by London (AP) – As a school boy who went a run, the ribs of a wooden ship, which bumped through the dunes of a remote Scottish beach, triggered a hunt by archaeologists, scientists and local historians to uncover its history.
With a mixture of high-tech science and community research, you have an answer. The researchers announced on Wednesday that the ship is most likely the Earl of Chatham, a warship from the 18th century, which was closed in the American independence war before a second lives in the Arctic and then a stormy death.
“I would consider it a lucky ship that is a strange thing about a ship that is destroyed,” said Ben Saunders, Senior Marine Archaeologist at Wessex Archaeology, a charity that helped the community researchers.
“I think if it had been found in many other places, it would not necessarily have this community drive, this wish to recover and study this material, and also in the community spirit to do so,” said Saunders.
Discovered after 250 years
The wreck was discovered in February 2024 after a storm had thrown sand on Sanday, one of the rough orcney islands, the Scottish northern tip.
It began to interest the island of 500 people, whose history is associated with the sea and its dangers. Around 270 shipwrecks have been recorded around the 20 square miles (50 square kilometers) since the 15th century.
Local farmers used their tractors and trailers to pull the 12 tons of oak wood on the beach before the local researchers work on identifying it.
“It was really fun, and it was such a good feeling for the community – everyone contracted to get them back,” said Sylvia Thorne, one of the island’s community researchers. “Quite a few people are really interested in it and become experts.”
Dendrochronology – the science of dating Wood from Baumringen – showed that the wood came from southern England in the middle of the 18th century. That was a bit lucky, said Saunders, because “the point agreed that the British bureaucracy really started to start” and were kept detailed records.
“And so we can start looking at the archive evidence that we have for the wrecks in Orkney,” said Saunders. “It becomes a process of elimination process.
“They remove those who are Northern European in contrast to British.
Wars and whaling
Further studies showed that the ship HM Hind, a 24-channel frigate of the Royal Navy in Chichester on the England south coast, in 1749 by HMS Hind.
In his military career, it played a role in the expansion – and contraction – of the British Empire. Great Britain helped to keep the wrest control over Canada from France during the siege of Louisbourg and Quebec in the 1750s, and in the 1770s it served as a convoy -escort during the failing effort to capture the American colonies.
The ship was sold by the Navy in 1784 and was renamed. He became a whaling ship and chased the huge mammals in the Arctic waters off Greenland.
Walöl was an essential fuel for the industrial revolution, with which machines, fabric and light roads soft to soft stripes. Saunders said that there were 120 whaling ships in London in 1787 in London, including the Earl of Chatham.
A year later, when it went to the whaling site, it was destroyed in front of Sanday in bad weather. All 56 crew members survived – more evidence, says Saunders that this was a ship, which was blessed with luck.
Community efforts
The ship’s wood will be preserved in a freshwater tank in the Sanday Heritage Center, while the plans are discussed to show it permanently.
Saunders said that the project is a model of joint participation in archeology.
“The community was so sharp, was so desirable to be involved and find out things, and they are so proud of it. It is up to them.
For locals, it is a connection to the maritime past of the island and future. Finding long strips can become more common because climate change changes wind patterns around the UK and redesigned the coast.
“One of the greatest things I got out of this project can be seen how much the past in Sanday is with them – either visible or just below the surface,” said Ruth Peace, another community researcher.
