HMS Gloucester - the accident which nearly killed a Prince? | Tea Time History Chat | 8 May 24

On 6th May 1682, HMS Gloucester struck a sandbank off the coast of Norfolk and sank. 250 men lost their lives. The ship had been carrying a very important person, the king's brother James, Duke of York. Some people even think he was to blame!
The ship was rediscovered in 2007 and has been described as "the single most significant historic maritime discovery since the raising of the Mary Rose in 1982" ( Claire Jowitt, University of East Anglia)
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Links to more information
stuarts.exeter...
www.rmg.co.uk/...
www.gloucester...
www.theguardia...
Book Mentioned:
Samuel Pepys and the Strange Wrecking of the Gloucester. A true restoration tragedy by Nigel Pickford, published by History Press
Tour Information
www.BritishHistoryTours.com
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[@steveclarke6257]

Hi Phillipa, more for information than as comment- there is a 'surviving' intact major 17th century warship in Sweden: the "Vasa" which sank in Stockholm harbour in very similar circumstances to Mary Rose ( except the whole hull sunk in the mud and was preserved). So we can see the changing in ship design archeologically with Mary Rose through the Vasa and then on to HMS Victory.
During the video you also mentioned repairing HMS Gloucester in the Caribbean. The big issue with wood used in ship construction is how it is "seasoned", a process where the moisture content is reduced to mate the timber "denser" and tougher. Ships can be made using freshly cut " Green" wood but they don't tend to last very long before they fall apart, so seasoning is essential to have a vessel which can survive an ocean crossing.
All ships had at least one master carpenter (depending on the size of the ship) to lead repairs efforts; so it depends on how extensive the damage was and how much time they had to even "partially" season the timber. As a result a small amount of "seasoned" timber in the hold to do some repairs on really important items like the keel and ribs. Ships timber from old vessels was often "recycled' when they were taken out of use, for exactly this purpose and to do dockyard repairs- there are apparently several pubs in areas around old dockyards which were built using "surplus" recycled ships timbers (,probably the manager of the dockyard abusing his privileged position ..selling wood stock to flatten his own wallet!), which still survive and you can visit.