Hanover (ship)

Hanover was a two-masted brigantine packet ship owned and operated by the Falmouth Post Office Packet Service,[1] which operated between 1688 and 1852.[1]

History
Great Britain
Name: Hanover
Launched: 1757
Fate: Wrecked, 13 December 1763
Status: Protected wreck from 1997
General characteristics
Type: Brigantine
Length: 100 ft (30 m)

On 13 December 1763, under the command of Captain Joseph Sherbourne and en route from Lisbon to Falmouth, she was driven ashore by a gale.[1] There were only three survivors out of 27 crew and 40 passengers.[1] The location, near Perranporth has become known as Hanover Cove as a result.[1] At the time she was carrying a large amount of gold and valuables; historical evidence suggests that this was mostly recovered around the time of the wrecking.[2]

The wreck made legal history, when in 1765 an iron trunk containing bullion was recovered. The insurers had already paid out on the loss and the case established that where insurers paid out on cargo and the owners subsequently recovered their property, the insurers were entitled to a refund.[3]

The wreck was discovered by local diver Colin Martin in 1994 following changes in the seabed and was identified by means of recovery of the ship's bell.[3] The Post Office as owners of the wreck paid for an archaeological investigation and recommended in 1996 that it should be protected under the Protection of Wrecks Act.[3] However, protection was not granted.[3] It was not until 19 July 1997, that the wreck site received emergency designation following the recovery of some fifty guns and the destabilisation of the wreck by a salvage rig set up next to it.[1][4] The finder was subsequently licensed to excavate under archaeological supervision with the intention of displaying finds in a local shipwreck museum.[1] Musket, shot, ship-fittings and the Captain's ring have also been brought to the surface.[1] The wreck site has since been protected by return of the sand covering.[2]

  • Drawstring bag for gunpowder
  • Six pound cannon ball
  • Wadding found inside a loaded cannon
  • Ship's bell marked "HANOVER PAQUET 1757; the suspension lugs were torn off when the ship was wrecked

In 2016, Cotswold Archaeology was commissioned by Historic England to use marine assessment to investigate the possible de-designation on three designated wreck sites, including the Hanover.[4] Some doubt had been raised in earlier reports as to the definitive identification of the wreck as the Hanover, and criticism was made of the way the salvage from the wreck had been undertaken, with a failure to record finds and information in a professional manner.[4]

See also

Citations
  1. "Advisory Committee on Historic Wreck Sites: 1997 Annual Report" (PDF). webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk. 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2007. Retrieved 30 August 2012.
  2. "Advisory Committee on Historic Wreck Sites: Report for 1999-2000" (PDF). webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk. 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2008. Retrieved 30 August 2012.
  3. Fenwick, Valerie & Gale, Alison (1998). Historic Shipwrecks, Discovered, Protected and Investigated. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Tempus Publishing Limited. ISBN 0-7524-1473-9.
  4. Patrick Dresch, Sally Evans (2017). "Hanover Protected Wreck: Marine Assessment for Possible De-Designation Historic England Research Report 80/2017". research.historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 9 May 2020.

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