Last year, a male student in the remote beach of the Orkney Islands in northeastern Scotland accidentally discovered the wreckage of a wooden ship. This discovery quickly captured the attention of the local community, archaeologists, and historians.
After more than a year of research, on Wednesday, July 23rd, experts announced that all existing evidence indicates that the sunken ship is the 18th-century British warship “Earl of Chatham,” which participated in the American Revolutionary War before later being used for whaling in the Arctic and ultimately sinking in a storm.
According to media reports, in February 2024, the student was jogging on the beach of Sanday in the Orkney Islands when he noticed wooden ship bones emerging from the sand dunes, exposed by a recent storm that had swept away a large amount of sand.
This discovery quickly piqued the interest of the island’s residents, as much of their history is intertwined with the sea. Since the 15th century, the small island, with an area of only about 50 square kilometers, has recorded approximately 270 shipwrecks, highlighting its importance and danger in maritime history.
Local farmers promptly used tractors and trailers to drag the 12-ton ship’s timber from the beach to a safe area, where it was then handed over to a team of experts for assessment and research.
Ben Saunders, a senior maritime archaeologist from Wessex Archaeology in the UK who led the research, explained that analysis of the tree rings in the wood revealed that it originated from the mid-18th century in southern England. Fortunately, this period coincided with the early stages of systematic record-keeping in Britain, providing substantial data to support the identification of the ship.
Saunders noted that based on the shipwreck records of the Orkney Islands, the research team first ruled out all possibilities of Nordic and northern English shipwrecks, as well as ships that did not match the size specifications, ultimately narrowing it down to only two to three possibilities, with the “Earl of Chatham” being the most likely candidate.
Before being named the “Earl of Chatham,” the ship was the Royal Navy vessel “HMS Hind,” a 24-gun escort ship built in the southern English city of Chichester in 1749.
“HMS Hind” played a role in helping the British seize control of Canada from the French army during battles in Louisbourg and Quebec in the 1750s. Later, during the American Revolutionary War in the late 1770s, “HMS Hind” served as an escort for the British fleet.
After being sold by the British Navy in 1784 and renamed, the ship became a whaling vessel, hunting for giant whales in the Arctic waters near Greenland. In 1788, it sank near Sanday Island due to severe weather while en route to a whaling location, with all 56 crew members fortunately surviving.
Currently, the ship’s timber is preserved in a freshwater tank specially built at the Sanday Heritage Centre, and there are discussions underway in the local community about plans for its permanent exhibition.
Saunders highlighted that this discovery exemplifies “community-engaged archaeology,” and it was due to the dedication and assistance of local residents that the shipwreck was found, protected, and entered into a systematic research process.