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'I couldn't believe it': location of Captain Cook's HMB Endeavour finalised
It was early afternoon in September 2017 when Australian National Maritime Museum maritime archaeologist Dr James Hunter took his first dive on the shipwreck lying in 13 metres of murky water at Newport Harbour in Rhode Island. He was joined by two local divers from the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project (RIMAP). They were underwater for just 20 minutes. "We just went down and swam around," says Hunter. "I saw two cannons sitting on the seabed. The visibility wasn't great. We were looking at it for the first time and realised: 'Wow, there's a lot here.'" They were diving amongst a graveyard of British 18th-century transport ships scuttled by the British to blockade Newport Harbour in August 1778 during the American War of Independence. What they were looking at was the shipwreck RI 2394 - now positively identified by the Museum as HMB Endeavour (later renamed Lord Sandwich), the ship used by Lieutenant James Cook on his discovery of Australia in 1770. Their findings are part of the Australian National Maritime Museum's final 126-page report, Locating HMB Endeavour, into the 25-year journey to positively identify the ship's resting place Authors Kieran Hosty and James Hunter state: "This report outlines the archival and archaeological evidence that confirms the identification of the shipwreck site of Lord Sandwich, formerly HMB Endeavour... and at the same time discounts any of the other investigated shipwreck sites as that of James Cook's renowned ship of exploration." READ MORE: Let's not cancel Captain Cook: what history tells us of the great navigator Ms Daryl Karp AM, director and CEO of the museum, said, "This Final Report is the culmination of 25 years of detailed and meticulous archaeological study on this important vessel. "It has involved underwater investigation in the US and extensive research in institutions across the globe. This Final Report marks our definitive statement on the project." The positive identification was based on a 'preponderance of evidence' approach. An agreement between RIMAP and the Sydney Museum established 10 key criteria needed to positively identify the wreck. The museum is now satisfied that those criteria match Cook's ship, launched in Whitby, North Yorkshire in 1764, originally named the Earl of Pembroke. Work by the museum positively identified the precise part of the ship on which they were diving and led them to identify the stump of a pump shaft used to pump water out of the bottom of the hull. Hunter said: "RIMAP maintained that all ships scuttled prior to the Battle of Rhode Island had their bows facing north, but notes that didn't make sense because of prevailing southerly winds and swell that are characteristic of Newport Harbour in August. They would have been easier to prepare for scuttling with their bows facing south into the wind and waves. "I'd acquired high-resolution scans of the Endeavour plans from 1768. I superimposed them over my site plan with the bow facing north, but it didn't work. So, I swung the site plan around in Photoshop, and multiple hull features lined up. I couldn't believe it." Dr Kathy Abbas, however, one of two principal investigators at RIMAP, refuses to acknowledge that the ship is Endeavour. Her report, released last November, states: "Some details are consistent with the possibility that she could be HMB Endeavour, but there has been nothing found to refute or confirm the identification of this site as that iconic vessel." The impasse, Hunter says, is delaying further research. He suggests bringing one of the ship's cannons to the surface to compare it with one jettisoned by Cook when he ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef in June 1770 (now on display at the Museum). Endeavour originally had 10 four-pounder cannons. Six in total were abandoned to raise the ship in the water when it grounded and there are four lying inside the surviving lower hull. It is, however, possible the cannons were changed as the ship was later deployed in different roles. "RIMAP has always had the concept that you have to find an artifact with a name on it or something compelling like a ship's bell," says Hunter. RIMAP is looking for a 'gold nugget' artefact. "They have the gold nugget artefact. It's the hull. But they're still not over the line. They're still not saying: 'Yeah, you guys have got it right.'" Marine archaeologist Nigel Erskine, former museum archaeologist who first dived on the wrecks in Rhode Island in 2004, is convinced the identification is correct. He said of Dr Abbas: "She wants something, a bit like Shackleton's vessel [Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton's ship Endurance was found in 2022] with great preservation and the name still intact across the stern, you couldn't miss it. But that's not the case with this vessel, or any of the others there in Rhode Island." Report co-author Kieran Hosty said preservation of the site remained a priority. "The development of a conservation management plan in association with the state authorities regarding management of the site would be a good move." He said he had great respect for Dr Abbas as a historian. "Dr Abbas has done some amazing work in Newport on the shipwrecks there," he said. "But I think she's incorrect in her premise that it's not the Endeavour." Daryl Karp added: "We want to acknowledge the work of the museum's archaeological team over the past 25 years, the work of Dr Kathy Abass in Rhode Island, the Rhode Island authorities, and the many subject specialists who have provided expert information and guidance over the years." The writer is a contractor for the Australian Maritime Museum It was early afternoon in September 2017 when Australian National Maritime Museum maritime archaeologist Dr James Hunter took his first dive on the shipwreck lying in 13 metres of murky water at Newport Harbour in Rhode Island. He was joined by two local divers from the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project (RIMAP). They were underwater for just 20 minutes. "We just went down and swam around," says Hunter. "I saw two cannons sitting on the seabed. The visibility wasn't great. We were looking at it for the first time and realised: 'Wow, there's a lot here.'" They were diving amongst a graveyard of British 18th-century transport ships scuttled by the British to blockade Newport Harbour in August 1778 during the American War of Independence. What they were looking at was the shipwreck RI 2394 - now positively identified by the Museum as HMB Endeavour (later renamed Lord Sandwich), the ship used by Lieutenant James Cook on his discovery of Australia in 1770. Their findings are part of the Australian National Maritime Museum's final 126-page report, Locating HMB Endeavour, into the 25-year journey to positively identify the ship's resting place Authors Kieran Hosty and James Hunter state: "This report outlines the archival and archaeological evidence that confirms the identification of the shipwreck site of Lord Sandwich, formerly HMB Endeavour... and at the same time discounts any of the other investigated shipwreck sites as that of James Cook's renowned ship of exploration." READ MORE: Let's not cancel Captain Cook: what history tells us of the great navigator Ms Daryl Karp AM, director and CEO of the museum, said, "This Final Report is the culmination of 25 years of detailed and meticulous archaeological study on this important vessel. "It has involved underwater investigation in the US and extensive research in institutions across the globe. This Final Report marks our definitive statement on the project." The positive identification was based on a 'preponderance of evidence' approach. An agreement between RIMAP and the Sydney Museum established 10 key criteria needed to positively identify the wreck. The museum is now satisfied that those criteria match Cook's ship, launched in Whitby, North Yorkshire in 1764, originally named the Earl of Pembroke. Work by the museum positively identified the precise part of the ship on which they were diving and led them to identify the stump of a pump shaft used to pump water out of the bottom of the hull. Hunter said: "RIMAP maintained that all ships scuttled prior to the Battle of Rhode Island had their bows facing north, but notes that didn't make sense because of prevailing southerly winds and swell that are characteristic of Newport Harbour in August. They would have been easier to prepare for scuttling with their bows facing south into the wind and waves. "I'd acquired high-resolution scans of the Endeavour plans from 1768. I superimposed them over my site plan with the bow facing north, but it didn't work. So, I swung the site plan around in Photoshop, and multiple hull features lined up. I couldn't believe it." Dr Kathy Abbas, however, one of two principal investigators at RIMAP, refuses to acknowledge that the ship is Endeavour. Her report, released last November, states: "Some details are consistent with the possibility that she could be HMB Endeavour, but there has been nothing found to refute or confirm the identification of this site as that iconic vessel." The impasse, Hunter says, is delaying further research. He suggests bringing one of the ship's cannons to the surface to compare it with one jettisoned by Cook when he ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef in June 1770 (now on display at the Museum). Endeavour originally had 10 four-pounder cannons. Six in total were abandoned to raise the ship in the water when it grounded and there are four lying inside the surviving lower hull. It is, however, possible the cannons were changed as the ship was later deployed in different roles. "RIMAP has always had the concept that you have to find an artifact with a name on it or something compelling like a ship's bell," says Hunter. RIMAP is looking for a 'gold nugget' artefact. "They have the gold nugget artefact. It's the hull. But they're still not over the line. They're still not saying: 'Yeah, you guys have got it right.'" Marine archaeologist Nigel Erskine, former museum archaeologist who first dived on the wrecks in Rhode Island in 2004, is convinced the identification is correct. He said of Dr Abbas: "She wants something, a bit like Shackleton's vessel [Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton's ship Endurance was found in 2022] with great preservation and the name still intact across the stern, you couldn't miss it. But that's not the case with this vessel, or any of the others there in Rhode Island." Report co-author Kieran Hosty said preservation of the site remained a priority. "The development of a conservation management plan in association with the state authorities regarding management of the site would be a good move." He said he had great respect for Dr Abbas as a historian. "Dr Abbas has done some amazing work in Newport on the shipwrecks there," he said. "But I think she's incorrect in her premise that it's not the Endeavour." Daryl Karp added: "We want to acknowledge the work of the museum's archaeological team over the past 25 years, the work of Dr Kathy Abass in Rhode Island, the Rhode Island authorities, and the many subject specialists who have provided expert information and guidance over the years." The writer is a contractor for the Australian Maritime Museum It was early afternoon in September 2017 when Australian National Maritime Museum maritime archaeologist Dr James Hunter took his first dive on the shipwreck lying in 13 metres of murky water at Newport Harbour in Rhode Island. He was joined by two local divers from the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project (RIMAP). They were underwater for just 20 minutes. "We just went down and swam around," says Hunter. "I saw two cannons sitting on the seabed. The visibility wasn't great. We were looking at it for the first time and realised: 'Wow, there's a lot here.'" They were diving amongst a graveyard of British 18th-century transport ships scuttled by the British to blockade Newport Harbour in August 1778 during the American War of Independence. What they were looking at was the shipwreck RI 2394 - now positively identified by the Museum as HMB Endeavour (later renamed Lord Sandwich), the ship used by Lieutenant James Cook on his discovery of Australia in 1770. Their findings are part of the Australian National Maritime Museum's final 126-page report, Locating HMB Endeavour, into the 25-year journey to positively identify the ship's resting place Authors Kieran Hosty and James Hunter state: "This report outlines the archival and archaeological evidence that confirms the identification of the shipwreck site of Lord Sandwich, formerly HMB Endeavour... and at the same time discounts any of the other investigated shipwreck sites as that of James Cook's renowned ship of exploration." READ MORE: Let's not cancel Captain Cook: what history tells us of the great navigator Ms Daryl Karp AM, director and CEO of the museum, said, "This Final Report is the culmination of 25 years of detailed and meticulous archaeological study on this important vessel. "It has involved underwater investigation in the US and extensive research in institutions across the globe. This Final Report marks our definitive statement on the project." The positive identification was based on a 'preponderance of evidence' approach. An agreement between RIMAP and the Sydney Museum established 10 key criteria needed to positively identify the wreck. The museum is now satisfied that those criteria match Cook's ship, launched in Whitby, North Yorkshire in 1764, originally named the Earl of Pembroke. Work by the museum positively identified the precise part of the ship on which they were diving and led them to identify the stump of a pump shaft used to pump water out of the bottom of the hull. Hunter said: "RIMAP maintained that all ships scuttled prior to the Battle of Rhode Island had their bows facing north, but notes that didn't make sense because of prevailing southerly winds and swell that are characteristic of Newport Harbour in August. They would have been easier to prepare for scuttling with their bows facing south into the wind and waves. "I'd acquired high-resolution scans of the Endeavour plans from 1768. I superimposed them over my site plan with the bow facing north, but it didn't work. So, I swung the site plan around in Photoshop, and multiple hull features lined up. I couldn't believe it." Dr Kathy Abbas, however, one of two principal investigators at RIMAP, refuses to acknowledge that the ship is Endeavour. Her report, released last November, states: "Some details are consistent with the possibility that she could be HMB Endeavour, but there has been nothing found to refute or confirm the identification of this site as that iconic vessel." The impasse, Hunter says, is delaying further research. He suggests bringing one of the ship's cannons to the surface to compare it with one jettisoned by Cook when he ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef in June 1770 (now on display at the Museum). Endeavour originally had 10 four-pounder cannons. Six in total were abandoned to raise the ship in the water when it grounded and there are four lying inside the surviving lower hull. It is, however, possible the cannons were changed as the ship was later deployed in different roles. "RIMAP has always had the concept that you have to find an artifact with a name on it or something compelling like a ship's bell," says Hunter. RIMAP is looking for a 'gold nugget' artefact. "They have the gold nugget artefact. It's the hull. But they're still not over the line. They're still not saying: 'Yeah, you guys have got it right.'" Marine archaeologist Nigel Erskine, former museum archaeologist who first dived on the wrecks in Rhode Island in 2004, is convinced the identification is correct. He said of Dr Abbas: "She wants something, a bit like Shackleton's vessel [Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton's ship Endurance was found in 2022] with great preservation and the name still intact across the stern, you couldn't miss it. But that's not the case with this vessel, or any of the others there in Rhode Island." Report co-author Kieran Hosty said preservation of the site remained a priority. "The development of a conservation management plan in association with the state authorities regarding management of the site would be a good move." He said he had great respect for Dr Abbas as a historian. "Dr Abbas has done some amazing work in Newport on the shipwrecks there," he said. "But I think she's incorrect in her premise that it's not the Endeavour." Daryl Karp added: "We want to acknowledge the work of the museum's archaeological team over the past 25 years, the work of Dr Kathy Abass in Rhode Island, the Rhode Island authorities, and the many subject specialists who have provided expert information and guidance over the years." The writer is a contractor for the Australian Maritime Museum It was early afternoon in September 2017 when Australian National Maritime Museum maritime archaeologist Dr James Hunter took his first dive on the shipwreck lying in 13 metres of murky water at Newport Harbour in Rhode Island. He was joined by two local divers from the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project (RIMAP). They were underwater for just 20 minutes. "We just went down and swam around," says Hunter. "I saw two cannons sitting on the seabed. The visibility wasn't great. We were looking at it for the first time and realised: 'Wow, there's a lot here.'" They were diving amongst a graveyard of British 18th-century transport ships scuttled by the British to blockade Newport Harbour in August 1778 during the American War of Independence. What they were looking at was the shipwreck RI 2394 - now positively identified by the Museum as HMB Endeavour (later renamed Lord Sandwich), the ship used by Lieutenant James Cook on his discovery of Australia in 1770. Their findings are part of the Australian National Maritime Museum's final 126-page report, Locating HMB Endeavour, into the 25-year journey to positively identify the ship's resting place Authors Kieran Hosty and James Hunter state: "This report outlines the archival and archaeological evidence that confirms the identification of the shipwreck site of Lord Sandwich, formerly HMB Endeavour... and at the same time discounts any of the other investigated shipwreck sites as that of James Cook's renowned ship of exploration." READ MORE: Let's not cancel Captain Cook: what history tells us of the great navigator Ms Daryl Karp AM, director and CEO of the museum, said, "This Final Report is the culmination of 25 years of detailed and meticulous archaeological study on this important vessel. "It has involved underwater investigation in the US and extensive research in institutions across the globe. This Final Report marks our definitive statement on the project." The positive identification was based on a 'preponderance of evidence' approach. An agreement between RIMAP and the Sydney Museum established 10 key criteria needed to positively identify the wreck. The museum is now satisfied that those criteria match Cook's ship, launched in Whitby, North Yorkshire in 1764, originally named the Earl of Pembroke. Work by the museum positively identified the precise part of the ship on which they were diving and led them to identify the stump of a pump shaft used to pump water out of the bottom of the hull. Hunter said: "RIMAP maintained that all ships scuttled prior to the Battle of Rhode Island had their bows facing north, but notes that didn't make sense because of prevailing southerly winds and swell that are characteristic of Newport Harbour in August. They would have been easier to prepare for scuttling with their bows facing south into the wind and waves. "I'd acquired high-resolution scans of the Endeavour plans from 1768. I superimposed them over my site plan with the bow facing north, but it didn't work. So, I swung the site plan around in Photoshop, and multiple hull features lined up. I couldn't believe it." Dr Kathy Abbas, however, one of two principal investigators at RIMAP, refuses to acknowledge that the ship is Endeavour. Her report, released last November, states: "Some details are consistent with the possibility that she could be HMB Endeavour, but there has been nothing found to refute or confirm the identification of this site as that iconic vessel." The impasse, Hunter says, is delaying further research. He suggests bringing one of the ship's cannons to the surface to compare it with one jettisoned by Cook when he ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef in June 1770 (now on display at the Museum). Endeavour originally had 10 four-pounder cannons. Six in total were abandoned to raise the ship in the water when it grounded and there are four lying inside the surviving lower hull. It is, however, possible the cannons were changed as the ship was later deployed in different roles. "RIMAP has always had the concept that you have to find an artifact with a name on it or something compelling like a ship's bell," says Hunter. RIMAP is looking for a 'gold nugget' artefact. "They have the gold nugget artefact. It's the hull. But they're still not over the line. They're still not saying: 'Yeah, you guys have got it right.'" Marine archaeologist Nigel Erskine, former museum archaeologist who first dived on the wrecks in Rhode Island in 2004, is convinced the identification is correct. He said of Dr Abbas: "She wants something, a bit like Shackleton's vessel [Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton's ship Endurance was found in 2022] with great preservation and the name still intact across the stern, you couldn't miss it. But that's not the case with this vessel, or any of the others there in Rhode Island." Report co-author Kieran Hosty said preservation of the site remained a priority. "The development of a conservation management plan in association with the state authorities regarding management of the site would be a good move." He said he had great respect for Dr Abbas as a historian. "Dr Abbas has done some amazing work in Newport on the shipwrecks there," he said. "But I think she's incorrect in her premise that it's not the Endeavour." Daryl Karp added: "We want to acknowledge the work of the museum's archaeological team over the past 25 years, the work of Dr Kathy Abass in Rhode Island, the Rhode Island authorities, and the many subject specialists who have provided expert information and guidance over the years." The writer is a contractor for the Australian Maritime Museum
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
19th century shipwreck discovered off Australian coast highlights gold rush history
Sign up for CNN's Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. (CNN) — Beneath the rough waters of South Australia's coast, marine archaeologists say they have discovered the lost Dutch merchant vessel Koning Willem de Tweede, which sank nearly 170 years ago. The wreck captures a tragic moment in maritime history during the 19th century Australian gold rushes. The 800-ton sailing ship was beginning its journey back to the Netherlands in June 1857 when a severe storm capsized the vessel near the port town of Robe, according to a news release by the Australian National Maritime Museum. Two-thirds of the crew drowned. Just days before, 400 Chinese migrants headed for gold mines in Victoria disembarked from the ship. The crew transported the laborers as a 'side hustle' for extra money, according to James Hunter, the museum's acting manager of maritime archaeology. The practice was a common but questionably legal voyage at the time, he said. While the captain lived to tell the tale and litigate his losses, the bodies of his crew members remain lost in the sand dunes of Long Beach. However, on March 10, after three years of searching for the site of the wreck, a team of divers supported by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Netherlands' Cultural Heritage Agency spotted what they say is the sunken vessel. 'There's always a little bit of luck in what we do,' said Hunter, who was the first diver to see the ship underwater. 'The sand had just uncovered just a little bit of that shipwreck so that we could see it and actually put our hand on it and say 'we've finally got it.'' The expedition team members say they are confident they've found the Koning Willem de Tweede based on its location, which matches historic accounts of the wreck, and the length of the metal pieces detected, which matches the vessel's documented length of 140 feet (43 meters). Pieces of a 19th century Chinese ceramic were also found in 2023 on the beach near the wreck site. 'Ships were important and expensive, so they were often well-documented,' said Patrick Morrison, a maritime archaeologist at the University of Western Australia who was not involved in the finding. 'So when material is found, it can be matched to accounts of the sinking and the ship's construction, like size, materials and fittings.' Now, the museum, which partnered with the Silentworld Foundation, South Australia's Department for Environment and Water, and Flinders University in Adelaide, will search for, recover and preserve artifacts from the wreckage that could reveal more details about 19th century shipbuilding, the crew and its passengers. Due to its long history as a global maritime trading mecca, Australia is a hot spot for shipwrecks, with an estimated 8,000 sunken ships and aircraft lying near its coasts. Some of the ships date to the 1700s, when colonization first began, according to the Australian government's Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. The discovery of gold mines in Victoria sparked a migration of Chinese laborers in the 1850s, leading the Victorian government to levy a £10 tax, worth over $1,300 (£1,000) today, on every migrant who entered its port, according to the Dutch Australian Cultural Centre. To avoid this tax, agents in China would often pay for European merchant vessels to transport the migrants to other Australian ports, according to the National Museum of Australia. Upon arrival, the migrants were met with discriminatory treatment, and many were not successful in the mines, still owing a large portion of their earnings back to the agents. The Koning Willem de Tweede was meant to do trading between the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies, a former colony that's now Indonesia. However, just before returning home, the crew picked up the Chinese migrants from Hong Kong and dropped them off at Robe, a community about 365 miles (400 kilometers) west of the main ports in Victoria, from which the migrants trekked overland to the gold mines, Hunter said. To this day, it's unclear from the police reports, crew accounts and court records whether this voyage was sanctioned by the ship's owner. What is clear, however, is the community of Robe's storied dedication to answering questions about the wreck and the lost crew members, he added. As massive waves battered the ship to pieces, an Indigenous Australian man on land attempted to swim a rope out to the ship to save the captain but just couldn't make it in the surge, Hunter recounted. 'So the captain wound a line around a little barrel, and he threw it into the water, and the townspeople who had gathered on the beach grabbed the line and pulled him through the surge and he survived.' If the bodies of the crew members are recovered, Hunter said the Robe community will likely create a proper burial place for them. 'Shipwrecks reveal Australia's long-standing maritime connections with the rest of the world, connections reflected in our towns and cities today,' Morrison said. 'I hear the team is planning to return. I'm sure each visit will reveal a new part of the story.' It's still too early to tell, but Hunter said most of the ship's hull structure appears to be intact beneath layers of sand. Using metal detectors and magnetometers, the team was able to locate large bits of steel and iron protruding from the seafloor that turned out to be parts of the frame and windlass, the machine used to reel in the anchor. Long planks of wood thought to be from the upper deck of the ship lie nearby, Hunter said. '(The hull) could teach us a lot about how these ships were built and how they were designed, because with that sort of information, there's not a lot of detail in the historical record,' Hunter said. Since the Koning Willem de Tweede sank hundreds of yards from the shore, the crew was not able to go back and recover their personal items, so it's possible the researchers could find coins, bottles, broken pottery, weapons and tools, according to Hunter. Items recovered from the shipwreck must be retrieved carefully so they don't immediately disintegrate upon reaching the surface, said Heather Berry, a maritime archaeological conservator for the Silentworld Foundation, in an email. 'As always, shipwrecks rarely occur in calm waters,' Berry said. 'The surge on the site is such that often you have to hold on to something sturdy to keep from being swept away, so we would need to ensure we don't accidentally grasp on to something fragile.' The recovered artifacts are placed into tubs full of seawater that are then gradually desalinated to reduce the corrosive effects of salt upon drying.
CNN
16-05-2025
- General
- CNN
19th century shipwreck discovered off Australian coast highlights gold rush history
(CNN) — Beneath the rough waters of South Australia's coast, marine archaeologists say they have discovered the lost Dutch merchant vessel Koning Willem de Tweede, which sank nearly 170 years ago. The wreck captures a tragic moment in maritime history during the 19th century Australian gold rushes. The 800-ton sailing ship was beginning its journey back to the Netherlands in June 1857 when a severe storm capsized the vessel near the port town of Robe, according to a news release by the Australian National Maritime Museum. Two-thirds of the crew drowned. Just days before, 400 Chinese migrants headed for gold mines in Victoria disembarked from the ship. The crew transported the laborers as a 'side hustle' for extra money, according to James Hunter, the museum's acting manager of maritime archaeology. The practice was a common but questionably legal voyage at the time, he said. While the captain lived to tell the tale and litigate his losses, the bodies of his crew members remain lost in the sand dunes of Long Beach. However, on March 10, after three years of searching for the site of the wreck, a team of divers supported by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Netherlands' Cultural Heritage Agency spotted what they say is the sunken vessel. 'There's always a little bit of luck in what we do,' said Hunter, who was the first diver to see the ship underwater. 'The sand had just uncovered just a little bit of that shipwreck so that we could see it and actually put our hand on it and say 'we've finally got it.'' The expedition team members say they are confident they've found the Koning Willem de Tweede based on its location, which matches historic accounts of the wreck, and the length of the metal pieces detected, which matches the vessel's documented length of 140 feet (43 meters). Pieces of a 19th century Chinese ceramic were also found in 2023 on the beach near the wreck site. 'Ships were important and expensive, so they were often well-documented,' said Patrick Morrison, a maritime archaeologist at the University of Western Australia who was not involved in the finding. 'So when material is found, it can be matched to accounts of the sinking and the ship's construction, like size, materials and fittings.' Now, the museum, which partnered with the Silentworld Foundation, South Australia's Department for Environment and Water, and Flinders University in Adelaide, will search for, recover and preserve artifacts from the wreckage that could reveal more details about 19th century shipbuilding, the crew and its passengers. Due to its long history as a global maritime trading mecca, Australia is a hot spot for shipwrecks, with an estimated 8,000 sunken ships and aircraft lying near its coasts. Some of the ships date to the 1700s, when colonization first began, according to the Australian government's Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. The discovery of gold mines in Victoria sparked a migration of Chinese laborers in the 1850s, leading the Victorian government to levy a £10 tax, worth over $1,300 (£1,000) today, on every migrant who entered its port, according to the Dutch Australian Cultural Centre. To avoid this tax, agents in China would often pay for European merchant vessels to transport the migrants to other Australian ports, according to the National Museum of Australia. Upon arrival, the migrants were met with discriminatory treatment, and many were not successful in the mines, still owing a large portion of their earnings back to the agents. The Koning Willem de Tweede was meant to do trading between the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies, a former colony that's now Indonesia. However, just before returning home, the crew picked up the Chinese migrants from Hong Kong and dropped them off at Robe, a community about 365 miles (400 kilometers) west of the main ports in Victoria, from which the migrants trekked overland to the gold mines, Hunter said. To this day, it's unclear from the police reports, crew accounts and court records whether this voyage was sanctioned by the ship's owner. What is clear, however, is the community of Robe's storied dedication to answering questions about the wreck and the lost crew members, he added. As massive waves battered the ship to pieces, an Indigenous Australian man on land attempted to swim a rope out to the ship to save the captain but just couldn't make it in the surge, Hunter recounted. 'So the captain wound a line around a little barrel, and he threw it into the water, and the townspeople who had gathered on the beach grabbed the line and pulled him through the surge and he survived.' If the bodies of the crew members are recovered, Hunter said the Robe community will likely create a proper burial place for them. 'Shipwrecks reveal Australia's long-standing maritime connections with the rest of the world, connections reflected in our towns and cities today,' Morrison said. 'I hear the team is planning to return. I'm sure each visit will reveal a new part of the story.' It's still too early to tell, but Hunter said most of the ship's hull structure appears to be intact beneath layers of sand. Using metal detectors and magnetometers, the team was able to locate large bits of steel and iron protruding from the seafloor that turned out to be parts of the frame and windlass, the machine used to reel in the anchor. Long planks of wood thought to be from the upper deck of the ship lie nearby, Hunter said. '(The hull) could teach us a lot about how these ships were built and how they were designed, because with that sort of information, there's not a lot of detail in the historical record,' Hunter said. Since the Koning Willem de Tweede sank hundreds of yards from the shore, the crew was not able to go back and recover their personal items, so it's possible the researchers could find coins, bottles, broken pottery, weapons and tools, according to Hunter. Items recovered from the shipwreck must be retrieved carefully so they don't immediately disintegrate upon reaching the surface, said Heather Berry, a maritime archaeological conservator for the Silentworld Foundation, in an email. 'As always, shipwrecks rarely occur in calm waters,' Berry said. 'The surge on the site is such that often you have to hold on to something sturdy to keep from being swept away, so we would need to ensure we don't accidentally grasp on to something fragile.' The recovered artifacts are placed into tubs full of seawater that are then gradually desalinated to reduce the corrosive effects of salt upon drying.
CNN
16-05-2025
- General
- CNN
19th century shipwreck discovered off Australian coast highlights gold rush history
(CNN) — Beneath the rough waters of South Australia's coast, marine archaeologists say they have discovered the lost Dutch merchant vessel Koning Willem de Tweede, which sank nearly 170 years ago. The wreck captures a tragic moment in maritime history during the 19th century Australian gold rushes. The 800-ton sailing ship was beginning its journey back to the Netherlands in June 1857 when a severe storm capsized the vessel near the port town of Robe, according to a news release by the Australian National Maritime Museum. Two-thirds of the crew drowned. Just days before, 400 Chinese migrants headed for gold mines in Victoria disembarked from the ship. The crew transported the laborers as a 'side hustle' for extra money, according to James Hunter, the museum's acting manager of maritime archaeology. The practice was a common but questionably legal voyage at the time, he said. While the captain lived to tell the tale and litigate his losses, the bodies of his crew members remain lost in the sand dunes of Long Beach. However, on March 10, after three years of searching for the site of the wreck, a team of divers supported by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Netherlands' Cultural Heritage Agency spotted what they say is the sunken vessel. 'There's always a little bit of luck in what we do,' said Hunter, who was the first diver to see the ship underwater. 'The sand had just uncovered just a little bit of that shipwreck so that we could see it and actually put our hand on it and say 'we've finally got it.'' The expedition team members say they are confident they've found the Koning Willem de Tweede based on its location, which matches historic accounts of the wreck, and the length of the metal pieces detected, which matches the vessel's documented length of 140 feet (43 meters). Pieces of a 19th century Chinese ceramic were also found in 2023 on the beach near the wreck site. 'Ships were important and expensive, so they were often well-documented,' said Patrick Morrison, a maritime archaeologist at the University of Western Australia who was not involved in the finding. 'So when material is found, it can be matched to accounts of the sinking and the ship's construction, like size, materials and fittings.' Now, the museum, which partnered with the Silentworld Foundation, South Australia's Department for Environment and Water, and Flinders University in Adelaide, will search for, recover and preserve artifacts from the wreckage that could reveal more details about 19th century shipbuilding, the crew and its passengers. Due to its long history as a global maritime trading mecca, Australia is a hot spot for shipwrecks, with an estimated 8,000 sunken ships and aircraft lying near its coasts. Some of the ships date to the 1700s, when colonization first began, according to the Australian government's Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. The discovery of gold mines in Victoria sparked a migration of Chinese laborers in the 1850s, leading the Victorian government to levy a £10 tax, worth over $1,300 (£1,000) today, on every migrant who entered its port, according to the Dutch Australian Cultural Centre. To avoid this tax, agents in China would often pay for European merchant vessels to transport the migrants to other Australian ports, according to the National Museum of Australia. Upon arrival, the migrants were met with discriminatory treatment, and many were not successful in the mines, still owing a large portion of their earnings back to the agents. The Koning Willem de Tweede was meant to do trading between the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies, a former colony that's now Indonesia. However, just before returning home, the crew picked up the Chinese migrants from Hong Kong and dropped them off at Robe, a community about 365 miles (400 kilometers) west of the main ports in Victoria, from which the migrants trekked overland to the gold mines, Hunter said. To this day, it's unclear from the police reports, crew accounts and court records whether this voyage was sanctioned by the ship's owner. What is clear, however, is the community of Robe's storied dedication to answering questions about the wreck and the lost crew members, he added. As massive waves battered the ship to pieces, an Indigenous Australian man on land attempted to swim a rope out to the ship to save the captain but just couldn't make it in the surge, Hunter recounted. 'So the captain wound a line around a little barrel, and he threw it into the water, and the townspeople who had gathered on the beach grabbed the line and pulled him through the surge and he survived.' If the bodies of the crew members are recovered, Hunter said the Robe community will likely create a proper burial place for them. 'Shipwrecks reveal Australia's long-standing maritime connections with the rest of the world, connections reflected in our towns and cities today,' Morrison said. 'I hear the team is planning to return. I'm sure each visit will reveal a new part of the story.' It's still too early to tell, but Hunter said most of the ship's hull structure appears to be intact beneath layers of sand. Using metal detectors and magnetometers, the team was able to locate large bits of steel and iron protruding from the seafloor that turned out to be parts of the frame and windlass, the machine used to reel in the anchor. Long planks of wood thought to be from the upper deck of the ship lie nearby, Hunter said. '(The hull) could teach us a lot about how these ships were built and how they were designed, because with that sort of information, there's not a lot of detail in the historical record,' Hunter said. Since the Koning Willem de Tweede sank hundreds of yards from the shore, the crew was not able to go back and recover their personal items, so it's possible the researchers could find coins, bottles, broken pottery, weapons and tools, according to Hunter. Items recovered from the shipwreck must be retrieved carefully so they don't immediately disintegrate upon reaching the surface, said Heather Berry, a maritime archaeological conservator for the Silentworld Foundation, in an email. 'As always, shipwrecks rarely occur in calm waters,' Berry said. 'The surge on the site is such that often you have to hold on to something sturdy to keep from being swept away, so we would need to ensure we don't accidentally grasp on to something fragile.' The recovered artifacts are placed into tubs full of seawater that are then gradually desalinated to reduce the corrosive effects of salt upon drying.
Scottish Sun
11-05-2025
- General
- Scottish Sun
Lost wreckage of 800-tonne Dutch merchant ship which sunk 168 years ago killing 16 crew is found by archaeologists
The groundbreaking find was difficult locate due to 'sand blizzards' GHOST SHIP UNEARTHED Lost wreckage of 800-tonne Dutch merchant ship which sunk 168 years ago killing 16 crew is found by archaeologists Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) ARCHAEOLOGISTS have made a "significant discovery" after finding a historic 800-tonne Dutch merchant ship which sunk 168 years ago. The Koning Willem de Tweede sunk off the coast of Robe, Australia in June 1857 - killing 16 of its 25 crew members in the deadly plunge. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 3 Researchers have discovered a 'significant' shipwreck Credit: Australian National Maritime Museum 3 The Koning Willem de Tweede set sail in Guichen Bay in Robe, before it sank Credit: Eric van Straaten/Australian National Maritime Museum 3 Wreckage of 800-ton ship found after its deadly sinking well over a century ago Credit: Australian National Maritime Museum The groundbreaking find was announced by the Australian National Maritime Museum and the SilentWorld Foundation after a gruelling four-year search. The museum said that the breakthrough discovery "connects us to stories of trade and migration, having discharged over 400 Chinese miners just days before its sinking". The merchant ship used to transport Chinese migrants to South Australia, who then walked to Victoria's Goldfields to live and work. And the tragic sinking unfolded just days after hundreds of Chinese workers had disembarked from the vessel. The 140-foot ship set sail in Guichen Bay, before it shockingly disappeared into the depths of the ocean. Experts say the shipwreck helps tell the story of Chinese migration through the South of the country during the Victorian gold rush. This prosperous era between 1851 and the late 1860s was marked by an influx of money and population growth due to many people seeking fortunes. Spokesperson for the Australian National Maritime Museum, James Hunter, told Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC) that archaeologists had uncovered several components of the ship. He said that they had located the ship's windlass - which is a device that raises and lowers equipment to the ship sticking out of the seabed. The spokesperson said: "We looked at things like the depth of the ship — the draught — and we've looked at the water depth it's sitting in, and that all seems to line up really well." He also said that researchers found a "magnetic anomaly", about the same length as the 140-foot ship. Incredible 3D scan of Titanic shipwreck reveals TRUE story of its final hours The museum praised the SilentWorld Foundation in collaboration with South Australia's Department for Environment and Water and Flinders University for making the find. They hailed it as a "significant discovery" and added that "future monitoring visits are planned to further assess the site and uncover more of this important piece of maritime history". SilentWorld said the discovery could not have been possible without hard work. The project to locate the ship lasted several years. They described visibility in the sea as "challenging", and added that teamwork with the department led to the "incredible" find. Their search was hampered by "sand blizzards". Hunter told ABC the ship may have run aground on the seabed and was eventually buried by sand. Their team believed they had found the wreckage three years earlier, but Hunter said the sand made identification difficult. The research team are planning to return to the site, hoping to find more of the wreckage intact. The incredible find comes after an iconic wooden car was discovered in the wreckage of the famed US warship, downed by a Japanese submarine during WWII. Historians were baffled as to why the 1940-41 black Ford Super Deluxe Woody was aboard the aircraft carrier - now 16,650 feet below the surface. And in February, the terrifying last moments of the tragic ship dubbed the "Greek Titanic" were revealed after new images captured the ghostly remains of her wreck. The Heimara sank on January 19, 1947, after hitting an islet in the South Euboean Gulf - killing 400 people in Greece's deadliest-ever boating disaster. New research revealed the horror of her final moments, as well as artifacts from the wreck - frozen in time for nearly 80 years. Among the relics were the shoes of the dead, some of them children's, as well as paper items and letters from the ship's nameplate.
