English ship Swan (1641)

In 1645, whilst anchored at Dublin, and with Swan's captain absent from the ship, the disgruntled crew were persuaded by the captain of a Parliamentary frigate to change sides upon promise of payment of wages regularly. Thus the ship became part of the Cromwellian fleet.[4][2]

In September 1653, a Cromwellian task force anchored off Duart Castle, a staunch Royalist stronghold of the Macleans, who had already fled to Tiree. On 13 September 1653, a violent storm blew up from the north west, which resulted in two commandeered merchantmen, Martha and Margaret of Ipswich and Speedwell of King's Lynn being sunk, along with Swan. The wreck of Swan was discovered in 1979.[4]

The Duart Point historic marine protected area, which covers the probable wreck site, was designated on 1 November 2013.[5]

In 2003, one of the cannons from the ship was recovered. It turned out to be an iron 'Drake' cast by John Browne, and is believed to be the only survivor of this type of cannon. It has a mass of 3 cwt 2 qtrs 23 lb, or 415 lb (188.2 kg), and had a 3½" (89mm) muzzle and fired shot weighing 4 pounds (1.81 kg). Another ship of the era, Sovereign of the Seas, had bronze cannons that were also cast by Browne.[4][6]

A barely recognizable, severely corroded and barnacle-covered pocket watch was recovered from the wreck in 1979. It was transferred to the National Museum of Scotland, where researchers Lore Troalen, Darren Cox and Theo Skinner decided to try to analyze the watch's interior components by utilizing a state-of-the-art computed tomography (CT) X-ray scanner, originally developed by X-Tek Systems of Tring, Hertfordshire, U.K. The same type of CT scanner had been previously used to create a finely detailed 3D virtual reconstruction of the Greek Antikythera Mechanism recovered from the 2,200-year-old sunken Antikythera wreck in the Aegean Sea.[3]

Imaging from the CT scans of the watch was used to produce equally fine-detailed three-dimensional views of its interior, depicting beautifully preserved delicate brass components which included cogwheels, studs, pins, Egyptian-style pillars supporting the watch's top and bottom plates, as well as the watchmaker's personal identification (Niccholas Higginson of Chancery Lane in Westminster, London). Among the decorative markings discerned were floral designs engraved on some of its parts, plus Roman numerals and fleur-de-lis on its watchface, with an English rose at its centre.[3]