Maritime Archaeology Updates

Diving Deeper with the Maritime Archaeology Trust

Category: Uncategorized

Barbican Library featuring Mike Greave’s London: An Artists Journey

There are only two more weeks left to take a trip to the Barbican Library to explore the artwork of our Artist in Residence, Mike Greaves. Mike has been volunteering with the Maritime Archaeology Trust since 2016 and has created over 50 beautiful and educational paintings for us. In June of 2014, Mike held his first successful solo exhibition entitled Rambling About London. He did not stop there! In June 2015, Mike presented a second solo exhibition of new work, entitled Revisiting Old Friends, at Southwark Cathedral. Since then he has been featured in a number of private commissions in London, Oxfordshire and Southampton.

Mike Greaves with his wife Kate and daughter Sarah.

Mike is currently presenting an exhibition at the Barbican museum, hosting a series of new ink and watercolour paintings that reflect the diversity of the extraordinary city of London- entitled London: An Artists Journey

Mike has kindly allowed the Maritime Archaeology Trust to include a small exhibition of artefacts recovered from the SS Camberwell, which hit a mine south east of the Isle of Wight in 1917 while on route from Middlesborough for London and then India with a general cargo. Seven crew members lost their lives in the sinking. The exhibition includes Mike’s rendition of the ship. Mike is also displaying paintings of the John Mitchell and the USS Jacob Jones, two other ships lost off the south coast during the First World War. When you visit the library, don’t forget to pick up our educational booklets on the USS Jacob Jones, War Graves from the First World War and Volunteering Matters, which tells of the many different ways volunteers have made the Forgotten Wrecks project possible. The artefacts on display have been loaned to us by Martin Woodward, owner of the Shipwreck Centre and Maritime Museum, Isle of Wight

SS Camberwell and associated artefacts on loan from Martin Woodward.

Don’t miss out on this exhibition! The painting are selling fast with 6 sold in the past week! To learn more about Mike Greaves work you can visit his website and can learn about other exhibitions and events happening at the Barbican 

How to get involved

You can become actively involved in the Maritime Archaeology Trust by becoming a Friend of the Trust, making a donation, or volunteering. By becoming a friend of the Maritime Archaeology Trust you will receive a membership pack, newsletters, updates direct to your inbox, a copy of the annual report and exclusive opportunities and offers as well as access to special events and activities for you and your family and most importantly, a chance to get involved in archaeological fieldwork both under water and on the foreshore. To find out more visit, http://www.maritimearchaeologytrust.org/donations

Touring Exhibitions of the First World War

With spring officially on its way it is time to announce our upcoming touring exhibitions! In the final year of our project we have two more touring exhibitions along the south coast, so make sure you don’t miss out on them! Over the past four years, the Heritage Lottery funded Forgotten Wrecks of the First World War project has had over 30 touring exhibitions across England and over 300,000 visitors! Join us to discover a fascinating exhibition which raises the profile of under-represented aspects of the Great War. This project is helping to document over 1,100 shipwrecks from the First World War along the south coast of England. You will learn about some of the ships that played a role in the conflict and sank off the south coast of England. These include largely forgotten ships and craft of all shapes and sizes that were carrying out a myriad of different tasks and activities when they were lost due to a variety of incidents. Often lives were lost due to enemy attacks, misfortunes, bad weather, communication or sheer bad luck. The exhibition includes information on the events that took place off the south coast along with some of the artefacts these shipwrecks once held. These exhibitions are an opportunity to explore history and feel a little bit of wonder.

Forgotten Wrecks exhibitions can be found at:

Littlehampton Museum in Sussex from the 28th of February to May 2018 

Teign Heritage Centre in Devon from the 15th of March to the 31st of May

With our touring exhibitions coming to an end this May, you will still be able to learn about the Forgotten Wrecks of the First World War by visiting some of our permanent seasonal exhibitions at the Shipwreck Centre & Maritime Museum and Hurst Castle. Both of these exhibitions will close in October and re-open at Easter.

Shipwreck Centre & Maritime Museum, Arreton, Isle of Wight with the grand opening on the 24th of March

Hurst Castle opening on March 31st 2018

The Maritime Archaeology Trust will be organising a longer-term Forgotten Wrecks exhibit locally in Southampton, Hampshire, with the location to be announced. These exhibitions will focus on roles the ships played in the Great War, the circumstances of their sinking, the fate of the crews, and some of the artefacts associated with the wrecks. This is a great opportunity to experience a new side of our heritage!

If you have any ideas or suggestions for where you would like to find out more about the Forgotten Wrecks of the First World War in Southampton, please let us know!

How To Get Involved

You can become actively involved in the Maritime Archaeology Trust by becoming a Friend of the Trust, making a donation, or volunteering. By becoming a friend of the Maritime Archaeology Trust you will receive a membership pack, newsletters, updates direct to your inbox, a copy of the annual report and exclusive opportunities and offers as well as access to special events and activities for you and your family and most importantly, a chance to get involved in archaeological fieldwork both under water and on the foreshore. To find out more visit our website

Fieldwork Week on the Isle of Wight

SS Mendi ship’s bell, artefact recording, free evening event at the Shipwreck Centre and much more…

This week has been a hectic one in the office – as it always is before a fieldwork week! The packing pile is growing ever higher and the plans for next week are falling into place, so far so good!

This time we are heading off to the Isle of Wight! There are loads of things going on during the week and if you would like to get involved in any of our events, please don’t hesitate to contact us on forgottenwrecks@maritimearchaeologytrust.org. We will mostly be based in the Shipwreck Centre and Maritime Museum at Arreton Barns Craft Village during the week.  We are also honored to be temporarily hosting the SS Mendi ship’s bell, and it will be on display for the public on the 25th to 29th September. The museum is open daily from 10 am to 5pm, and we also have an extra evening event on the Thursday that is definitely worth coming along for – more details below.

Artefact Recording 25th to 29th May, 10 am -4pm

In April 2017 the Trust began a huge project to digitize the fascinating collection of artefacts at the Shipwreck Centre. This will continue during the week of 25th September, so if you can spare a couple of hours at any time during the day that week, to help photograph, measure and describe the fascinating artefacts that have been recovered from wrecks off the Isle of Wight, please contact us asap at forgottenwrecks@maritimearchaeologytrust.org

3D Workshop Wednesday 27th September, 9 am to 12pm

In both maritime and terrestrial archaeology we have come into a wonderful age of highly visual digital techniques. This half day course, brought to you through the Maritime Archaeology Trust’s canoe to cannon project introduces you to the basics. This includes an overview of a range of techniques that are used in maritime archaeology and consideration of how they are being applied in the field and what the future holds. The workshop will mainly concentrate on getting you involved in collecting data and showing how you can apply these techniques, including a practical session where techniques will be applied to selected items for the Isle of Wight Shipwreck Centre’s amazing collection. The work shop is free and spaces are limited, so if you would like to join in, please contact us asap at forgottenwrecks@maritimearchaeologytrust.org

Discover the Forgotten Wrecks of the First World War, Thursday 28th September 2017, 7pm-9pm

Come along to find out more about the work of the Maritime Archaeology Trust and how you can be involved. The evening will include short presentations about the project and the work of the Trust and an opportunity to see the Shipwreck Centre’s amazing collection – including the SS Mendi ship’s bell!. Nibbles and wine will be provided. The event is free, but please let us know you are coming by booking your place here.

Fiedwork – Recording the Yaverland Battery, Friday 29th September (PM)

Yaverland Battery located at SZ 6152 8529. The battery opened in 1864. By 1902 the original rifle muzzle-loading weapons had been replaced by three 6-inch breech-loading Mk. VII guns, two of which were in use during the First World War. From 1906 it operated as an examination battery.

On Friday 29th September, MAT staff will be conducting photographic and measured survey at Yaverland Battery. If you would like to join us, please contact us asap at: grant.bettinson@maritimearchaeologytrust.org

Qatar Marine Archaeological Project (QatarMAP) (update)

The MAT dive team are in Qatar this week to continue work on the QatarMAP project. A series of bad luck with regard to weather, and a breakdown of the air conditioning on the research vessel Janan, prevented the ship sailing early in the week. With the vessel alongside and temperatures around 40 degrees on board, the team sweated their way through the first day, testing and checking geophysical and dive equipment and continued processing of data from the previous week’s diving in Qatar.  At a meeting with an expat dive operator that evening, it was confirmed that due to conversion of different coordinate systems, many of the positions for the wrecks were not always reliably.

Approaching Janan after a dive

Then, a sudden break in the weather, and with the AC ‘partially’ fixed, the team made a dash to leave port on the evening of the 23 May. In less than ideal temperatures on board, the evening saw a 3 hour sail followed by a couple of hours of multibeam survey to ensure that the position of the wreck was correct to guarantee divers would land on it the next morning. At first light, divers loaded dive gear from Janan onto the small tender and dropped into the water to be rewarded by a breath-taking dive on a wooden dhow which still presented a lot of structure, (a dhow is a traditional sailing vessel, usually an Arab vessel found in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, with lateen sails and one or two masts). Photogrammetry and calibration measurements were carried out by the dive team, and following charging of cameras and lights, a further dive was warranted to ensure the production of a spectacular 3D model of such an amazing example of a traditional wooden shipwreck to enhance the maritime historical environmental record in Qatar.

Photographing the wreck

 

Further multibeam survey took place as temperatures increased onboard the vessel, and a third dive of the day in fading light, was on a charted wreck listed as danger (probably to shipping and therefore unable to sail Janan over it for confirmation with the multibeam). After a circular search of more than 50m out without success, the team came under attacked from a swarm of jellyfish that appeared while they were undertaking a safety stop on return to the surface.  Multibeam survey continued into the night to explore the seabed and the temperatures rose as the AC continued to fail. First light saw the dive team off to dive another possible position for the unsuccessful location of the previous days charted wreck site, but the increasing Shamal wind was affecting sea conditions making diving dangerous as the swell tossed the small dive boat around, and concerns also grew about the safe transfer of personnel and equipment back to Janan. A quick ‘dip’ down the shot line by a diver on communications confirmed that the wreck was not in this position either, but this still serves an important purpose by confirming that the wreck is not in the charted position and can be reported to the relevant authorities which will help when they issue their chart corrections.

Diver at the stem post

The weather was closing in as multibeam survey continued, exploring a seabed depression for its potential to contain preserved archaeological material in deeper sedimentary deposits.  ‘Sauna’ like conditions now prevailed on the bridge and on the working deck, and members of the team also continued the task of diagnosing the faults on the ROV (remotely operated vehicle). With Janan finally safely back alongside in Doha, the ROV was deployed into the water for a successful trial flight, this is another tool that could be used help with future investigations.

The AC on the vessel is now completely defunct and the weather has broken down again so the team continue to work on post-processing of data collected to produce an exciting 3D model of the dhow and produce a report of the very productive visit before returning to the UK at the weekend.

International Museum Day 2017: Shipwreck Centre and Maritime Museum, Isle of Wight

Antique diving helmets at the Shipwreck Centre

The Shipwreck Centre and Maritime Museum is a treasure hub of knowledge about the ocean’s sunken secrets, primarily around the Isle of Wight. Located at Arreton Barns Craft Village on the island, the museum attracts a visitor pool of all tastes and ages.

The collection held by the museum has almost solely been recovered and collected by Martin Woodward, a professional diver for 50 years. His passion for shipwrecks and maritime history has enthralled the public ever since he first opened his collection in 1978.

Martin Woodward testing the antique diving suit

The Shipwreck Centre holds an intriguing collection of curiosities. There is everything from antique diving equipment, ship’s navigational instruments, and artefacts recovered from famous Royal Navy vessels, to pieces of eight and even a real “mermaid”! Additionally there is also an exhibition dedicated the history and service of Lifeboats, with the focus on the Bembridge Lifeboat Station.

On the 11th April 2017, the Maritime Archaeology Trust took over the management of the Shipwreck Museum from Mr Woodward (blog post). Our plans for the future are to build on the amazing collection that already exists. We are looking to expand the museum for more displays, continuously research the artefacts and the stories that are connected with them, and also adding the latest high tech visualisation technology to display the collection in a modern light.

Inside the Shipwreck Centre

So in honour of the International Museum Day 2017 we would like to highlight this gem of a museum and hope that you will join us in making it even greater for the future.

For more information about the museum and to plan a visit, please see their website: http://shipwreckcentre.com/

Volunteering

If you be interested in volunteering and being part of shaping the museum for the future please contact: curator[at]maritimearchaeologytrust.org.

Supporting Us

To receive the latest news from the Trust, please sign up to our Newsletter: http://maritimearchaeologytrust.us3.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=90f4da1bc1dfe954c2280b284&id=3b0fd3fed4

Become a Friend of the Trust for only £1 per month and be involved in exclusive events and activities: http://www.maritimearchaeologytrust.org/friends

Maritime Archaeology Trust embraces the Isle of Wight Shipwreck Centre

To celebrate the MAT taking over the management of the Isle of Wight Shipwreck Centre and Maritime Museum an event on the 11th April welcomed over 130 guests to hear about the background to the centre, plans for the future and the significance of the collection for the Isle of Wight.

New MAT Patron Dan Snow officially opened the evening alongside the owner of the collection, Martin Woodward, MAT President Martin White, MAT Chairperson Michael Woodhall, MAT Director Garry Momber and key staff and supporters.

MAT plans to develop the centre over the coming years through further research on the artefacts, increasing space for new interpretation and adding shipwreck displays that use the latest high tech visualisation technology. These state of the art exhibits will attract a large audience providing sponsorship opportunities for affiliated businesses.

We hope to build a group of volunteers to help realise our plans and be involved with artefact recording, events and introducing members of the public to the collection. If you might be interested in volunteering at the centre, then please get in touch via: curator[at]maritimearchaeologytrust.org.uk

You can also support the MAT’s work at the Shipwreck Centre through:

Signing up for our Newsletter to get updates straight to your inbox  Newsletter sign-up

Becoming a Friend of the Trust for opportunities to be involved in exclusive events and activities http://www.maritimearchaeologytrust.org/friends

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Tolkien arrives in Southampton on hospital ship: 100 years ago today

100 years ago today (09/11/1916), 24 year old 2nd Lieutenant John Ronald Reuel Tolkien arrived in Southampton, one of the hundreds of wounded and ill servicemen returning home aboard the Hospital Ship Asturiashmhs-asturias-2-1914-1917t-1

The Asturias was the third hospital ship to arrive in Southampton that day, the majority of injured coming fresh from the battles raging on the Somme. Tolkien had fought on the Somme and evaded injury, but four months of living in lice infested trenches had resulted in Trench Fever. Tolkien was taken by ambulance train from the battlefield to a hospital in Le Touquet where he remained for a week, but when his condition worsened he was ordered back to Blighty, sailing from Le Havre. On arrival in Southampton, ambulance trains were waiting to transport the patients to hospitals around the country, as close as possible to their home towns. Tolkien was put on a train bound for Birmingham where he would be reunited with his wife (whom he had barely seen since their wedding the year before). So efficient was the wartime transport system, that this whole journey was completed in a single day.

tolkien_1916-aged-24-from-wikipedia-2

Tolkien 1916

Tolkien spent the remainder of the war between hospital and Home Service camps. Although unable to fully shake off the illness, the lice probably saved his life, as following his departure, the remainder of his battalion, 11th Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers, 74th Brigade, were sent to Ypres where they were almost completely wiped out.

In his biography, Tolkien states that by 1918 all but one of his closest friends were dead. It was during the war years that he began to write. His experiences on the battlefields infused in his writing, evident in his most famous works: The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1954-55). To read more about Tolkien’s war click here http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-one/inside-first-world-war/part-two/10356085/jrr-tolkien-war.html

With hammocks for 1200 patients, the Asturias was one of the largest of the 77 Royal Navy Hospital Ships operating in WW1. The Asturias was one of many hospital ships sailing daily between Le Havre and Southampton. However being on board a hospital ship was no guarantee of safety. 24 hospital ships were sunk by enemy action with huge loss of life. The Asturias was no exception, torpedoed off the Devon coast on the 20th March 1917. Click here to read about the fate of the Asturias. http://forgottenwrecks.maritimearchaeologytrust.org/asturias

hmhs-asturias-300dpi

Reproduced with the permission of Mike Greaves ASGFA www.greaves2connections.com

Bouldnor Cliff 2016 Fieldwork Photo Gallery

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