Shipwreck: F53.30 Glass wreck

Site description

The F53.30 Glass wreck constitutes the remains of the 17th century merchant ship constructed of oak wood under carvel technique – staves of planking were laid edge-to-edge. The site covers the area of 200 m2 - 25 meters in length and over 7 meters in width. Mainly the bottom part of the structure survived. The keel was recognized, as well as the elements of cross beams – floor timbers/frames, 8-cm-thick staves of planking, 3-cm-thick staves of formwork and fragments of mast, bilge pump and stem. The elements of structure were connected with the use of treenails.

On the elements of structure and artefacts recovered from the wreck numerous traces of burning were found. Most probably the ship sank due to the fire.

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Circumstances of the discovery

The wreck was discovered in 2012 by the employees of the Maritime Office in Gdynia. The sonar images were performed, and the fragments of large wooden ship's sides submerged in the sandy seabed were recognized.

Location

The object is located at a depth of 20 meters, 5 nautical miles from the shore to the east of the coast at Gdynia Orłowo.

Course of research

In 2013, the initial underwater recognition of the wreck was conducted from the GUM (Maritime Office in Gdańsk) „Hydrograf 10” vessel with the participation of divers from the National Maritime Museum. The underwater inventory of the wreck was performed in June 2015.

Chronology

The ship was constructed of oak wood from northern Germany in the first half of the 17th century. The ship sank after 1657 on the way from the port of Gdańsk.

Artefacts from the shipwreck

Several hundred of artefacts were recovered from the wreck; mainly unbroken glass bottles with tin caps, tin caps and fragments of bottles. Moreover, wooden barrels of various sizes with iron bars were recovered from the site, as well as iron cannons, lead ingots and parts of shoes.

The tin caps made by Gdańsk pewterers were recognized, which indicated that the freight or its part was loaded in Gdańsk before the ship’s sinking. At present, the artefacts undergo conservation, and in the future some of them will be displayed at exhibitions in the National Maritime Museum.

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