Shipwreck: F32.6 Helena

Site description

The F32.6 Helena wreck constitutes the remains of the 19th/20th century Rewa operated punt named Helena, which sank in March 1945 as a result of military activities of the Soviet Army. Cataloguing works conducted on the site resulted in identification of an oak hull of a sailing vessel with carvel planking, equipped with an internal combustion engine. Dimensions of the wreck are as follows: 13.5 metres in length, 4.5 metres in width. The following structural elements of the ship were identified: densely laid floor timbers, staves of planking, staves of inside planking, an 8.4-metre-long keelson and items of equipment, such as an internal combustion engine with a flywheel, 80 cm in diameter. Operated in the Bay of Gdańsk and the Bay of Puck, Helena was mainly used for transport of sand, gravel, stones and peat. Dimensions of the ship were as follows: 15 m in length, 4.8 m in width, 2.1 m in depth.

Circumstances of the discovery

The wreck was found in 1969 in the waters of the Bay of Puck, near Osłonino. Preliminary works, coordinated by the Polish Maritime Museum in Gdańsk, were conducted by enthusiasts of underwater archaeology, members of the diving section at the “Kotwica” maritime yachting club in Gdynia.

Location

The object is located at a depth of 2.5 m, around 300 metres from the shore, to the south-east of the Osłonino village.

Course of research

A drawing of the site was made and several artefacts were recovered in the course of works conducted on the wreck in 1969. The site was catalogued in 2006 and 2017.

Chronology

Originally, the ship was built in 1872 by Kosha, a boatbuilder, for Józef Buda. In 1895, Józef Długi became the owner of Helena, followed by his son Klemens in 1933. In 1927, she was converted from a single-masted vessel to a two-masted ketch. In 1936, the punt was equipped with a 20 HP Deutz internal combustion engine. The sailing vessel sank in March 1945 in the course of military activities of the Soviet Army.

Provenance

The vessel was built and operated in Gdańsk Pomerania. She was used to provide services to local ports within the area of the Bay of Puck and the Bay of Gdańsk

Artefacts from the shipwreck

Several artefacts were recovered during the works on the wreck, including binoculars, a compass, blocks, dead eyes and a wooden plate with an inscription “HELENA”.