A journey to the bottom of the sea

HISTORIC DOCKYARD CHATHAM

Visitors to a new exhibition will be able to visit a shipwreck which has lain on the seabed for more than 260 years, without dipping a toe in the water.

Diving Deep: HMS Invincible 1744, at the Historic Dockyard Chatham examines the wreckage and treasures of the darling of the Royal Navy which ran aground on a sand bank and has been preserved for over two centuries on the ocean floor.

The ship’s final resting place may still be the bottom of the Solent, but the exhibition at the dockyard will tell her story from her capture and the lasting contribution she made to the Royal Navy fleet, to her subsequent sinking and rediscovery in 1979.

After a year at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, the exhibition comes to Chatham on Saturday, February 12, in time for half term, when there will also be fun maritime archaeology activities including unearthing deep sea treasures buried in a giant dig pit.

Nick Ball, collections, galleries and interpretation manager at the dockyard trust, said: “Visitors will be able to learn why the Invincible was so special and became the blueprint for Royal Navy 74-gun ships of the line. “Originally, a ‘nippy’ French warship, ‘L’invincible’, was captured by the Royal Navy and every inch of her hull and form were studied and then replicated to form a new fleet that would go on to defeat the French.

“She was a game-changer who even influenced the subsequent design of the world’s most famous warship - Admiral Nelson’s HMS Victory, built here at Chatham.” Invincible was rediscovered in 1979 by Portsmouth fisherman Arthur Mack. In recent times it became crucial to rescue the artefacts on board before the sandbank migrated away.

Nick added: “The project to excavate the ship was probably one of the most important of its kind since the raising of the Mary Rose. The story of the excavation itself is extraordinary as it was a race against time and tides.”

The stories featured in the exhibition include the trial of Kent seaman, Captain John Bentley, and his court-martial for its sinking. Artefacts on show include the captain’s wig curlers, 18th century sailors’ shoes, including one pair with what can only be described as kitten heels, and rope still smelling of the tar put on it in 1758.

FACTFILE

Diving Deep: HMS Invincible 1744 opens on Saturday, February 12, and runs until November 20. Entry to the exhibition is included in dockyard annual entry which costs £25.50, or £15 for children.