The story of a ship that has been stranded off England (United Kingdom) for three hundred and fifty years has finally been traced.
The trajectory and identity of the boat had remained a mystery since its discovery in 2019.
On Friday, the government heritage protection agency Historic England announced the good news.
The wrecked ship, dubbed the "Unknown Wreck of Eastbourne", has been identified as the Klein Hollandia, a Dutch warship, sunk by surprise by the English in 1672.
Specialists from Historic England, @NautArchSoc and @RCE_erfgoed have identified a previously unknown Protected Wreck as the 17th-century Dutch warship Klein Hollandia.
đź“ş See the shipwreck on Digging for Britain (BBC2) this Sunday, 8.00pm.
Read more ➡️ https://t.co/U0zRaXMIEE pic.twitter.com/25CqajN56D
— Historic England (@HistoricEngland) January 27, 2023
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A very well preserved wreck
The wreck, stranded 32 meters under the sea, was identified by an English research team, Dutch researchers and specialists in underwater archeology.
“The condition of the wreck is remarkable and could give us rich information on how Dutch ships of the 17th century were built,” Historic England said in a statement.
Underwater, the scientists found "a large part of the wooden hull, cannons, Italian marble tiles and pieces of Italian pottery".
All these elements were analyzed in order to identify the vessel.
A surprise and deadly attack
The Klein Hollandia, which took part in all the major battles of the Second Anglo-Dutch War of 1665-1677, sank with a cargo of marble tiles intended for the construction of houses.
He was en route from the Mediterranean to the Netherlands when he was attacked by an English squadron.
The captain was killed and the English boarded, but the boat sank shortly afterwards, with English and Dutch sailors on board.
This surprise attack would have contributed to the start of the Third Anglo-Dutch War, part of a series of mainly naval conflicts between 1652 and 1784 over trade and colonies.
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