Baltic Sea:- 500 year old preserved shipwrecked boat found

[Br.IanVonTurpie]

A 500-year-old ship in "pristine" condition that dates back to the time of Leonardo da Vinci and Christopher Columbus has been found in the Baltic Sea

https://www.news.com.au/travel/world-travel/europe/mystery-pristine-500-year-old-ship-found-on-seabed/news-story/9a0d6e9fc5f5913101a010a6393f84eb

https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/travel/world/europe/mystery-pristine-500-year-old-ship-found-on-seabed/news-story/9a0d6e9fc5f5913101a010a6393f84eb

The astonishingly well-preserved ship is so intact even after five centuries at the bottom of the sea, it looks "almost like it sank yesterday".

Thanks to the cold, brackish waters of the Baltic, the wooden ship has retained its hull structure, all of its masts and its swivel guns are still in place on the deck

Archaeologists have estimated the ship dating from between the late 15th and early 16th centuries and described it as a "rare and astonishing" find, Southampton University reported.

This means it would predate English monarch King Henry VIII's Mary Rose, which sailed in the English Tudor navy in wars against France and Scotland between 1510 and 1545

Acknowledged as a rare find, the ship also predates larger and more powerful vessels sunk during the Northern Seven Years' War between Sweden and Scandinavia in 1563 to 1570.

An international team of scientists, including archaeologists from the University of Southampton, revealed the remains of the Baltic shipwreck using state-of-the-art underwater robotics

Although first detected by sonar in 2009, it was not until survey specialists MMT led an expedition was the wreck identified as having great archaeological and historical significance

Early modern period (late 15th — early 16th century) maritime archaeologist Dr Rodrigo Pacheco-Ruiz carried out further examinations of the intact and astonishingly preserved wreck.

Collaborating with Southampton University's Maritime Archaeology Centre Productions and the Maritime Archaeology Research Institute of Södertörn University (MARIS), he marvelled at the wreck's condition.

It's almost like it sank yesterday — masts in place and hull intact," he said.

"Still on the main deck is an incredibly rare find — the tender boat, used to ferry crew to and from the ship, leaning against the main mast.

"It's a truly astonishing sight.".

From the archaeological survey, the ship could date from earlier than the other notable wrecks, warship Mars, which sank in the First Battle of Öland in 1564, and the Swedish warship Vasa (in 1628

But unlike the scattered remains of the Mars, which exploded in battle, this wreck lies on the seabed with her hull preserved from the keel to the top deck and even some of the standing rigging still in place.

A photogrammetric model of the wreck made by Deep Sea Productions and MMT shows a clearly visible bowsprit (the spar extending from the prow) and a decorated transom stern.

Rarely seen on wrecks, are the wooden capstan (used to haul the ropes) and bilge pump.

MMT and Southampton University were also partners in the recent discovery and archaeological survey of more than 65 perfectly preserved shipwrecks in the Black Sea.

Some of the wrecks found at depths of more than 2000m date to Ottoman, Byzantine Roman and Greek periods in the early centuries of the common era.

On the Baltic Sea survey, MMT took Southampton University maritime archaeology students and Stockholm Royal Institute of Technology subsea robotic Artificial Intelligence students.

Aboard the Stril Explorer, the students trained in deep sea archaeological methods and techniques