A rare copper-sheathed rudder linked to a ship which sank in a storm off Wexford’s Carnsore Point has been located by divers.
As The Sunday Independent reports, the rudder is believed to be from the ship Recovery, which was carrying Italian art purchased for Dublin’s Custom House when it foundered in 1787.
Experts in international maritime museums are being consulted to check how rare the discovery is.
Six people died in the sinking, as reported in The Freeman’s Journal, which reports that the artworks on board the ship had been purchased in Italy by the Earl of Charlemont for the “new Custom House”.
The newspaper reports that the cargo was “uninsured” when the ship went down.
Extract of ship sinking from The Freeman’s Journal
Lloyd’s of London reported that “ a quantity of rich and rare curiosities of art and nature collected in Europe” by banker John La Touche Esquire was also in the cargo.
Extract of ship sinking from Lloyd’s
Diver Edmond O’Byrne told The Sunday Independent that the location of the ship was confirmed after studies of a series of multi-beam surveys in the area by the State research vessel RV Keary.
Maritime Institute of Ireland president Joe Varley said that a copper-coated rudder is “very significant”, and he supports a call by the divers for the artefact to be raised and for further investigation of the area where the hull may lie.
Diver Edmond O’Byrne told The Sunday Independent that the location of the ship was confirmed after studies of a series of multi-beam surveys in the area by the State research vessel RV Keary
During the era of timber ships, the ancient Chinese had used copper plates below the waterline, and the British Navy developed a method of copper sheathing to protect hulls from shipworms such as Teredo navalis, also known as the naval shipworm.
The National Monuments Service (NMS) confirmed that it had been engaging with diver Edmond O’Byrne on the discovery.
It said it had “no plans to recover the archaeological object” as it believed “ preservation in situ” is “the best principle”,
However, the NMS said it will “continue to review the situation” and said the “identity of the shipwreck has yet to be confirmed”
Read The Sunday Independent here
