Wraki Zatoki Gdańskiej. Historia odkrycia wraka statku tzw. „Johan” („Szklany”), UM-644-2012, EPSA – F53.30

• Authors: Gęstwicki Janusz

Title variants

EN

Shipwrecks on the Gulf of Gdańsk. The history of the discovery of shipwreck called “Johan” (“Glass”), UM-644-2012, EPSA-F53.30

• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

Hydrographic surveys realized by the Maritime Office in Gdynia on the Gulf of Gdańsk, are the research of waterways, anchorages and other usable areas in connection with the necessity of ensuring the safety of navigation and shipping. Numerous underwater objects of various categories are located on the seabed as a result of these surveys. The vast majority of these are ship's anchors, chains, ropes, fishing nets and pollution coming from the land (rubble, bricks, pieces of ferroconcrete, etc.). Underwater military objects are also detectable and shipwrecks or their parts. It is assumed that underwater archeology in Poland has begun with the discovery by employees of the maritime administration in 1969 the wreck of the Swedish galleon “Solen” and the wreck of the medieval ship ”Miedziowiec”. It can be assumed, based on archival source documents, that even several hundred other vessels sank in the Gdańska Bay and neighboring water bodies. On 10.09.2012, during hydrographic surveys from the deck of the Maritime Office in Gdynia vessel – “Hydrograf 10”, an atypical underwater object, about four meters long and half meter diameter, was located in the area of the wreckage, probably wooden vessel. During the hydrographic surveys carried out in following days, using the side scan sonar (C-MAX, CM2 EDF ) and multibeam echosounder (Reson SeaBat 8125), a heavily damaged, previously unknown shipwreck of a wooden vessel and an unusual underwater object lying on that, was identified. On 14.05.2013, hydrographers of the Marine Measurements Department, together with the archaeologists of the National Maritime Museum, in cooperation with divers from the Center of Diving Technology from Gdynia, conducted a preliminary recognition of the shipwreck, which received the working name “Johan”. Based on the first words of divers, it appeared that on the remains of a wooden wreck, probably from the eighteenth century, lies a torpedo with a head separated from the main body. There were also visible the wooden barrels made of small staves of unknown content, at the seabed. Accordance to the existing law, the maritime administration has started activities aimed at precise identification of the dangerous underwater object and its neutralization (removal) by Polish Navy divers. During the operation, the real threat has been confirmed in case of the remains of the wreck which had already received confirmation of historical value by the underwater archeologists. As a result of more than a year intensive maritime administration activities, on 03.07.2014, the divers from the 8th Coastal Defense Flotilla Polish Navy, removed from the shipwreck, the middle part of the torpedo without the tail and the head, caliber 533 mm, about 4.1 m long, which came from World War II . These activities enabled the start of archaeological underwater research conducted by the National Maritime Museum in Gdańsk. As a result of these research, it was established that the shipwreck is a remnant of a merchant ship from the second half of the seventeenth century, which sank with a load of barrels containing, among others iron bars and glass bottles of various sizes and shapes. Three cannon munitions from 1.5 m to 2 m long were also removed from the shipwreck. Due to the removed glass bottles from the wreck, discovered by the Marine Measurements Department of the Maritime Office in Gdynia, an unknown shipwreck from the second half of the seventeenth century, has received a name as “Glass”, since then. Modern hydrographic surveys carried out nowadays, using modern hydroacoustic equipment in the form of side scan sonar systems and high-resolution multibeam echosounders allow to the detect and give precise location of even small underwater objects. The interpretation of the collected measurement data made by an experienced marine hydrographer enables precise selection of these objects, for which it is advisable to conduct further research carried out by a team of underwater archaeologists.

Keywords

PL

archeologia podwodna; „Johan”; obraz sonarowy; pomiary hydrograficzne; „Szklany”; torpeda; Urząd Morski w Gdyni; wraki statków; Zatoka Gdańska

EN

underwater archeology; “Johan”; sonar image; hydrographic survey; “Glass”; torpedo; Maritime Office in Gdynia shipwrecks; Gulf of Gdańsk

• Publisher: Muzeum Archeologiczne w Gdańsku
• Journal: Pomorania Antiqua
• Year: 2019
• Volume: Tom XXVIII
• Pages: s. 213-231

Contributors

author

Gęstwicki Janusz