This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: In 2023, in preparation for the construction of an underwater gas pipeline, divers were sent to clear a cluster of anomalies in the Bay of Greifswald, a sheltered lagoon in northern Germany. But as they dove deeper into the murky depths, they discovered things they had not expected: shoe soles, pulley blocks, and a rusty anchor.
They had found a previously unknown shipwreck, built roughly 400 years ago. A preliminary report published in the International Journal of Nautical Archaeology describes the findings of the hurried rescue excavation. Although barely any of the ship survives, the find offers a small piece of evidence about what once sailed across this stretch of the Baltic Sea.
"When I saw the collection of artifacts in the photograph, it occurred to me that they must have come from a wreck," Michał Grabowski, an underwater archaeologist at the University of Warsaw, said. With dredging for the pipeline imminent, the archaeologists had no time to lose; the team of five completed 22 dives in just over 12 days, trying to bring back as much as they could to the surface, the study reported. But conditions were poor; the wreck lay about 25 feet (7.5 meters) below the surface on the soft, silty seabed, meaning even the slightest movement by the divers clouded the surrounding water.
Once on deck, the team documented the finds and hastily placed them in temporary water storage nearby to prevent further damage. Despite their best efforts to recover as much as they could, much of the wreck had not survived. The hull existed only in fragments, made up of a single patch of outer planking around 24 feet (7.5 meters) long, along with loose frames and timbers scattered across the seabed.
But the individual pieces provided just enough detail to tell the researchers what they were dealing with. Like roof shingles, the hull's planks were laid one over the other, then hammered into place with iron nails, and any gaps sealed with a mix of tar and animal hair. This technique is known as clinker construction.
Pinning down the ship's exact age, however, meant turning to the tree rings. Preserved in one of the ship's timbers, the rings told researchers that one of the trees used in its construction had been felled between 1626 and 1639. All in all, the researchers were able to document more than 60 objects, including wooden stocks, rope, barrel staves and a hollowed-out oak trunk that likely served as the ship's bilge pump, the study authors wrote.
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