BROKEN CROCKERY IDENTIFIES WRECK

 18 July 2025: 

July is half way done and the weather is still pretty squirrelly here in the northeast with serious storms, heat, and humidity. Summer can be exciting at times! For whatever the reason there seem to be a fair number of recreational boats still on the hard, but ours is most assuredly not! Having some lovely excursions between bouts of unkind weather; the cold will be here soon enough and we need to get in as much "water time" as we can. Here's a piece from Fox News about a 140 year old wreck that was recently identified.

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 Ship remained hidden on ocean floor since fatal 1888 collision

Divers recently identified a long-lost ship that capsized almost 140 years ago – all thanks to one broken piece of crockery.

Dominic Robinson, a former British Army officer based in Plymouth, England, identified the wreck as the SS Nantes. The ship was built in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1874.

Robinson, who served as a military helicopter pilot, told Jam Press the vessel collided with the German-flagged Theodor Ruger ship in 1888. 

"It was, when it was sunk, on passage from Liverpool to La Havre, in France, carrying [a] cargo of coal," Robinson told the news agency.

The accident proved deadly, as most of the Nantes' crew died in the English Channel.

 Former British Army officer Dominic Robinson identified the SS Nantes shipwreck, thanks to a broken plate. (Jam Press)

 

"Sadly, pretty much everybody who was on board the Nantes died," Robinson said. 

"It drifted for several hours, before it finally made its way to the bottom, sadly, with many of its crewmen on board."

Robinson noted that three people survived the wreck: two men who jumped onto the Theodor Ruger, and another who stayed on the Nantes and tried to keep the vessel afloat.

"Unfortunately, the Nantes went down about 10 hours later in the early hours of the morning and he was the only person who was picked up from that," the explorer said. 

"It's quite a sad story."

 

The ship remained unseen for almost 140 years. A local dive team came across the wreck last year, but its name was unknown until now.

The key to identifying the ship was a broken plate bearing the logo of the Cunard Line, a historic British cruise line.

Robinson said that, to identify the ship, "you try to find a list of all the Cunard ships that were sunk."

"You then try and narrow them down to, to a relatively small one, and an old one," he said.

 "We obviously know where it sank, so if you can find information about the sinking and the wreck that aligns all those things up, then it's fairly straightforward to identify it."

Thanks to information from the UK Hydrographic Office, the team was also able to verify the length of the Nantes, which measured roughly 260 feet.

 

Ascertaining the wreck's length was crucial to the ship’s identification, along with the Cunard plate.

"Not surprisingly, [the plate] is what gave us the most significant clue," he said.

The discovery comes as marine archaeologists worldwide are unearthing countless shipwrecks every year.

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Sometimes it's the smallest thing that provides the eureka! moment! There are countless stories of dogged research that has led to an important discovery. Well done Dominic Robinson!

Until next time.

                             Fair Winds,      

                                 Old Salt 

 

LIGHTHOUSE AT ALEXANDRIA

5 July 2025: Happy Independence Day (belated) to our U.S. readers and happy 249th birthday to the United States of America! Next year's the biggie at 250 with some amazing international celebrations planned including a convocation of "tall ships" from all over the world. Should be exciting. And speaking of exciting, Maritime Maunder has now passed 250,000 readers worldwide! We would never have imagined it 11 years ago when we started this blog. Thanks to all of you who read our posts! Today, an interesting restoration project (virtually) which, when completed, will give modern day viewers a look at one of the original wonders of the ancient world: the Lighthouse at Alexandria. Sadly, it will only be virtual, not physical. From the Greek Reporter:

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After centuries beneath the waves, 22 massive stone blocks from the ancient Lighthouse of Alexandria have been recovered from the seafloor, marking a major step in efforts to digitally reconstruct one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

 

Rare pieces lifted from the seabed

Led by archaeologist and architect Isabelle Hairy of France’s CNRS, the operation is part of the PHAROS project.

Conducted under the authority of Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, the mission brought up some of the lighthouse’s most iconic elements, including the lintels and uprights of a monumental doorway, each weighing between 70 and 80 tons.

 

The recovered blocks also include a threshold, large foundation slabs, and parts of a previously unknown pylon featuring a doorway that blends Egyptian design with Greek construction methods.

Now THAT'S a doorway!

 

Digital tools help reimagine the lighthouse

The findings expand a growing digital archive of the site. Over the past decade, more than 100 submerged architectural pieces have already been scanned. The newly recovered blocks will undergo photogrammetric processing before being handed over to engineers from La Fondation Dassault Systèmes.

The blocks will be virtually repositioned to help create a digital reconstruction of the lighthouse of Alexandria, revealing how it once stood and possibly how it fell.

Discovery builds on earlier underwater research

This work builds on the 1995 discovery of the lighthouse’s underwater remains by archaeologist Jean-Yves Empereur, founder of the Centre d’Études Alexandrines (CEAlex). His earlier efforts helped establish a clearer picture of the monument’s original footprint and launched long-term preservation studies.

Standing over 100 meters tall, the Lighthouse of Alexandria was built in the early third century BCE (Hellenistic era) under the rule of Greek general and successor of Alexander the Great, Ptolemy I. It served as a beacon for sailors navigating the city’s rocky coastline and symbolized Alexandria’s strategic and cultural importance in the Mediterranean.

 

According to Strabo, Greek architect and engineer Sostratus of Cnidus, a friend of Ptolemy, designed and constructed the lighthouse and presumably funded the works.

Widely considered the world’s first skyscraper, the lighthouse remained standing for more than 1,600 years before being damaged by earthquakes and eventually dismantled for building materials.

The PHAROS project brings together archaeologists, architects, historians, and coin experts to gather ancient descriptions, depictions, and evidence dating from the late fourth century BCE to the 15th century CE.

These historical records help fill gaps left by the physical remains, which were further reduced when stones from the lighthouse were used to construct the Qaitbay Fortress in 1477.

A digital rebirth for a lost monument

In 2025, GEDEON filmed the current mission for a new 90-minute documentary, directed by Laurence Thiriat. The film is set to premiere in prime time on France Télévisions, offering viewers a front-row seat to the rebirth of a monument lost to time.

As these ancient stones rise from the sea, the Lighthouse of Alexandria begins to reappear—virtually rebuilt, piece by piece, through science, history, and imagination.

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Recovering those blocks must be an amazing undertaking.... We wonder if they will be put on display somewhere for tourists to see and touch an important part of history. 

Until next time,

                                    Fair Winds,

                                    Old Salt