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A Ghost ship with No Name.

 

Leigh Bishop wrote the following article several years ago. Sad to say that despite many more hours diving the wreck we know very little more. DIR UK even devoted a week’s diving to the project. While they gathered some fantastic pictures and videos their research efforts like my own have so far come to nothing. Indeed it was interesting to see them follow the same lines of enquiry as I did and come up with the same list of possible names, most of which can be definitely discounted. It’s going to take a lucky diver or a breakthrough in the archives to solve this one but I’m not about to give up. And now we have another sailing ship only a few miles away to get to grips with. Should be fun!

 

A Lost Voyage!

Many shipwrecks and their stories paint glamorous pictures but what of those tens of thousands that remain unknown?

Have some of Britain's historically important ships been lost forever, Leigh Bishop looks at just one example.

 

The legacy of centuries of seafaring is a wealth of true-life stories of disaster heroism and of course ultimate tragedy. There are many shipwrecks whose discovery and investigation has not and most probably will not attract the same media attention and charisma of such ships as the Mary Rose, Titanic and Lusitania.

While television has made such shipwrecks household names the medium has brought with it underwater archaeology accessible to all.

The coverage given to the Mary Rose when she was raised introduced millions to the delights, which would await them on visit to her final exhibition in Portsmouth.

 

Here in the UK those familiar brown tourist signs lead to such maritime displays but will not lead the path to the seabed equivalent of medieval castles, industrial buildings and prehistoric stone circles. English heritage defines a historic wreck as one of a hundred years of age or more and if sunk within British territorial waters thus belongs to the history of the state.

 

 

Over the years a vast treasure trove of maritime history has been brought ashore with the help of volunteers and on occasions with the aid of state funding. Many of these wrecks such as the Coronation, Association and the Studland Bay wreck have been located in shallow water but what of those possible historic wrecks that still lie unseen in deeper waters. One such wreck uncovered in recent years (by mixed gas divers) although perhaps not as old as those previously stated lies almost 20 miles off the Dorset coast.

 

At a little over 31 fathoms deep she will not capture the imagination of those who focus on depth for their headline news she will however capture the imagination of those who enjoy a little bottom time and a somewhat deeper step into history.

 

During the summer of 1996 Weymouth skipper Grahame Knott investigated a possible unknown wreck site offshore to the south east of the Bill of Portland. On return those investigating divers recorded that they believed the wreck to be that of a very old ship possibly dating to around 1850 onwards. The wreck was of the sailing ship type and was thought to be an ocean going vessel as iron knees had been used in her construction. Four years and many dives later we are still no closer to the identity of this somewhat mysterious wreck. Could this be one of Britain's most important shipwrecks? Several researchers believe so!

 

Wreck Detectives

Several key divers to the Dorset coastline have positively identified dozens upon dozens of shipwrecks to a radius of almost 50 miles over the last two decades, both through recovery and intense research. The identity of this single wreck however still baffles the majority. All the clues to her identity appear to be there although time after time lead to a dead end. One of those first investigating divers was one of the UK's original gas divers Allan Yend. Allan along with Grahame were both under the impression they had at last found the missing shipwreck 'Forrest' a ship that had been in collision with the ever popular wreck 'Avalanche' during a violent storm in Sept 1877. Certainly this wreck was dated to that period as china bearing the Ashworth Ironstone hallmark had been dated to approx. 1862. With careful thought Grahame dismissed the theory being that the 'Forest' carried no such cargo? Our wreck though did!

 

 

One man who had researched and dived local wrecks since the 70's was Kingston diver Alan Dunster. After one look at the wreck for himself Alan also dismissed the theory in that the Navy as he claimed had sunk the 'Forrest' after her collision due to her hazard to shipping. If this wreck was the 'Forrest' she would present herself in a completely different way. As Alan's notes state, the entire bottom of the 'Forrest' was blown out in order to sink her and would now lie scattered across the seabed as opposed to in one complete section. Between the divers they had observed sections of the wreck that would now lead to their first strong lead. They noted a large section of cargo to be munitions and various sections were scattered with grapeshot. Although the wood had long since rotted away the remains of barrel loops were still evident and made of brass! Possibly the barrels once contained gunpowder and the brass manufactured loops to hold them together were to protect them intrinsically safe. The divers were actually dealing with a military vessel of some description.

 

Warship?

After many hours neither Grahame nor any of the investigating divers could find any listed military ship that had been lost within that section of coastline from that particular period. Another clue was several belt buckles that had been recovered from selected parts of the wreck embossed with the Staffordshire Volunteers 80 regiment. The south Staffordshire Regiment was raised in 1702 as Lillingtons Regiment 38th foot in 1751 and as the 80th or Staffordshire Volunteers Regiment in 1793. These two regiments became the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the south Staffordshire Regiments in 1881.

 

Could this wreck have carried troops of that regiment to or from a historically important war? I then set about contacting the Staffordshire regimental secretary Major 'E' Green with this information. Major Green was somewhat excited however his historic researchers at their Lichfield museum could find no trace amongst masses of documents to suggest any of their regiment had been lost through shipwreck during the period 1860-1880! A task that would take them many months!

 

More Clues to Identification?

Another clue was that Allan Yend had recovered a broken piece of china from the wreck bearing the union castle line crest. The section of china was almost definetly not from this wreck as the Union Castle Line owned no sailing vessels within their service and was most probably taken aboard from another vessel of its time. Having said that it did not stop us spending hours-searching Union Castle archives 'just in case'.

One of Alan Dunster's long time friends and an excellent researcher in his own right is author Nick Chipchase. Nick had recovered a silver spoon from the wreck, which he had dated by a silversmith to be approx.1899! Alan Dunster disagreed with the estimate in that if the ship were dated so late it would not have been used for military service.

Military ships in service at the turn of the century would have all been steam propulsion. I informed the receiver of wreck over such finds although strangely enough have had no legal owner traced to date either. The wreck is within a depth range that makes for a HeliAir top-off dive and so often is the case that we have been offshore to explore deeper wrecks and used this wreck site as a weather fallback with a top-off.

She rests on a seabed of fine stone and shingle which in turn provides an area of acceptable visibility where almost certainly the entire wreck has been surveyed. Countless dives in search of her bell have failed and Grahame is under the impression that a deep airlift would prove fruitful.

 

Present State!

The timbers and planking of this old wooden sailing ship have long since either rotted or been eaten away. The copper keel pins that once held the ship together can still be seen in long rows sticking up out of the seabed. The frames seem to have completely rotted away but occasionally there is a sign of the hull planking lying on the seabed. It must have been made of very durable wood whereas the frames and timbers probably were of a less dense material.

The stern end of the wreck is to the east where there is a rudder gudgen obvious. A mast lies out to the north-east and just behind this was an area where various crockery including bowls and bottles has been discovered. Quite possibly the galley. There is a rounded half moon counter stern, which is intact and rises six inches above the shell/gravel seabed. Around 20 or so, what look like 8'' diameter shells can be seen here as well. These shells appear solid and quite possibly made of pig iron.

 

Going forward the wreck rises up to a height of about 3m and consists of what almost certainly would have been cargo. A mound of munitions is obvious, as is a huge pile of Martin Lee manufactured furnace bricks. The main section shows a huge mound of 2" diameter steel hawsers coiled up in rolls approx. 2m across. Some of these rolls have fallen outwards onto the remains of a section of hull.

 

One suggestion describes the cargo to have shifted; as it appears to flow down the starboard side breaking down to the seabed at an angle, however, appears in steady bulk over to port.  Most of the wood here again has gone leaving the steel hawsers supported on rows of copper pins and despite their weight have left a clear space underneath. A side from the hawsers is a collection of copper strips about 3m long and about 50mm x 6mm cross section. There is also some thin copper plating which might have been carried separately to repair the hull's copper sheathing. Any wood near the keel pins appears to have survived perhaps due to its poisoning effect.

 

About a third of the way along the port side from the stern there is an Ariel depth charge about 6ft long.

One of its flights has broken otherwise it is intact and obviously live. We can only assume the wreck was used as a practice target for Navel anti submarine patrols and perhaps this has led to the bad state of collapse of the wreck. Forward of the hawsers are several millstones, which are surrounded by stone bottles and jars manufactured by Powels of Bristol.

 

Forward again further the wreck begins to peter out where three hatchways can be seen a few inches above the seabed. Here is where the diver will find a huge fisherman's anchor lying flat to the bed with a huge pile of chain then swimming around to the port side two more classic picturesque shipwreck anchors can be seen upright and side by side. Here the wreck is more prominent on the port side where the wooden hull shape is apparent and reasonably recognisable.

 

Everywhere around the wreck there are various beer bottles, drinking glasses and stoneware some bottles with an intricate twist neck design. Along each side of the wreck deadeyes become obvious and can be seen still in excellent condition. There are lots of loops of varying sizes scattered now greenish in colour that could possibly be those of loops used in the construction of barrels.

 

This wreck is one of the most historically interesting and picturesque wreck sites within the Weymouth area. Although she is not ready to reveal her true identity more diving activity will undoubtedly lead to further clues if not the discovery of her bell, most possibly hidden a few inches under the shingle bed. If enough interest is gathered Grahame Knott intends to run further projects at this site and those interested should contact him by telephone on 01305 771371.

 

 

 

 

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