Archive Results For: Shipwrecks
Book Review-‘1545: Who sank the ‘Mary Rose’? ‘by P. Marsden
One of the questions asked of any shipwreck, whether a recent tragedy or an archaeological find, is why it did sink? Very often the real question being asked is, who is at fault? Modern accident investigation techniques focus on identifying all of the contributing factors to an air crash or ship sinking, such as technical […] Read More
Filed under: Tudors | English Channel | Shipwrecks
Subjects include: Archaeology | Historic Vessels, Museums & Restoration
Book Review-‘The Last Days of the High Seas Fleet: From mutiny to Scapa Flow’ by N. Jellico
Nicholas Jellicoe is the grandson of Admiral of the Fleet Lord Jellicoe. Over the last few years he has thrown himself with great enthusiasm into the naval history of the First World War and his grandfather’s major role in it. I met him in Blackpool eight years ago to give him advice on launching his […] Read More
Filed under: WW1 | North Sea | Shipwrecks
Subjects include: Navies
The Final Weeks of Service and Wreck of PS Comet, 1820
PS Comet, Europe’s first commercial steamship, launched in 1812, was rebuilt to new dimensions in 1819 with improved machinery, and wrecked in 1820. These facts are known, but not very much accurate detail exists about its wrecking. Many books and articles on the Comet repeat the same basic information, in some cases with minor variations and ambiguities which […] Read More
Filed under: Nineteenth Century | Other (Nineteenth C) | Shipwrecks
Subjects include: Merchant Marines | Ocean Liners & Passenger Craft | Shipbuilding & Design
Figureheads and Symbolism Between the Medieval and the Modern: The ship Griffin or Gribshunden, one of the last Sea Serpents?
The Griffin or, as it was sometimes called, Gribshunden (griffin hound) was a ship that belonged to the Danish–Norwegian King Hans. The ship sank in 1495 and was one of the largest and most modern warships of its day. In 2015 a peculiar figurehead carving was raised from the wreck. It is shaped like a beast swallowing a man […] Read More
Filed under: Baltic | High Middle Ages | Shipwrecks
Subjects include: Ship Models & Figureheads | Shipbuilding & Design
‘It was not his first Intention to swell the Work with so many Notes’: Annotation in William Falconer’s The Shipwreck and the birth of the Universal Dictionary of the Marine
William Falconer is well known for his influential Universal Dictionary of the Marine. Less well known is that the Dictionary owed its origins to Falconer’s other claim to fame as a poet. The Shipwreck (1762) is a narrative of his personal experience of a voyage, notable for its density of nautical terminology, and extensive annotation, explaining the seafaring terminology […] Read More
Filed under: Seven Years’ War | Eighteenth Century | Shipwrecks
Subjects include: Miscellaneous
How Large Was Mars? An investigation of the dimensions of a legendary Swedish warship, 1563–1564
The Swedish warship Mars was considered to have been one of the largest ships in the world when it exploded and sank in 1564. The problem is that no written accounts clearly reveal its dimensions. This article reviews how different researchers have discussed the size of Mars in the past. It also aims to shed new light on this […] Read More
Filed under: Baltic | Other (Early Modern) | Shipwrecks
Subjects include: Archaeology | Shipbuilding & Design
‘We Almost Gave Ourselves Up for Lost That Night’: Alfred Costello’s account of the shipwreck of the Elizabeth, 1852
The merchant mariner Alfred Costello recorded an account of the shipwreck of the barque Elizabeth on the Andaman Islands in 1852. His account provides an insight into the challenges faced by the crew culminating in a 300-mile journey from the Andaman Islands to Burma (Myanmar). Only Costello and the ship’s captain survived to return to England. Costello’s […] Read More
Filed under: Other (Eighteenth C) | Indian Ocean | Shipwrecks
Subjects include: Miscellaneous | Ship Handling & Seamanship
The Operational Impact of the Loss of HMS Paragon in the Straits of Dover, 17 March 1917
In early 1917, the torpedo boat destroyer HMS Paragon was part of the Dover Patrol, then subject to repeated raids by German destroyers. Its history is normally consigned to a few, often inaccurate, short sentences, in which it is implied that it had an almost supine role in the action in which it was lost. This article […] Read More
Filed under: WW1 | English Channel | Shipwrecks
Subjects include: Navies
The Battle of Jutland’s Heritage Under Threat: Commercial salvage on the shipwrecks as observed 2000 to 2016
This paper presents the most recent ndings up to August 2016 of the extent to which the shipwrecks from the battle of Jutland have been exposed to salvage for metals. Commercial salvage of the wrecks is not new and archival research has traced salvage activity as far back as 1960. However over the last 15 […] Read More
Filed under: North Sea | Other (Twentieth C) | Shipwrecks
Subjects include: Miscellaneous | Navies
Note: The Wreck of the ‘Apostle’ San Bartolomé (1597)
The location of this Spanish wreck dating from 1597 has been disputed, but documentary evidence reconstructs the events which led to its loss. Read More
Filed under: Atlantic | Tudors | Shipwrecks
Subjects include: Navies