Maritime record LCS 324 - Wreck of Unknown Craft

Wreck, approximately 42m long, 1.5m proud of the seabed. The wreck is lying in an E-W orientation, with the bow pointing east. The wreck is intact and upright, with damage to its port side. A possible mast lies along the upper deck. Datum: OSGB36 (S1).

The wreck site was discovered by a Lowestoft-based dive team and a geophysical survey was carried out by Fugro Emu in February 2015. The substantial size of the wreck led to speculation that the wreck was that of the English warship Royal James, lost in 1672 at the Battle of Sole Bay. This prompted Historic England to commission Wessex Archaeology to undertake an undesignated site assessment of the site, who reprocessed the Fugro Emu multibeam and sidescan sonar data, and working with the Lowestoft team, undertook a short diving operation on the site in June 2015. The site consists of the wreck of a wooden ship located approximately 200m offshore and 1.5km north of Sizewell B nuclear power station. The wreck is orientated with its long 42m axis east-west and the surviving ship structure is up to 8m wide.

There is evidence of associated debris to the north-east, east and south-west. The wreck appears to consist of the partially intact hull of the ship, with its bow probably to the east. The surviving hull consists of framing, ceiling and outer planking and iron reinforcements, most notably a long knee rider. Evidence of ferrous, cuprous and wood fasterners has been found, but not any form of sheathing. Ferrous chainplates have also been found. An anomaly approximately 20m north-east is a stocked anchor and its proximity suggests that it is likely to be associated with the wreck. A buried anomaly to the south-west could be the rudder.The structure is partially buried. No excavation has been undertaken within the hull, although the exposed presence of what may be ballast suggests that the stratigraphy is unlikely to be very complex. There is no evidence of a substantial artefact assemblage associated with the structure although this could be present and buried.

No evidence of an armament has been found. The presence of a knee rider and possible ferrous chain plates and the lack of armament indicate a probable 19th or early 20th century date. The absence of armament and sheathing suggests that this is, on a balance of probability basis, a merchant ship engaged in the home or Northern European/ Atlantic trades. No evidence of cargo has been found. The identity of the vessel is unknown. It does not appear to be the wreck of the Royal James, nor is it the Hannah Ransom which has been discounted on the basis that the wreck is too large. Although the post-loss history of the site is unclear, Wessex Archaeoloogy reports that a local witness has stated that the wreck has been exposed for at least several decades. There is evidence of slow deterioration due to natural causes and the site is probably vulnerable to low level inshore fishing impacts.

Archaeological, environmental and observational data was recorded using Wessex Archaeology's proprietary real-time DIVA MS Access recording system. Inspection and survey of the site was carried out by touch, due to zero-visibility conditions, with diver positional data provided by a Sonardyne Scout USBL system. Three samples of timber from the wreck were taken for purposes of identification and dendrochronological dating. The results of the dendrochronological analysis yet to be updated here. All finds and samples have been recorded to HM Receiver of Wreck (S2).

Sections from five timbers from the Unknown Lowestoft Wreck, located in the North Sea off the Suffolk coast, were retrieved by Wessex Archaeology, with a view to obtaining independent dating evidence by dendrochronology and so assisting in the process of characterisation, identification, and assessment for designation. The wreck is thought to be a late nineteenth- or early twentieth century wooden merchant sailing ship of at least 300 tons. The ship was probably engaged in the home or Northern European/Atlantic trades, although no evidence of cargo has been found. The timber sections consist of one ash (Fraxinus spp), two (Pinus spp), and two of larch or spruce (Larix/Picea spp). Four of the five timbers contained sufficient rings to warrant attempted tree-ring dating. All failed to produce a date when compared to British, European, and American reference chronologies. (S3)