Reference

Date 1987

Event ID 640466

Category Documentary Reference

Type Reference

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/640466

The fifth-rate warship Dartmouth was wrecked on 9 October 1690 on Eilean Rubha an Ridire, close to the SE end of the Sound of Mull. Her remains were located by amateur divers from Bristol in 1973, and excavated over the next two seasons under the auspices of the Scottish Institute of Maritime Studies and the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland. A substantial portion of the lower hull was found trapped in a gully close inshore, and was shown by artifactual analysis to derive from after part of the ship. The vessel had evidently broken amidships, allowing the forward portion to roll into slightly deeper water before disintegrating and depositing its contents in a pattern which reflected their original locations.

Dartmouth had been built in 1655, and had been the subject of much repair. A major refit in 1678 had seen the replacement of her keel and the three lower strakes on each side. Itemised shipyard accounts survive for this work, and allow detailed study of 17th century carpentry practice, while the identification of a fixed point on the fragmentary keel has allowed the projection of the after lines from the curvature of the surviving frames.

Artifactual discoveries included the ship's bell, which was dated 1678 and was clearly associated with the refit of that year; a wash sketch by Van de Velde the Younger shows the belfry as empty. Navigational instruments found included dividers, a protractor, a log slate, part of a backstaff and a binnacle lamp. Drug pots, an apothecary's mortar and two pewter syringes probably came from the surgeon's chest, while the work of the purser is represented by a set of brass weights and a boxwood gauger's rule. Domestic utensils of pottery, glass, pewter and treen were spread widely across the site; their quality reflected their apparent origin in the officer's quarters at the stern. Personal items included an ivory snuff bottle and a Highland ring brooch.

Most of the ship's cast-iron ordnance was concreted and badly-degraded; this was generally left in situ, only one piece being raised for experimental conservation. Samples of iron Roundshot, lead musket balls and hand grenades were also recovered. Environmental material (including butchered animal bone) was sampled; a small quantity of leatherwork (including pump washers, footwear and a drawstring purse) found. Two gold guineas were found, one of James II (1687) and the other of William and Mary (1689).

C J M Martin 1987.