Archaeologists identify 250-year-old Shipwreck in Orkney

Archaeologists have identified a 250-year-old shipwreck, which was discovered on the island of Sanday in Orkney.

All evidence points to the wreck of the Earl of Chatham, a former Royal Navy vessel called HMS Hind, which was renamed once it became a whaling ship.

The vessel had a sixth rate 24-gun frigate and saw many years of active service, including the sieges of Louisbourg and Quebec in the 1750s.

Scientific analysis and community-led historical research led to the identification of the ship, which was found in February last year.

HMS Hind was also active during the American Revolutionary War in the late 1770s.

It was common for Royal Navy ships to be converted to whaling ships at the time, as their strong build quality allowed them to withstand the icy conditions of British whaling routes.

As the Earl of Chatham, it completed four seasons in the Arctic before ultimately meeting its end in the Bay of Lopness in March 1788.

It was carrying 56 sailors at the time but they all survived.

The timbers were first discovered by the community of Sanday last year, after they were released from the seabed during a storm.

Changes to coastlines could make finds like this more common.

The timbers are currently housed in a freshwater tank at the Sanday Heritage Centre to conserve them.

The tank, which was funded by National Heritage Memorial Fund, prevents the timbers from decay, because as soon as they are removed from the sea they start to dry out and break down.

Wessex Archaeology, working with Dendrochronicle and volunteer community researchers, helped identified the ship.

A dendrochronological assessment and analysis of the wood was conducted and determined that the ship was built with wood from south and southwest England.

This is also known as tree ring dating, where the rings in the wood are counted to establish the age of a tree.

It took several months working with archives and community records to find the most likely candidate for the ship.

Ben Saunders, senior marine archaeologist at Wessex Archaeology, said: “Throughout this project, we have learned so much about the wreck, but also about the community in Sanday in the 1780s.

“Sanday was infamous for shipwrecks at the time, called ‘the cradle of shipwrecks in Scotland’, but the community was equally well-known for its hospitability as it looked after sailors who fell afoul of the area’s stormy seas.”

Clive Struver, chair of the Sanday Development Trust, said the work to uncover the identity of the wreck had been “hugely exciting”.

He added: “Now that we have this knowledge about the wreck and how it came to rest in Sanday, the next step is very much to explore what the community here would like to see happen.”