Archaeologists Race to Document 300-Year-Old Northumberland Warship Wreck

Archaeologists are racing to document the wreck of the English warship Northumberland, which sank in the Great Storm of 1703 off the coast of Kent, England. The shipwreck, discovered in 1979 and recently exposed by shifting sands, is well-preserved but threatened by natural elements and wood-boring organisms. Similarly, researchers found an uncharted modern shipwreck off Cape Breton Island, Canada, discovered using sonar technology, though its origin remains a mystery. In Scotland, a 250-year-old warship wreck discovered on Sanday island has been identified as the Earl of Chatham, a British Royal Navy vessel that later served as a whaling ship, highlighting its historical significance in British and American naval history. Additionally, another shipwreck found in Scotland, HMS Hind, has been linked to the Revolutionary War through archival research. Separately, the 1865 sinking of the S.S. Brother Jonathan off the Oregon coast remains one of the deadliest maritime disasters on the U.S. West Coast, with over 200 lives lost and valuable cargo including gold coins, underscoring the ongoing interest in historic shipwrecks worldwide.