Archive Results For: Shipwrecks
Document: ‘I was at the helm when Preussen ran aground’
This newly translated memoir is a detailed first-hand account of the demise of the Preussen beneath the chalk cliffs of Dover. Read More
Filed under: English Channel | Other (Twentieth C) | Shipwrecks
Subjects include: Merchant Marines
Note: Henry Bell’s Comet: The account book for 1820
This account of the first steam ship, which operated on the route to Fort William from September 1819, is derived from an account book of the vessel’s operation in 1820. The income and expenditure is recorded, as well as names and wages of crew. The passengers are also listed, giving a social commentary on the […] Read More
Filed under: Nineteenth Century | Other (Nineteenth C) | Shipwrecks | Internal Waterways
Subjects include: Administration | Merchant Marines
Preservation by Shipwreck: the Memory of William Mackay
In 1795 an English East India Company country ship, the Juno, was wrecked in the Bay of Bengal. The buoyancy of her teak cargo arrested her sinking, and her 72 crew and passengers sought refuge in the rigging that protruded above the waves. Three years later her second mate, William Mackay, published his Narrative of […] Read More
Filed under: Other (Eighteenth C) | Indian Ocean | Shipwrecks
Subjects include: Miscellaneous
Note: Lost and Found: the discovery of HMS Solebay at Nevis
The wreck of HMS Solebay off Nevis in 1782 was unidentified until an old chart was examined. The causes of the wreck are examined. Read More
Filed under: American Revolution | Caribbean | Shipwrecks
Subjects include: Battles & Tactics | Science & Exploration
Sub-Saharan Africa’s Oldest Shipwreck: Historical-Archaeological Research of an Early Modern-Era Portuguese Merchantman on the Namibian Coast
In 2008, a shipwreck was discovered at a Namibian diamond mine. Excavation of the remains and artefacts was carried out by archaeologists and mining personnel. The wreck was subsequently identified as the Portuguese merchantman, Bom Jesus, lost in 1533. These findings provide a wealth of information on shipping and trade between Europe, Africa and India […] Read More
Filed under: Atlantic | Other (Early Modern) | Shipwrecks
Subjects include: Historic Vessels, Museums & Restoration
Document: Lieutenant J.H.E. Hill’s Account of the Shipwreck of the Valke, 10 November 1799
The letter was written by Hill of the 23rd Regiment of Welch Fusiliers to the Duke of York, Commander-in-Chief of the expeditionary force to Den Helder. The account of the voyage of the Dutch frigate Valke gives a vivid record of a shipwreck in winter in the middle of the night in the cold, grey […] Read More
Filed under: North Sea | French Revolution | Shipwrecks
Subjects include: Navies
The Greek Sewn Shipbuilding Tradition and the Ma’agan Mikhael Ship: a Comparison with Mediterranean Parallels from the Sixth to the Fourth Centuries BC
The Ma’agan Mikhael ship was built with a wine-glass shaped, shell based hull, assembled with mortise and tennon joints, but with planking sewn to the stem and sternposts. The paper aims to place the construction methods of the Ma’agan Mikhael ship in the broader context of the development of Ancient Greek shipbuilding between the Sixth […] Read More
Filed under: Antiquity | Mediterranean | Shipwrecks
Subjects include: Archaeology | Shipbuilding & Design
East India Company Shipping Losses in the Late Eighteenth Century: the Case of the Henry Addington
The paper aims to illuminate one of the most serious operational problems faced by the East India Company, the physical and financial loss caused by shipwreck. The article takes the example of the wrecking of Henry Addington to shed light on the role of crewing and experience, pilotage and navigation in the operational problems of […] Read More
Filed under: English Channel | Other (Eighteenth C) | Shipwrecks | East India Company
Subjects include: Merchant Marines
Pyramidal Anchor Stone from Baga Waters of Goa, West Coast of India
Description of pyramidal anchor stone found off the coast of the city of Baga in Goa, a region susceptible to shipwrecks due to storms, hidden reefs and sand bars. The characteristics of the anchor stone are described, and whilst is does share some of the characteristics with Indo-Aran type stones, however, there are differences that […] Read More
Filed under: Antiquity | Indian Ocean | Shipwrecks
Subjects include: Archaeology
‘They All Got Off Except the Ship’: Captain Hastings and the Howe
This article begins with the early career of Captain Hastings, before explaining why he and his command were off Spain in 1982. The fact that the reef upon which Howe grounded was uncharted was accepted at the courtmartial, but her failure to turn as swiftly as the Royal Sovereign was the cause of her grounding. […] Read More
Filed under: Atlantic | Post WW2 | Shipwrecks
Subjects include: Biography | Navies | Ship Handling & Seamanship