Maritime Archaeology Sea Trust

In July 2016 MAST received a £2 million grant for the rescue excavation, recovery, conservation and public display of material from the wreck of HMS Invincible (1747) with partners Bournemouth University, National Museum of the Royal Navy, Dan Pascoe of Pascoe Archaeological Services and Serving and ex-Service volunteers and the Community.[5]

Chancellor George Osborne said: "The wreck of the HMS Invincible is an invaluable part of the UK's proud maritime history and it is important we work to save as much as possible. This hugely worthwhile project will support military veterans, serving personnel and disadvantaged teenagers to learn new skills and put artefacts from the wreck on public display for the first time".

The site was first found in 1979 by Arthur Mack. John Bingeman subsequently led excavations between 1980-90 (Bingeman 2010). Dan Pascoe of Pascoe Archaeological Services took the reins in 2010, monitoring the increasingly vulnerable site, undertaking extensive survey work and raising artefacts at risk from destruction, work funded by Historic England. It was this that led Historic England to recognise the site's vulnerability.

Chatham Historic Dockyard holds a significant collection of HMS Invincible artefacts. Maritime archaeological material from the 18th century is poorly represented as a whole in the UK considering the amount of wrecks of this era off our coasts. The HMS Invincible 1744 Project will vastly increase our knowledge and understanding of this important era in shipbuilding and ship life.[6]

Following the discovery of a site consistent with an early 16th-century European wreck off Al-Hallaniyah in 1998, the Omani government, spearheaded by its Ministry of Heritage and Culture, agreed to initially to a reconnaissance expedition in 2013. David Mearns, director of Blue Water Recoveries, brought together a team of maritime archaeologists from MAST and Bournemouth University, geophysicists and other scientists in 2013 to conduct a reconnaissance survey of the site, 14 years after its initial discovery. The archaeology team, led by Associate Professor Dave Parham of Bournemouth University, was supported by MAST which co-funded the first expedition in 2013. There have two subsequent fieldwork seasons and fieldwork was completed in November 2015.[7][8]

As part of a team undertaking the 2001 UNESCO Convention Impact Review for the United Kingdom, MAST completed the Royal Navy Loss List, a major assessment of the international spread of UK sovereign wrecks.

The RN Loss List, from 1512-1947, is compiled from the volumes and websites listed below from the earliest known RN wreck. The assessment shows that there are over 4,700 Royal Naval wrecks scattered across the oceans of the world, covering the period between 1512 and 1945.[9][10]

A Geophysical Survey was conducted by MAST and the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Maritime Archaeological Society (CISMAS) on the Coronation Protected Wreck Site. Promare UK was sub-contracted to conduct the magnetometer survey and Swathe Services to conduct a multibeam survey producing a site plan of geo-referenced targets of both designated sites and the Intermediate area.

The Coronation was a 90-gun second rate, built in 1685 by Isaac Betts at Portsmouth dockyard as one of the 1677 thirty-ships programme. On 3 September 1691 after patrolling for the French fleet, the English Fleet made for Plymouth. The Coronation foundered in a strong south easterly gale whilst trying to round Penlee Point with a loss of all but 13 of her crew, including the captain, Charles Skelton.

The Coronation Protected wreck site consists of two designated areas: Inshore (designated 1988) & Offshore (designated 1978). The area in between these two protected sites is known as the "Intermediate" site wherein lies an unverified scatter of archaeological material.[11]

A rarely seen portion of an unknown wreck within the intertidal zone of Bamburgh Castle Beach was reported to MAST by Steve Brown, a PADI Basic Archaeological Diver (BAD) Instructor and local historian. MAST has conducted two preliminary surveys of the site in 2013 to establish the extent of the site and how much remains under the sand.[12]

The survival and position of some of the features within the wreck would suggest that the buried structure could be mostly intact as the position of hull structure, deck beams, masts and even deck fittings are all as would be expected from a mostly intact buried vessel.

Dendrochronological samples were taken as part of this survey to try and establish the date and origin of the vessel.[13]

The site is now protected under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.

MAST has donated funds to conserve three of the carvings from the Swash Channel Wreck as well as a canister

They were raised in August 2010. The two carvings were found directly above the gunports in the bowcastle and are in extremely good condition. They bring the number of carvings found on the site to five.

The work will be done by the York Archaeological Trust. Once conserved you will be able to see the artefacts up close at Poole Museum.[14][15][16]

MAST, in partnership with Bournemouth University, won a Ministry of Defence (MoD) contract to assess the environmental and safety risks posed by the tankers RFA Creosol (1916), RFA War Mehtar (1919) and the escort carrier HMS Dasher (D37). This assessment includes research into the history of the wreck and its cargo/contents.

The ships fall into two broad groups, purpose-built tankers and an escort aircraft carrier converted from a merchant ship. The first two are relatively simple vessels and the third a much more complex vessel that is likely to be complicated by its conversion and change of use and reuse.[17]