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An ancient wreck
The wreck of the Schiedam is one of many shipwrecks along the rocky and storm - swept at Atlantic seashore of Cornwall in the U.K.The ship sank in a tempest in 1684 off Dollar Cove in the Gunwalloe district of Cornwall ’s Lizard Peninsula . This photograph show Gunwalloe Church Cove in the foreground , with Dollar Cove behind it . [ understand more about the pirate ship discovery ]
A dangerous spot
Dollar Cove – call Jangye Ryn in Cornish – is exposed to gravid moving ridge from the Atlantic . The wreck of the Schiedam has lain in the water , just beyond the Rock of the beach , for more than 300 eld . The ship sink in a storm in 1684 , after regress from Morocco with English military stores on card .
Finding artifacts
Historian Robert Felce inhabit near Dollar Cove and often visits the beach , look for physical object that have wash out up from the sea . Last month he found this seventeenth - century hand grenade – and he institute he found a alike grenade same beach last year . Both objects were heavily incrust with scale and rubble from the ocean – Felce enounce he thought the late discovery was an average rock , until it check undetermined and let on the grenade at heart .
Historic warfare
grenade like this were used in the 17thcentury , by troops armed with muskets and swords . Some English soldiers were specially trained to throw them long distance , and they were subsequently form into the Grenadier regiment of the British Army – a rubric still used by some regiment to day .
Simple construction
The grenade consisted of a empty iron shell filled with several ounces of powder . A electron tube - like primer filled with powder wind through the shell to the charge at bottom . The helping hand grenades found by Robert Felce at Dollar Cove were made safe by bomb electric pig experts from the British Army , who scraped out the gunpowder .
Multi-use ship
This 17th - one C representative shows a Dutch cargo ship , known as a flyute , similar to the Schiedam . The Schiedam had been capture by pirates from the Barbary Coast in 1683 – but it was appropriate by the Royal Navy and used as a lading ship . In 1684 , the Schiedam was used in of navy convoy persuade military depot from English garrison pass from Tangiers in Morocco . But it was separated from the convoy during a violent storm and lapse at Dollar Cove .
Years untouched
The crash of the Schiedam pose for centuries on the seafloor of Dollar Cove . It was rediscover and identified about two year ago by frogman from Cornwall Maritime Archaeology , a private enquiry group that enquire wrecks off the coast of Cornwall for the Historic England agency .
Abundant weapons
The archaeological diver , Mark Milburn and David Gibbins , have since documented many items from the shipwreck of the Schiedam that still lie on the seafloor . They admit a total of 11 cannons found so far – thought to have been part of the military cargo pack by the ship stop .
Unidentified objects
Other remains of the wreck found on the floor of Dollar Cove let in boxes of manus grenade – like the single found lave up by Robert Felce . The divers do not know what these round and empty objects are – it ’s think they may be parts of a bombardon , an early type of cannon or howitzer that was used to throw gemstone projectiles at justificatory walls .
Nature’s help
Recent violent storm along the coast have trouble the moxie that covers much of the shipwreck of the Schiedam . Milburn and Gibbins visit the wreck again in late month , and found that even more rubble from the wreck could now be seen . This photograph shows a gun carriage rack from the ship ’s cargo of military stores .
Little structure left
Very few of the wooden part of the Schiedam stay after more than 300 age at the bottom of Dollar Cove . Milburn said that each tempest that exposed more of the shipwreck do some damage to the piece that are left . But several iron object from the ship stay , scattered on the seafloor .
