Great Britain: Thames reveals forgotten wrecks ( 7 shipwrecks discovered, up to 350 years old)

The Evening Standard (U.K.) ^ | August 26, 2008

[Stoat]

Oldest find: HMS London, which sank in 1665, at the bottom of the Thames Estuary

 

A computer simulation of how the warship HMS London would have looked

 

The HMS Aisha was sunk in 1940 by a mine

 

SS Letchworth was sunk by the Luftwaffe in 1940

 

Dive, dive, dive: marine archaeologist Frank Pope led the research during which divers also found the SS Letchworth

[Stoat]

The operation was filmed for the BBC and took four months, using a dozen divers who used 3D survey equipment to locate the wrecks in near-zero visibility.

Frank Pope, the marine archaeologist who led the research, said: "This is the first time it's been done on this scale on the Thames, clearing to such depths - down to 16 metres - to get at ships this big."

[Army Air Corps]

Very interesting stuff. Thank you for posting this.

[SunkenCiv]

HMS London, the oldest wreck, found near Southend. It was collected by Charles II from Sweden during the Restoration. The 90-cannon warship was blown up accidentally in peacetime in 1665, just a year after its launch, killing 300 - but 24 people, including one woman, survived after being blown clear. Samuel Pepys wrote about the ship in his diary.

Interesting. A ship in, hmm, I think Sweden, exploded, probably in the 17th century but the memory is dim, and it had (I think) just one survivor. Lucky guy, he was blown sky-high, got an aerial view of the whole rest of the fleet floating at anchor, and wound up landing, basically safely, in the sail of another ship.

An unnamed Tudor Thames brick barge found close to HMS London.

I'll go out on a limb and suggest that this will be a pretty interesting wreck.

[SunkenCiv]

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[Stoat]

More on archaeology around the Thames

Historical Thames

Historical Thames

TODAY’S CULTURE TOMORROW’S HISTORY: Conserving and Promoting Historical and Cultural Resources

The importance of the Thames Estuary as the main water borne access for settles, invaders and traders is reflected in its rich historical and cultural resource.

Remains linked to commercial and economic growth can be found in coastal settlements, industrial sites reliant on transport by water, harbours and docks, ship and boat yards. The estuary's vulnerability to attack is reflected in its historic fortifications, such as Hadleigh Castle and Tilbury Fort. The diverse heritage resource includes both buried archaeological materials as well as those structures which are still visible today.

Ship rudders (probably 18th century) found at Shadwell:

The importance of the Thames as an archaeological resource is further enhanced by its 'waterlogged' environment. This is because it provides anaerobic (without oxygen) conditions which aid the preservation of organic materials, such as man-made, wooden or leather artefacts, or plant and insect remains. With every ebb and flow of the tide objects and structures, large and small, are uncovered. This includes the remains of prehistoric forests that grew more than 5,000 years ago and can still be seen on the foreshore at Erith.

In addition, sea-level rise means that a number of formerly dry land sites along the coastline have now become submerged, assisting the preservation of associated organic materials. It is important to remember that up to 10,000 years ago England was joined to the Continent and that the Thames was part of a single estuary system with the Rhine, the Meuse and the Scheldt. More recently the Southern North Sea has formed both a barrier and a highway between England and the Continent.

Archaeological remains are a unique and finite resource which, once destroyed, can never be replaced. Redevelopment for homes and factories, road-building and quarrying are all major threats. Constant ploughing gradually erodes archaeological sites while subsoiling has a more immediate impact. Dredging and maritime gravel extraction can remove sites in the river and estuary, while wave action and the scouring of the tides are an ever-present concern.

[Stoat]

Very interesting stuff. Thank you for posting this.

You're quite welcome, and thank you for your kind words  :-)

I'm delighted that you've found it to be worthwhile.

[Stoat]

(1915)

(1915)

(1840)

[Stoat]

Thanks Stoat.

You're welcome :-)

Thank you very much for pinging your list  :-)

 

[Beowulf9]

Hey, Frank Pope is a pretty good find on the Thames too! Looks like Harrison Ford.

[Stoat]

Hey, Frank Pope is a pretty good find on the Thames too! Looks like Harrison Ford.

Ummm...he actually looks quite a bit like me as well...

(striking gallant "seafaring archaeologist" pose)

There are ugly rumors going around about stoats having fleas and being "excessively scruffy" but those are all vicious lies.

[wolficatZ]

Greta underwater pics..will bookmark to study tomorrow...

“You’ve never seen the mouth of the Thames at night, have you?

It’s a scene from wonderland; houses like blobs of indigo fencing you in; ships drifting past like black ghosts in the misty air, and the purple sky above never so dark as the river, the river with its shifting lights of ruby and emerald and topaz, like an oily, opaque serpent gliding with a weird life of its own...”

Frank Harris

[DieHard the Hunter]

Way, way too cool for words! Why can’t there be these kinds of findings where I live!!!

Green with envy...

[Daaave]

I just wanted to add my thanks for this story and for posting the pictures also.

[Caipirabob]

Awesome. Just awesome. Love waking up to fill my head with knowledge, and not just the empty fluff escaping the mouths of politicians.

[leadhead]

Any sign of the Obama campaign down there?

[Beowulf9]

If you look like that then I forgot to mention even though I live in Phoenix I think you should dig in my back yard for buried treasures, heheh ;)

[Beowulf9]

That is beautiful. I’d love to see the Thames, and I hope they find some cool stuff on the Tudor ship. Right now reading Great Harry, fabulous book.

[wolficatZ]

I'll have to look up that book...been studying the Red Sands AA forts in the Thames estuary recently; I hope they are restored, they were in pretty good shape back in 60's when an episode of "Danger Man" I have was filmed there in the 60's, the walkways were still intact, now quite decrepit.

[Stoat]

If you look like that then I forgot to mention even though I live in Phoenix I think you should dig in my back yard for buried treasures, heheh ;)

<<<  gassing up the stoatmobile for a trip to Phoenix  :-)