Future generations?

The top two silver coins are from the Wreck of Hollandia 1743. (Not salvaged by me)  The lower two copper coins were salvaged by me from the Wreck of the Bassenthwaite 1836.  These are a couple of examples of how stupid the British Heritage authorities current no take policy is. (even though they do it all the time)  They have this ill thought out policy that everything on shipwrecks should remain on the sea bed for future generations to enjoy.  But if you look at the image you can clearly see the deterioration occurring.  When items land on the sea bed they immediately start to deteriorate, that is a fact. If they get buried in an anaerobic environment they are better preserved but even in that environment the deterioration is just slowed down.  Metal objects like coins only survive for any length of time if they are either concreted in big heaps- or become concreted to iron objects. Coins in these two situations deteriorate too though -just more slowly. The outer coins in a heap just act like an anode for those deeper inside the heap. So the longer they stay on the sea bed then more of them will become exposed to the deterioration on the outer layer- until the middle of a heap is reached-thus eventually all the heap will inevitably disappear in time. 

If a coin or metal object is concreted to an iron object like, say, a cannon, then the cannon becomes the anode for the coin. Eventually the cannon gets softer and softer inside its concretion-until eventually- the cannon turns to mush inside its own concretion and thus all its integrity as a solid object is lost. Once that occurs all that is left is the sea bed concretion itself in the shape of a cannon with the coin stuck inside the remaining crust layer. Now without the iron as its anode- the coin becomes exposed to more rapid deterioration-especially if the concretion will eventually become dispersed by the actions of the sea and sea bed material movement.  This happens to everything on the sea floor in time- especially around very violent sea places like Cornwall and here at Scilly. 

The coins in the image above both survived in little heaps. The good coins shown were just deeper inside that heap when found. The worn thinner coins were to the outer of those heaps and thus acting as the anode for those further inside-which is why they are in such a sorry state. But all in the heap eventually suffer the exact same fate in time. So will someone please tell me how this is leaving it all to future generations? Its a myth created by university students now sitting behind a desk who no nothing of the sea. They did a course in marine archaeology then got a nice little desk job where they come up with rubbish ill thought out policies that sound great!- but are totally impractical.   

The good news for the treasure hunter today- is that some good coins still exist as not enough time has passed yet to destroy all. All the treasure hunter has to do is find where the anode coins loose on the sea bed are -and look carefully at the sea bed below where they lay. If he is lucky, that is where he will find the concreted heap of more coins looking like the surrounding sea bed & or bedrock. Many people would pick up the odd anode coins and not realise what is right there by them.  It takes a trained eye with the knowledge above to know and see whats hidden there to find.  My advice is if its legal to do so  then get it all up- because if left there it will inevitably be lost in time until no one gets to enjoy it.  This 'leave down there' policy they currently have- may work in brackish waters like the black sea or the Baltic but its of no use off  Englands coastline where the sea bed is granite or sand and the sea often violent.
 

Wreck of the Thornliebank

 

Thornliebank. built in glasgow in 1898 and wrecked on the crim here at Scilly in 1913.

Her skipper was lost and thought he was off the french coast. Then he sighted the red light of Round Island lighthouse and became confused. His dead reckoning of his position was miles out. His ship then rumbled onto the Crim and was lost. He later learned from those whom saved the crew where he had  become wrecked. He then wrote how Scilly was a good place to loose your ship as his treatment by the locals had been so good.

This is one of those wreck sites that I had to illiminate from my ongoing search for where the wreck of HMS Romney lies. There are various places the Romney could be and one of those is somewhere around the Crim reef. Thus I often find myself searching all around this reef for her.  I dived all the known sites at that reef to gain the positions of each. I magged and found the positions of the cannon site in 39 to 45m on the west side of Zantmans rock and the Sushannah in 30m on the north western side.  I then discovered the wreck of the Bassenthwaite off to the south east of the Crim in 30m. Somehow I felt proud  to have added my name to those privileged few who had actually discovered a wreck at this mysterious, treacherous, place.... the most western part of Scilly.  One day I was magging to the south of Zantmans when I had another hit to look at. I read that the Thornliebank was the other side of the rock so had to investigate to see what this hit was. Sadly the hit was not the Romney but the Thornliebank. (Mr Larns book was wrong again) This was years ago that I dropped straight onto her stern south east of Zantmans and after a short look around I found and recovered the brass boss to her helm above. (ships wheel). On surfacing I could see her name 'Thornliebank' embossed into the metal. Above is an image of it after I painted the letters back in. The finding of it just proves how little this wreck has been dived otherwise it would have been recovered long ago. I never went back but often think I should to see what else is about. Hopefully one day I may find the time but this isnt really my kind of wreck. Im into sites much older, preferably with lots of cannons laying about. Not sure who discovered this wreck but it was reported that someone raised her bell intact in 1988 ish

Frustration.

 Been searching all around the Wreck of the Phoenix to see if there's any more of her about. (See other posts about this wreck. )Did some more magging further afield and dropped on a couple of the hits recently. One day, which was rather a lovely day-we decided to base ourselves on the Western Beach of the uninhabited Samson Island for the day. From there I went out, did a dive, then returned the short distance to Samson to have lunch. Found nothing. In the afternoon I went out to the Roaring ledge to look at a hit on that reef. This was a bit far away from the Phoenix but as it was such a positive hit I had to take a look at it during the slack tide.  It was in shallow water, just 6 meters at most. I was actually full of expectation-hoping for a gully with guns in it- but sadly, I returned to the surface in disappointment. The mag hit turned out to be an 18th century anchor about 7 feet long-which isn't very big as anchors go. Nothing else of note was found or seen around the area. Either some small vessel had been lost there and now its all long gone- or the anchor was once the weight that held a channel marker buoy in place. I found the same sort of thing on the inner side of the Spanish ledge. An old anchor in the shallows on the top of the reef and nothing else. Very frustrating.  Well after the dive we returned to Samson for a walk and a swim. Then we had a picnic and watched the sun set. Absolutely stunning! Here's a couple of pics from the day on Samson between dives......

Phoenix is between the middle and far islands.

The wild and natural Western beach of Samson.

The wife. Her ancestors lived on Samson and one was the last to be born there.

                                                                  Bumming on the beach.

Hunt the Hurricane

Hunting a Hurricane.
Years ago I was told by an old guy here called Wilf (RiP) that as a boy he watched a Spitfire go over the town and go down in St Marys Roads. I spoke to others about this at the time but no one else seemed to know of the incident. Thus the story went into the back of my mind. One day I contacted a local about her archive of the local rag. Sarah looked into the year of the incident but still drew a blank. At the time I thought this was odd as the local rag records what socks people are wearing! However, on reflection, I came to understand that it was war time and thus reporting such incidents was forbidden without express permission. I then visited the RNLI station to see if they went out to save the pilot. Still nothing. Then one day I met Graham. This was a guy who went about the south west finding crashed aircraft sites. He even has a museum full of stuff from such sites. I told Graham the story and eureka! he knew about it and gave me the scant details. However, It wasn't a Spitfire,- it was a Hurricane. This was great news. It meant that there is indeed a war time plane out in St Marys Roads. So, as a result, , whenever I go magging I do a row or two in the Roads. Similarly, whenever I go out to dive in that area I'm on the look out for it. It will probably only appear as a big pile of weed and hidden beneath that will be whats left;which wont be much. The plane was made of plywood on an aluminium sub frame. The plywood will be long gone and much of the frame will have fizzed away in the salt water too. But the Engine, undercarriage gear, machine guns and some of the cockpit and its canopy, and some of the propeller should still all be present. No gold or silver involved here but sometimes the treasure is in simply uncovering a little bit of local history. Rest assured I'm now onto it.- (Hurricane MKIX BW949 of Flight 1449 flight based St Marys, crashed in the sea on approach to land between Tresco & St Marys.)

Double standards

 Already we have had around ten cruise ships in the Roadstead of Scilly.  Good for me but very bad for the wildlife.  As usual I have been diving where they anchor and I see the devastation they leave behind and thus I get to see any interesting items they uncover as a consequence. The other day I followed along a huge swathe one of these ships had cut in the sea bed and it drove right through one of the protected Eel grass beds. Not my problem but I will say this -If I were to go down there and find a wreck or something else of interest I would have to apply for a licence through the MMO to try and uncover it.  However I know for certain that they would never grant such a licence if the thing I wanted to uncover was anywhere near any Eel Grass.  If I went ahead and worked without a licence I would be prosecuted and at the very least heavily fined. I could dig for a month and not destroy anything like what these vessels do in just one day. I'm not complaining as I benefit from them coming in here-its just the double standards from Government bodies that grinds on me.Yet its ok for one of these things to utterly destroy the same thing and no one gives a toss. In this picture- The small blue ship is right in between two areas of Eel Grass and is ok there. The stern of the big white one is right over an Eel bed. The big blue one is ok as she is over sand although she is ever so close to a protected shipwreck  there and a swing of her stern to north would probably be encroaching into the protected zone. Much further over and her keel would knock over the standing guns that are there. Its logical for captains to want to anchor in the lee of Samson Island as their ships are protected from the sea swell there. In the old days of sail they did the exact same thing,-they anchored all around the south and east of Nut Rock.  To be fair, its hard to anchor in that area and not be destroying Eel grass beds-however-all the rest of the Roadstead is free of this protected growth but then they would be anchoring more in the sea swell. However the biggest cruise ships should anchor more south as they are so large the swell wont really affect them much.  

Mud lark up-date

 I covered a bit of my mud larking on here before. But here is an image sent to me by the Mersea Island Museum of their newly reformed Roman pottery display. It contains all the finds I have made over the years while mud larking there. All my items are on the two middle shelves on the right hand side. If you zoom in you can even see my name on the labels. I never asked for this but its nice that they did it. Not that anyone over that way will know who I am except my mum who has lived there for the last 30 years.  My connection with that Island goes way back to the 1960's.  My family had a very small caravan on a farm there called Waldegraves farm. We used to go there for all our summer holidays. Dad would drop us off then pick us up six weeks later. It was brilliant! Back then the island was so quaint and charming. We knew most of the others who had caravans there too as there were few. We also had my grandparents and some aunts and uncles cousins etc with caravans there too-all close by. It was like our whole family took up half of that area in summer.  You could count the number of caravans on the site back then. There was a tap where we queued to get our water and a small toilet block. It was primarily a farm with fields and farm animals all around. However, today the quaint feel has long gone and Waldegraves is now a huge sprawling holiday complex with pub restaurants showers the whole sorry shebang. Sad really.  I remember the wildlife was fab there when I was young. Fire flies, glow worms. Badgers, foxes, hares, birds of all kinds and swans on a huge wild pond where I used to catch eels.  I loved going out on the mud when the tide was out. I would get up in the early morning while everyone else was asleep- silently stepping over my brothers I would creep out and quietly shut the caravan door.  Then out on the mud to get to the sand banks further off shore. Out there I would find all sort of things. This was how my love of finding things started and my now love of history and nature grew from it all too. Without Mersea Island in my childhood I think I would have gone crazy in East London. Dont get me wrong, I loved all my mates there and I still do. But who knows what I would have become had the influence of my summer holidays not shown me there was a beautiful natural world out there. In a way, the small display above is like a small thank you from me. Thank you Mersea and please look after my dear ol mum!

Shipwreck Treasure

Shipwreck treasure.

It is inevitable after being in diving and visiting many treasure wrecks over 44 years, that i am going to come across shipwreck treasure. I have dived the Campen; Admiral Gardender; Earl of Abergavenny; Coronation; Association; Eagle; Hollandia; Phoenix; Colossus; Schiller and many more. Below are a few items of treasure I have come by as a result but for differing reasons. 

My trail of shipwreck treasure finding started with the Colossus and Schiller. I found my first ever shipwreck coin on Colossus. It was this copper portuguese coin. After it, I found a few more similar and my first silver on the wreck too. 

Colossus sank in 1798.

Then I dived on the Schiller for a while and found my first gold coins and boy what coins to find as your first gold- they are huge and very heavy.  The Schiller sank in 1875 with 30 barrels of these coins on board. Most were salvaged but some still turn up time to time.

                                                                          Schiller gold.

Some of the Treasure from the Phoenix. This is one of 18 wrecks I have found pretty much on my own over the years. I can see this site from my lounge window.  After diving the wreck for two years I had no idea this treasure was there, until one day I turned up to find all the sand over the site had disappeared. This lead to finding the first bit of treasure which then lead me to the rest. Later the sand returned again- but had I not bothered that day it could all still be down there today and me no one any the wiser. Until that point the wreck had been a bit of a disappointment in regards to artefacts.  I believe this is contraband gold jewellery- and also in the picture Im holding a hoard of Charles II gold coins. I found many silver coins too. This is all set to go to auction by law.

 The Phoenix sank in 1680

 I covered the story in another post. Diving in very deep water away from the wreck on East'ard Ledge. I was clearing pots for a fisherman when I came across some old onion bottles dating from circa 1710. I picked up a few coins from the spot too, which  date from the same period. The closest wreckage was up on eastard ledge which is east of the Association. Some beleive the wreck on Eastard ledge to be the Romney but this has never been proven. Others believe it is just more of the Association which is on the nearby Gilstone Ledges. There have been so many wrecks around those rocks that its hard to pull one from another. I believe I have found a trail to either the stern of Association or to the Romney itself.  Some believe that the stern of Association went off into deep water and going by the few items I found and where I found them -it is either debris simply pushed down from above- or as I like to believe- the trail to something much bigger even deeper down. My items were found in over 40meters of water but whatever else may be down there is going to be in over 50m.  Theres a lot of sand out there so it could be nearby but just buried.  Time will tell. These wrecks sank in 1707.

                                                I declared these as (Possibly) Association 

When I first started diving Scilly in the early 90's  I helped the salvage team to place moorings on the Hollandia and other jobs. They had found a large mound of silver pillar dollar coins on this wreck years beforehand. I was gifted a couple of these coins for my help at that time as a thank you. These were the world currency of the time.  I never actually found any coins on this site so I cant really include them but I did spend a lot of time on this wreck helping out and since then have produced a site plan of it- upon during which I found a nice part of her ornate ships bell. Nice big silver coins these.

The Hollandia sank in 1743

Copper ha'penny coins from the wreck of the Bassenthwaite. This was a wreck I found in 2017 and these coins helped to date and thus identify the wreck. These coins were minted for one year only- which was 1837. The Bassenthwaite sank in 1836 carrying these coins as part of a large cargo consignment to Quebec. They never made it.

                                                                      Bassenthwaite 1836

Assume nothing.

Crim Wreck site plan

I used to dive this unidentified wreck a lot when I was younger. It was an interesting site and one that Roland Morris thought was English and part of HMS Romney. However, I dived it extensively to find out for myself what it was. My findings were that it was a small frigate from the Mediterranean area, possibly even a Turkish vessel from the  mid 1600's. I found 3 types of pottery on the site that were identified as either Spanish or eastern Mediterranean and all dated into the 17th century. The anchors looked Spanish to me also. The oddity was that I kept finding clay pipes like the one pictured below. These were identified to be ottoman empire and mid to late 17th century. I was informed that these dated to no earlier than 1630. However, these particular clay pipes seem to be unchanged in their use for a long time- and that seems to be the case as one exactly like the ones seen on my wreck were recently found on another dateable wreck  that sank in 1682. Oddly that wreck was English but the information was still interesting. They only found one pipe like mine and many English ones which makes their one out to be more of an anomaly than a norm for that wreck. Whereas I only found Turkish pipes and no English ones. So my ship seems to be from the Mediterranean and sank here sometime between 1630 & 1690. So the new information is merely that my wreck could be a bit later in date than I first thought. Every little bit of information helps. This is why I regularly visit museums and shipwreck displays all over the world. You can often see something you have seen before but didn't know the date or context or nationality of the object. Then you spot something in a display that is from a known historical context and bam! -suddenly, one day, things begin fall into place. It really annoys me when I watch on TV (usually in America) they find one thing on a wreck and call it conclusive proof of something when it can merely be an anomaly or even contamination. In this game one must always keep an open mind.  I had that lesson reinforced upon me when we found a large naval Anchor near the wreck of HMS Colossus. Being so close to that wreck I naturally assumed it must be her long lost missing anchor. Made perfect sense to me! Over the years I have even found the odd item from the Colossus in the vast areas between the wreck and that anchor. But blow me down if the anchor didn't turn out to be mere contamination. It was dated to 1707 but arrived there on the sea bed after the Colossus sank in 1798. An easy mistake to make given the prevailing circumstances at the time. However, it was only my own research into the naval records that proved the case conclusively for me -as other peoples published research on this anchor (namely that of Mr Richard Larns) was so contradictory and unreliable that I had to totally ignore it and go back to the very beginning. I not only found a record of the navy putting the anchor in that exact spot  themselves in 1967, I even found a written record of a third party who witnessed the navy as they salvaged it off a wreck 7 miles away from where we found it.  A third more local record even gave me the reason why the navy put it where we then discovered it  over 40 years later. This was all hard conclusive evidence- whereas this little clay pipe is merely trying to tell me a little something. Another small piece of evidence in a very big aquatic jig saw puzzle out at the Crim. And another small lesson is being learnt. This is one of the reasons why I love this diving wreck hunting game- Im always learning something new... even if its by my mistakes. Assume - makes an ASS of U and ME.

Ottoman Empire clay pipe. 1630 to 1682 -and possibly beyond.

 

Bit Lively.

 Been a bit lively over the last few days with very strong winds and high seas. I had a few people set to come over for a meeting but they have had to postpone until the gale has abated. Still, it all looked very dramatic out there and when the sun came out to light it all up- it looked just beautiful! Anyway, I was walking the dog around the Garrison near my home and as I passed by one of my wreck finds at low tide, I watched the waves going over the spot. Realising there was a anchor from the wreck right on the end of the out crop, I stopped to study it for a while. This was because at low water, a snorkeler can simply reach an arm down and touch that anchor without diving down below the surface. Therefore, as the the rollers came across the spot, the huge troughs that precede them should expose that anchor to the fresh air- thus I should be able to catch sight of it laying flat there. Sure enough, as the biggest waves went by, I'm sure I could  just make out the anchor. Sadly, this is an old image above as I didn't have a camera with me. Must try and remember to take one the  next time. Below is a photo I took of the anchor while snorkelling there once. I have found 3 cannons not far from it and all are part of a wreck I discovered and have been investigating there over the years. Nothing else of any note has turned up yet, unfortunately. It all very big boulders down there burying the guns, and thus what ever else remains of the wreck, are all buried underneath the boulders- making it hard to locate anything at all, let alone anything new.

Buchaneer Survey

 My old tub needed a proper survey recently. It was at the request of my insurers who wanted to know it was still all ok- in reality they just want to know what its worth today. £900 later it was deemed to be in good shape. I had a few minor things to take care of like- a bit of floor under the bench in the cabin needed a minor repair and they wanted make sure the sea cock was ok. Yes she is an old tub and even looks tatty by the end of a season but the things that matter are always kept on top of. So I did what was asked and am still working on getting her back on the water. Slapping some new paint on at present; fiddling with a minor steering issue and looking at the engine stuff as usual. Wont be long now and I'll be afloat again. No rush as I'm full of cold and snot at present and feeling a tad miserable because of it.  Hopefully be better by the time Im rubbing down the hull for anti fouling-a miserable job but worse if you have a stinking cold.

Below is a link to her coming alongside the quay here last summer.

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Phoenix lookalike

So what did the Phoenix look like before she sank. Well all I can do to answer this is to place up a few images of east indiamen of the similar period. The image above is of a slightly bigger east indiaman coming under full sail. She is even flying the flags of the Company. This one shows a round house on the stern but im not sure she had one. This is a 36 to forty gunner by the look of her.

These two images are closer in size and style for the Phoenix and the one below even looks like she is sinking by the bows. I really like the image below and may even have it painted with a golden Phoenix on her bows as a figurehead.  Must have looked awesome sinking behind Samson Island. That is  where I found her remains in 2017. Very little of her left on the sea bed today. Just paint some waves coming over her starboard side and the island of mincarlo rising in the background and there you have the scene in the deep winter of 1680.

 

Fishermen

Always dived with Fishermen over the years. Because divers always end up helping them out. We either clear or retrieve lost lobster/brab pots. Lift sunken carbs; or clear their propellers when they have gone over their own lines or indeed someone elses. Its a funny union be cause fishermen often blame divers when they have a bad day. They often think divers rob thier pots but in all my 44 years of diving I have never seen this or heard of a diver doing it.   Most of the guys I have helped have either retired now or in one case RiP. Another has left the islands. Even some of the boats are no longer on the water. I'll introduce a few from the past. 

This top image is Alec Hicks on board 'Good Will'. I knew his father first who was a boatman/diver for Roland Morris on the Colossus Wreck. Later I got to know his son here, Alec, and went out with him quite a few times, once even just for the ride. Alec worked everywhere-in amongst the islands and also out in deep water around the outside a good distance out. He was a serious fishermen. They all are but Alec spent a lot on his well kitted out boat. I also shared his woodworking shop for many years. Alec used to spend his winters in the workshop mending pots and nets and making new pots while I built staircases and such. He was always great company but sadly retired and now left Scilly. He was a local boatman before that. He ran a tripper boat called Kingfisher for years before getting serious with the fishing. He gave up the very lucrative holiday maker trade for smelly fishing.

This is Brian Jenkins & son aboard 'Curlew'. He was the very first fishermen I got to know over here. Brian is always ready with an old story about Scilly. He is a bit of a local oracle who features a fair bit in my book Wreck of Colossus. I have some nice memories going out with Brian on his old tub. He has long since retired and his old 1930's wooden built boat 'Curlew' broken up and burnt. He is very old now and cant get about much but his mind is still sharp as a knife. Brian often went by my boat when I was diving on the stern area of Colossus after I found that wreck site. Thats how I got to know him. His son now runs his own vessel and fishes the exact same spots as his father Brian used to. Mostly around the norrard rocks off Maiden Bower; castle Bryher; scilly rock; Mincarlo etc etc.

Another older fisherman I have helped in the past is Tim. Here is is aboard someone elses boat but his own boat was called Victory. He mostly worked out in deep water around the outside of the islands a a good distance off.  I think he has long since retired or scaled down what he does. Went out with these guys years ago, mostly to look after the boat while they went netting, then help to pull in the catch. The old ways were they set a net on a high tide near a brow of rocks. Then , when the brow covers the fish come to eat whatever gets washed over it. The fishermen then went along the nearby shore and made a lot of splashing in the water to force the fish towards their net. It was great to watch. Not seen it being done like that in a long time but was glad to get to see the old ways in operation.

Kitt Legg aboard Pioneer. Sadly no longer with us, so a bit sad I dont have a better picture of him. . This guy always worked out to the western rocks, St Agnes rocks; Annet rocks; Brow of Ponds; Bishop; Retarrier; and the Gilstone where the  warship Association wreckage lies. Thus I saw him quite a lot over the years working out there.  Quite often he would let me tie my boat up to his pot line when he worked anywhere near a wreck I wanted to look at out that way- of course, in return, I'd have to help him out if called upon. He lived on St Agnes and his son took over his boat for a few seasons after he passed away. But sadly now the Pioneer seems to be high and dry above Periglis bay  and looks to be set to be left that way to rot. but I could be wrong-I hope so anyway!  All very sad. Had some great days out there and seeing and mixing with them all. They being around on the surface while I was diving down below was kind of comforting-especially when I was out there all alone. They were all intrigued to know what it was like down under the places they worked. And if ever I found a new wreck I would tell them= "hey, you know that spot where you always fish by such and such rock?-well theres a wreck under there" It always stunned them to think they had no idea what they were actually fishing over all those years. Similarly, I would say to avoid a position if there was a big steel or iron wreck about- so that they wouldnt get their lines or nets stuck.

Nice guys all!
 

Colossus Carriage

One day back when I found the stern area of the Wreck of Colossus, I found a loose piece of wood. This bit of oak was about 4feet long, 6 inches wide and wedge shaped- Tapering from about 3 inches to about  3 quarters of an inch over its length. This wood I left out in the rain for about 5 years to see what would happen to it if it went untreated. One day I took it indoors and let it dry out for another year or two. Eventually I picked it up and decided to see if it was of any use. The surface had gone all black and wrinkled. So I scraped this wrinkled layer off and was amazed to find that there was perfect wood beneath. So I decided to make a small gun carriage with it. I made a few pattens to work from and discovered there was only just about enough for the job. The image below shows one end of the bit of wood before cutting the shapes out. You can see a blackened area which was an original slot in the wood. It is how the whole thing looked before I scraped the black wrinkled layer off.  The oak beneath is perfect old English oak. I am holding a plywood patten of one of the side cheeks above the piece.

I found a diagram of how to construct a late 18th century carriage then, scaling that down to suit the iron gun I was given, I set about cutting out the individual components.  Two side cheeks; two axels; 4 trucks; 1 front transom; 1 gun bed; 1 pig; and a quoin. As are laid out below.

    

Pig Bed & Quoin.

Then, after putting it all together, and making holes tor all the ironwork I carved these latin words on the front of the transom- MATERIA CAPTUS EX NAVIS COLOSSUS which roughly translates to- Material taken from the ship Colosuss.  

I then sent the carraige away to a friend who made all the iron parts for it like- the bolts to hold it all together like the axels o the side cheeks; the trunnion straps which hold the gun down; and the litch pins to hold the wheels (trucks) on. He also added a few rings for where the ropes that move a gun about should go.  The iron gun itself was a gift from another friend.  All the iron bits can be seen in the images below. So now, ever since, I have had an actual part of the ship inside the house. One of my prize possessions and a fabulous reminder of the wonderful time  (2 years 1999 &2000) I had on the site before all the toss pots turned up to spoil it. I later made a full size gun carriage out of a big bit of local elm and it now stands outside my house in the front garden, but thats another story............

 

Cita Telegraph.

Gibson image of Cita with salvage vessel 'Scavenger' astern of her.

The MV Cita container ship was wrecked here on Newfoundland point south side of St Marys island 6th March 1997. She was on auto pilot at the time and her crew asleep. Someone had turned off the auto pilot alarm, so that when she was due to change course noone knew because no alarm sounded. The man in charge in the bridge was asleep in the captains chair at the time. The crash woke him up. Later, after they got all the rest of the crew off safely, the captain wanted to stay aboard in case he was needed if the vessel could be towed off the rocks. My wife was listening on the sea radio and could hear him refusing to leave. Then all of a sudden the vessel lurched a bit underneath him and began her slow slip back into deeper water. My wife heard the panic in his voice when he shouted over the radio mike for them to come and rescue him. He was got off safely and slowly but surely, over time, the Cita slipped away into the deep. It was most odd. One moment this vast vessel was still showing above the waters surface- but by the time I saw her in June that year she was gone. 

Cita telegraph still in place on the bridge

Scavenger

  I was on holiday in the Islands in June that year and found myself tangled up in the salvage for a few weeks.  I was aboard salvage boat called 'Scavenger' which can be seen in the top picture astern of the Cita. The crew were Mac Mace the skipper/diver and John Williams his number one diver. Myself and a friend called Terry Perkins joined them that June. It was all just a bit of fun, for Terry and I, if truth be known. We were gifted silver coins from the Hollandia at the time-because without a commercial ticket, we couldnt actually be paid for our time. The work was a bit dangerous at times but a real hoot on the whole.  We raised car tyres, grave stones, tools, all orts, oh and the ships spare propeller blade which currently stands outside the Belrock hotel on St Marys-just down the road from where I now live. You can read about this saga in my book 'Wreck of Colossus'. We were mostly working stuff out from the holds of the Cita and from inside the stern locker, as well as from around the outside of the wreck on the sea floor. But when the work was done I went for a swim around the bridge which was in shallower water at the time. There I noticed the Telegraph still being in place. I then returned aboard another boat with some tools and removed it. It took a couple of longish dives to get it. It was situated in about 25meters as the ship had turned right over onto its side. In other words- as I went into one side door of the bridge- the other opposing open door was facing the sea bed. I remember seeing a seal frequently looking up at me from that deeper doorway as I worked to remove the telegragh.

Here I am aboard, Moonshadow going back to St Marys harbour with the Telegraph. When we got back the skipper of Moonshadow gave me another nice coin off the Hollandia as a swap for the telegraph. He then kept it in his shed for years and did nothing with it. One day I went to him and got it back. Here it is below all cleaned up and painted and on display at home.

Fight for the Schiller.

A few artifacts I found on the SS Schiller Wreck. 

The SS Schiller sank here in 1875. Its a very tragic story and there's a very good book about it entitled- 'The Victorian Titanic'  A few of my artifacts appear in the back of this book. (More on that below.) I have gathered all sorts of things from this wreck over the years including portholes and some large gold coins like the ones in the picture above. This small collection has a long tale to tell. I found most of it while working the wreck with a guy named Dave Mcbride. When I surfaced with a few of the silver items Dave's face was a picture- he was clearly very disappointed that I did so well while diving with him that day. As a result of his obvious disappointment, I offered Dave all my finds as they had come from a particular spot he liked on the wreck. He told me to dig there and I'd had a lot of fun finding the items but I really didn't want to upset him so reiterated the offer. However, he again foolishly refused to take them and it clearly ended up festering inside. A few months later, I put the artefacts all on display in my local museum and went on diving the wreck from time to time, with everyone else, not thinking there was anything wrong with that. Not once did I see the exact spot again where Dave had been working. Its not that kind of site. There is no ship to to see to speak of. Its utterly smashed to smithereens and scattered among hundreds of large boulders. Hardly anything is recogniseable down there aprt from a part of the prop shaft. Its very difficult to tell where you are as a result of this.  One just mooches among the boulders picking bits up as you go around. 

Buckled Silver toast rack. (Bares the liners Eagle Emblem)

Shortly after the items went into the museum, I got a letter from Dave,- (who actually lived next door to me at the time!)- suddenly stating that he was 'salvor in possession' of the wreck and that i was not to dive the site any longer. Consequently, I popped next door to confront him in an attempt put this silliness to bed. I knew this had always been a free wreck to dive, as everyone here was diving it at the time, even the local and mainland dive charters regularly put their customers on the site. Its what I call a "bus stop wreck" but one that occasionally gives up the odd interesting item. One of the other local divers that showed me where the wreck was told me that, years ago, he had also shown Dave where the wreck was too, so it was not like he had discovered it. On his door step Dave said I was "Advertising" the wreck by putting the artifacts in the museum. To me, this sounded a bit paranoid but there was nothing to say to that in return other than that- I was sorry it upset him but it was too late now. The items had been declared and the action taken.  Personally I could not see any harm. I then left knowing that I had now, unbelievably, fallen out with my neighbour over a few artifacts he had previously refused to take from me when they had been genuinely offered to him at the time!

Thimble with the name Elsa engraved in a cartouche.

A christening gift to Elsa who died in the wrecking.

I continued to visit the wreck with others from time to time amazed that someone would drop a friend for a few old wreck items-but theres nowt queer as folk!  One day another letter arrived, this time from the self important Richard Larn OBE; it came recorded delivery through his expensive London solicitor. The letter basically claimed that everything I had from the wreck was his by legal right. He basically wanted me to take everything from the museum and hand it all over to him. I was also told- never to go out to dive the Schiller again without his express permission. And that he held legal sway over the site. Both statements were false but now the truth was emerging. I had previously been dealing with the oil rag when I needed to be talking to the mechanic. Thus, I went up to Mr Larn's house to talk to him instead. I asked Mr Larn if his actions were a bit over the top and tried to make him see sense that anyone can dive this free and open wreck site for all. Truth be known-I wasn't really that bothered with the Schiller but my brother and friends liked to dive it at the time. I could easily have walked away from the wreck  but when I expressed the opinion that 'it wasn't his wreck to claim' - he got angry and said something like -"if you go out there again my solicitor will place an injunction upon you".  

Ornate silver travel sewing kit above and below it opened up

Needles were kept in the bottom and cotton on the spools under the thimble on top.

Well his threats were like a red rag to a bull. Instead of just caving in my east London gob opened and this came out- "Well crack on my old china, coz Im heading out there right now!" Well after that we fought over the site. Him to stop me and me just being bloody minded. To cut a long story short, the Receiver of Wreck also ignored Mr Larns claims to the wreck, and so too my artifacts, by taking the action of handing legal title to them all over to me. This single action broke his flimsy ill thought out "legal"claim to the Schiller, and everyone lived happily ever after. 😂

Silver ware like spoons bare the initials NLB. (Becker family)

Sadly the Schiller controversy didn't end there. The artefacts spent 15 years on display until the then curator of the museum, to my mind was a very stupid woman who should never have been given the job to begin with, decided to kick my other two displays- (HMS Colossus & Wheels Wreck)- out of the museum.  I felt she was just being vindictive because she had recently lost one of my schiller gold coins then in her care. Naturally, I had complained to the trustees and the museum found me another coin as a replacement.  Shortly after my other displays were given the boot-I took the Shciller items too, as I no longer trusted they were in the safest place to be. 

Silverware so far found on the site has either the owners initials upon them- NLB - or they carried the emblem of the German Liner company- an open winged Eagle over the letters DTDG that owned the Schiller.  As below.

 

Mud Shoes.

As reported in an earlier post from a few months back, I made a return to that spot off Mersea Island where I have been finding Roman pottery. So far I have discovered 3 complete roman pots there as well as lots of broken pieces. Well the spot is about half a mile off shore and can only be reached at low tides. Well last time I was there I almost got into trouble by getting stuck in the mud. Now that kind of thing happens time to time and when I was a younger man I took it in my stride but now I am 60 years old its a tad more difficult to deal with. Its dangerous out there on the mud and even though I have a lifetime of experience larking off mersea, I still get into trouble. Well instead of not going, I decided it was time to change tack and make myself some mud shoes. (pictured above) Well I went back to visit my mum on the island recently and took my new shoes to try them out. They worked really well and gave me a lot of confidence to go most places. A tweak here and there to reduce the suction but on the whole a success. The only other thing I learned was how much my leg muscles hurt after using something new like these. I found muscles hurting for 24 hours afterwards that I never knew I had. 

Sadly I never found any more pottery, or anything else but the day was bright sunshine and most enjoyable just being out there and trudging around. The terrain where the potter was found had changed dramatically. Where there were gulleys in the mud where the pots were found, those gulleys had filled back in again. Maybe next year the gulleys will return for a while. Who knows! But I was surprised to see such change in such a short period of time since I was last there. The only man made things I saw were large pieces of aluminium from an aircraft that must have blown up overhead from during world war2's battle of Britain.  Interesting but not really my kind of thing. 

Anyway, all the pots have now been conserved and given to the mersea museum. The rules with such things is to inform the antiquities finds scheme of the items recovered-this I did with colchester before conservation but never got a reply. The pots were then immersed in deionised water for 3 months and this water was changed periodically about 4 times. The pots were then dried out slowly in a cool dark place before taking them to the mersea museum last week.

Above is an image of a Mersea Island sand bank. There are a few of these off mersea and these are safe places for anyone to walk on when the tide is right out. It was on these sand banks that I cut my teeth as a nipper inadvertently getting myself into mud larking and finding things. From that humble beginning  I found diving and thus to shipwreck hunting. It all started on these sand banks. I have always loved it out there-and whenever I came home with an old bottle or clay pipe or bullets from the war my mum used to say things like-"thats lovely dear but dont bring the muddy thing in here" None ever understood my childhood fascination with finding things- but they do now tho!!