not only be ranked according to critical infrastructure and human activities at sea, but also to the threats they pose to the environment and the human seafood consumer.