Le Dragon Wreck 2019 Project

The Wreck Site Continued.

The gudgeons which had been located in the 2018 and 2019 survey were documented in position and then were removed from the site and taken back to ADMAT’s Maritime Archaeological Centre for security and conservation and documentation. A small number of iron ballast bars two small and two large were also recovered. The remainder which was located in the grid area was measured and then removed and placed in a line next to the break section. This enabled metal detector and gradiometer survey work, to continue on the grid without having the magnetic influence of the ballast bars.

One important find was the realisation for the reason why the front to the amidship section of the hull had remained in shape. The iron ballast bars the way they had been stacked in the lower hull had concreted together forming a mould of the hull shape. On the port side, most of the hull planking had gone from the second/ third futtock up and towards the break amidships where the shot locker and mainmast would have been the port side of the hull planking was mainly gone. But the iron ballast was stuck together and that held the weight of the ballast and cannons together and had not allowed the ship to disintegrate. On the starboard side, the hull planking was buried deep in the mud and therefore a section of hull planking with the copper sheeting had remained from the keel to the turn of the builge. The iron ballast bars seemed to stop at the forward mast area where just stone ballast was used and the weight of the brick galley which appeared to be in the bow.

Storms and heavy wave action over the centuries had washed most of the upper section of ballast stones (these were pebbles from the Calais area as confirmed by ADMAT-FRANCE infra-red scientific investigation) from the port side which is seaward, over the top and down on the starboard side, which was angled lower than the port side.

Featured

Raimund Krob transporting some of the gudgeons to the beach.

Two more gudgeons heading for the surface.

The hard part was to secure the gudgeons so they did not rub against each other.

One of the gudgeons successfully raised.

Raimund Krob getting ready for a dive.

Team member returning to re tank.

Raimund and his team stopping off for an ice cream on the way back to the Centre.

Placing the artefacts in the conservation tanks.

Some of the diagnostic iron ballast bars in the conservation tanks.

A matching gudgeon as one of the arms had been broken off the centre spindle by the force of the beaching during the wrecking process.

Steve Abell hard at work one evening on hs scale drawings.

An early morning photo of the current Team.

Early morning planning session prior to departing to the wreck site.

The daily Health & Safety briefing prior to the first dive of the day.

The port side amidships ballast bars which concreted together keep the hull structure and defy gravity.

The amidship break in the hull where the main mast would have been. The square cut out section is where te shot locker was before the explosion ripped the ship apart.

The starboard side looking towards the break with ballast stones in the foreground still on the hull planking.

Connor conducting a geophysical survey with an Aquascan Aquapulse metal detector.

Steve Abell documenting a piece of lead sheeting which was wrapped around one of the ends of a gudgeon, possibly by the force of the explosion. Most of the square nail holes along the sides were empty of copper/bronze nails, but a few were still there.

Cannon 2 with the 2000 survey white grid sections to the right of cannon 1 which was still located under feet of sand.

The cannon is still covered with marine growth giving it a ”furry” look to it. Note from the position of the trunnion that the top side is in fact upwards.

The list to the starboard side can be clearly seen, as can the ballast stones which have been washed by the storms from the port side to the starboard side.

Dr Florence Prudhomme with an iron ring with a half brick from the galley attached by the forming of the concretion.

Close up of the iron ring with the galley brick.

The survey grid placed in the same location as the 2018 survey grid, enabling the survey work to continue.

The iron ballast bars, which were measured into the survey grid and then removed, stacked in the amidship break area on top of the long concreted ion bars.