#naval artifact

[ltwilliammowett]

Whaler journal of the Charles Carroll of Nantucket, beginning December 1, 1848 and ending December 29, 1852, written by Josiah C. Long, Master 

[seaglasssiren]

HMS Victory memorabilia

A medallion made from the copper of the HMS Victory

A postcard from Portsmouth, UK c.1930

[ltwilliammowett]

A child's doll believed to be from the wreck of the North German Llloyd Liner S.S. Deutschland, c. 1875

On 4 December 1875, the Deutschland left Bremerhaven for the USA with 99 crew members and 135 passengers. The captain was Eduard Brickenstein; the passengers were emigrants of various nationalities. On 6 December, the Deutschland deviated from its course through the English Channel due to navigational errors during a storm and ran aground on the Kentish Knock sandbank in the Thames estuary, around 40 kilometres off Harwich, at around 5 o'clock. Fifty-seven people died. The survivors were rescued by the Liverpool after 31 hours. Only twelve of the bodies were recovered.

Although the accident had occurred in international waters, Captain Brickenstein was brought before a maritime court in Great Britain, which led to disagreements with the German Empire and was subsequently used as an opportunity to establish the German Maritime Offices.

Eduard Brickenstein testified before the maritime court that shortly before the ship ran aground on the sandbank, a strong impact was felt through the ship's hull, which led him to assume that the propeller's drive shaft had been damaged by the abrupt change in its direction of rotation to ‘full power back’ shortly beforehand. However, this statement was apparently not taken into further consideration by the maritime court. More recent enquiries have not yet led to any evidence that this assumption is correct. Taking into account the decisions he made during and after the accident and which the maritime court found to be correct, Brickenstein was acquitted. However, as he had contributed to the accident through his navigational errors, this was only regarded as a ‘second-class’ acquittal. Eduard Brickenstein never went to sea again.

The only officer of the Deutschland to lose his life in the accident was Otto Tramnitz, who had been 2nd officer on the Germania during the Second German North Polar Expedition in 1869/70.

Among the emigrants who lost their lives were five Franciscan Sisters from Salzkotten (FCJM), including Henrika Faßbender. The suffering of these nuns moved the British poet Gerard Manley Hopkins, a Jesuit, to write the ode The Wreck of the Deutschland. Hopkins asks why God had tested the Franciscan nuns, who had been forced to emigrate as a result of the Kulturkampf, a second time.

The surviving emigrants of the Deutschland, on the other hand, were lucky a second time. Eight days after their rescue in Southampton, they should have boarded the next steamship, the Mosel, and travelled to America. However, an insurance fraudster planned to sink the Mosel in the Atlantic with a time bomb. However, the bomb exploded prematurely in Bremerhaven due to an accident during loading of the Mosel.

In 1969, a wreck was found near the site of the shipwreck of the Deutschland on the north-west side of Kentish Knock at a depth of around 14 metres (position ♁51° 40′ 0″ N, 1° 37′ 0″ OKoordinates: 51° 40′ 0″ N, 1° 37′ 0″ E | | OSM). Although it could not be clearly identified as that of the Deutschland, findings made by underwater archaeologist Andreas Stolpe in 2005 indicate that it could be the wreck of the Deutschland.

[ltwilliammowett]

Unknown shipwreck, Great Point, Nantucket, 2019

On 12 November 1895, the fragment of a shipwreck was discovered that had run aground about four miles northeast of Great Point, Nantucket. The stem of an English-built ship was visible on a shoal, with a mast with transom and rigging attached. The identity and age of the ship could not be determined to this day.

[ltwilliammowett]

The Burghley Nef. Materials are a nautilus shell with parcel-gilt silver mounts, raised, chased, engraved and cast, and pearls. 1527-1528  

This nef, which here represents a cog, was used as a salt cellar and placed representatively on the table in front of an important guest to honour his/her presence.

[ltwilliammowett]

Detail of Lord Nelsons undressed Uniform Coat (pattern 1795-1812), before 1805

Lord Nelson’s four orders of chivalry: Knight of the Bath, Order of the Crescent, Order of Ferdinand & Merit and Order of St Joachim can be seen in this close-up of his undress coat. Nelson was wearing this coat when he was fatally wounded at the Battle of Trafalgar.

[ltwilliammowett]

Cutty Sark, 2016

[ltwilliammowett]

Ring with a lodestone that supposedly belonged to a pirate. Made of Steel, Silver, Lodestone in Northern Europe or the High Seas, revised in the 19th Century

The lodestone, a piece of magnetite that is naturally magnetic, was essential in the early centuries of navigation to ensure that the ship's compass worked properly. Until the mid-18th century, when improved compasses were developed, compass needles lost their magnetism quite quickly and had to be re-magnetised by brushing a magnetic stone along the needle.

Whether this one really once belonged to a pirate or not is a matter of conjecture.