Cattewater Wreck facts for kids

The Cattewater Wreck is an old wooden ship that sank in Cattewater, near Plymouth Sound, England. This ship is a mystery because its name is still unknown. Experts believe it is from the 16th century, which means it's over 400 years old! It is a Protected Wreck. This means it's an important historical site, looked after by Historic England.

Discovering the Cattewater Wreck

The wreck was found by accident in 1973. A special boat called a dredger was digging to make the Cattewater deeper. It pulled up old wooden pieces and parts of iron cannons.

Soon after, experts from the National Maritime Museum started an underwater investigation. They made a map of the site. They also carefully brought up more items, including parts of an old iron cannon.

The ship's main body, called the hull, was found. It was the lowest part of the ship. The dredging work had caused some damage to it. Because of how important the wreck was, it became a protected site under the British Protection of Wrecks Act 1973.

What Was Found?

More work was done on the wreck between 1974 and 1978. Divers found many interesting things! These included:

• Pottery (old dishes and pots)
• Worked wood (pieces of carved wood)
• A brass pin and buckle
• Different lead objects
• Leather
• Rope
• Pieces of cloth
• Animal bones
• Iron guns that were built with staves (like barrels) and placed on sledges

Even with all this work, experts still only know about half of the ship that remains.

What Kind of Ship Was It?

The Cattewater ship was built during a time when ship design was changing a lot. This was between 1480 and 1525. During this period, ships started to be designed using mathematical ideas.

Even though its name is unknown, the items found suggest it was a merchant ship. This means it was used for trading goods. It was likely between 200 and 300 tons in size. This measurement is called burthen.

Recent Work on the Wreck

More recently, the University of Plymouth and 3H Consulting Ltd. have studied the wreck. They used special tools to learn more about the site.

How They Studied It

In 2006, they used a "sub-bottom profiler." This tool sends sound waves into the seabed to see what's hidden underneath. In 2007, they used other tools like:

• A "multibeam echo sounder" to create detailed maps of the seabed.
• "Sidescan sonar" to get images of the seafloor.
• A "caesium magnetometer" to find metal objects by detecting changes in the Earth's magnetic field.

This survey work helped them find new magnetic spots and objects buried under the sand. It also helped them find the exact location of the ship's remaining hull.

Digital Model of the Site

As part of this work, they created a full digital model of the site. This model uses a program called Site Recorder. It combines all the old information from past studies with the new data from the recent surveys. This helps experts understand the Cattewater Wreck even better!