This site contains the remains of an unidentified and very broken up vessel, lying in two sections. The identification of the boiler and the construction method of the riveted plate implies that the wreck was built pre-World War II, and probably sank either during the war or shortly after.
The wreck is situated SE of Hastings, East Sussex and lies at a depth of 16m. The dimensions of the vessel are 85 metres in length and 15 metres in width.
In August 2002 the wreck site was surveyed using sidescan sonar and magnetometer. The magnetometer data indicates that the vessel was made of a ferrous metal. When the site was dived a month later, it became apparent that the vessel had been disturbed after it sank. The UKHO (United Kingdom Hydrographic Office) report for the wreck site noted that the vessel had been swept and dispersed in 1956, confirming the dive results.
This site is the wreck of a World War II bomber, identified by its engines as a B-17 Flying Fortress.
It lies in 16m of water, 2.4nm SSW of Newhaven, East Sussex.
As an aircraft lost in military service, the site is protected under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986. Reports from a dive investigation in 1975 indicate that the tail section and wings were visible on the site and therefore it is assumed that the plane was ditched and sank intact, rather than crashed. The Royal Navy removed the wings later that year after a diver died on the site; a tragedy believed to have been caused by the hazardous nature of the site.
In 2002 a geophysical and diving assessment of the site was completed by Wessex Archaeology to confirm the aircraft type and establish the remaining extent of the site. The geophysical information consisted of sidescan sonar and magnetometer data. The site was dived twice, in September 2002, to ground truth the sidescan anomalies. This survey observed that only three engines and some scattered debris remained at the wreck site, most of which are largely buried.
In June 2003, the site was surveyed again using magnetometer, sub-bottom profiler and multibeam sonar. Later that year, further diving fieldwork was carried out on the site which mainly comprised visual recording (photographs, video, site plan, feature dimensions) and some light cleaning of one of the engines. Underwater photos and video can be viewed by clicking the red spots on the multibeam image here.
A comparison of the survey results concluded that the site had not changed greatly over the year and was therefore in a generally stable condition.
Further information about B-17 bombers can be found here.
A combination of documentary research and geophysical data have identified this shipwreck as that of the 
mid 19th century Swedish steamer Talis. The vessel sank with its cargo of coal after a collision with the ss Roman. In dive guides the wreck is usually called the “1906 wreck” after the year it sank and was later rediscovered.
The wreck site is situated 5.56nm SE of Beachy Head in East Sussex, just south of the Royal Sovereign Shoals, in 15.2m of water (CD). The dimensions of the wreck are approximately 65m x 12m.
In August 2002 Wessex Archaeology surveyed the site using sidescan sonar and magnetometer. The sidescan data showed that the wreck was lying on an even keel and was largely buried. The amidship section of the vessel was broken up, which may be due to a salvage operation. The site was not dived during the 2002 fieldwork season due to adverse weather conditions.
In June 2003 WA carried out further geophysical investigation of the site using multibeam sonar, and this corresponded with the previous year’s results. No dive survey was carried out in 2003 due to time constraints and adverse weather.
Click here to view geophysical images from both years’ fieldwork, together with more information about the Talis and a link to find out the vessel specifications.
In the summer of 2005, the site was subject to both ROV (remotely operated vehicle) and diver survey. Examples of the video footage together with underwater photos, a site plan and information regarding the construction, vessel type, fittings and machinery of the Talis can all be viewed here.
The recent discovery of Palaeolithic handaxes in the North Sea has underlined the link between aggregate dredging and archaeology.
To help let aggregate companies know where prehistoric remains might be found, and to target new surveys, Wessex Archaeology has been looking again at old records of artefacts found at sea and on the coast.
Often, little of the information about such discoveries was recorded at the time because people were not so interested in marine archaeology. Today, this information can be very valuable, once it has been tidied up in a way that can be easily accessed through computerised records.
Wessex Archaeology’s ALSF project Artefacts from the Sea concentrated on making information about old discoveries more easily available through the National Monuments Record (the NMR, maintained by English Heritage) and through Historic Environment Records (HERs, maintained by local authorities).
Our project looked at two areas: the Yorkshire coast between the Humber and the Tees, and the Solent in southern England. Records of hundreds of discoveries were added or improved in each area.
As well as re-examining finds made at the coast, the project also catalogued a very important collection of prehistoric finds held by fisherman Michael White. Almost 300 finds from 59 different places in the Solent were catalogued, ranging from the Lower Palaeolithic to the Bronze Age.
The Artefacts from the Sea project successfully demonstrated the value of re-examining previous discoveries as a cost-effective way of improving our knowledge of the likely presence of prehistoric material offshore.
Our new pages detailing the methods and results of the project can be found here.
The reports from Wessex Archaeology’s ALSF Seabed Prehistory Project have been made available online via Scribd, where they can be viewed or downloaded as pdfs.
The reports set out details of marine geophysical, geoarchaeological and palaeo-environmental studies.
There are eight volumes covering five study areas, plus an Introduction and Results and Conclusions.
Further details of the Seabed Prehistory project can be found here.
To see the online reports, click on the links below:
Seabed Prehistory: Gauging the Effects of Marine Aggregate Dredging
Volume I: Introduction (Ref: 57422.31, February 2008)
Volume II: Arun (text and graphics) (Ref: 57422.32, February 2008)
Volume III: Arun Additional Grabbing (Ref: 57422.33, February 2008)
Volume IV: Great Yarmouth (Ref: 57422.34, February 2008)
Volume V: Eastern English Channel (Ref: 57422.35, February 2008)
Volume VI: Humber (Ref: 57422.36, February 2008)
Volume VII: Happisburgh and Pakefield Exposures (Ref: 57422.37, February 2008)
Volume VIII: Results and Conclusions (Ref: 57422.38, February 2008)
England’s Shipping is an ALSF project that we completed in 2004. The project developed a method that would make documentary records of pre-1730 shipping activity more accessible, so they could be used in assessing the archaeological potential of offshore areas. We’ve recently been reviewing some of our older project pages and making updates. The updated pages can be found here.