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Lantern base find may reveal ship explosion cause

Katy PrickettBBC News, Essex
News imageThe London Shipwreck Project About a quarter of a round 17th Century wooden lantern base. In the middle is a large hole, surrounded by five smaller holes. The hole is surrounded by concentric circles until it reaches its raised edge. The London Shipwreck Project
The wooden lantern base and top show scorch marks

The remains of a scorched wooden lantern base retrieved from a 17th Century warship wreck may help explain what caused its explosion.

The London blew up 360 years ago off the Essex coast near Southend-on-Sea and an astonishing array of well-preserved finds have been retrieved from it in recent years.

Diving resumed this month thanks to two companies that donated most of the £13,000 needed to replace the dive ship's condemned engine.

The lantern base, candles and a wooden tool handle were among objects recovered since then, said Steve Ellis, one of Historic England's licensed divers.

News imageNAS Steve Ellis showing Bob Archell and Helen Gray a 17th Century candle. He is on the left, dressed in a black polo-shirt with a turquoise logo on his left chest saying the London Shipwreck Project. Bob Archell is in the middle, wearing a navy blue short-sleeved shirt and white cap and has a white goatee beard, while Helen Gray is on the right, wearing a navy dress with large white flowers and has long blonde hair. They are all looking down at the candle and are standing on a boat's deck. NAS
The volunteer-led project nearly failed to go ahead this year after its dive ship's engine was condemned

"Last year we found a wooden lantern top and while on our latest dive, we retrieved the base of a different wooden lantern and both have scorch marks," he said.

"They wouldn't have had glass, just wooden battens and, with the flame not being that secure and on a ship full of gunpowder, is this one of the reasons she blew up?

"That's what I love about diving the wreck, the more you find, the more questions you ask - it's never boring."

News imageNAS Five people, all smiling, on a boat deck. On the left is a man in a white polo shirt with a blue logo saying London Shipwreck Project, to his left is Helen Gray, from DP World, who has long blonde hair and is wearing a navy dress with large white flowers. To her left is Robert Archell, from Dive Masters Insurance, wearing a navy blue short-sleeved shirt and white cap and he has a white goatee beard. To his left is a woman with black hair pulled back from her face, wearing a black trousers and a polo-shirt with a turquoise logo saying London Shipwreck Project. To her left is Steve Ellis also dressed in a black polo-shirt with a turquoise logo on his left chest saying the London Shipwreck Project. NAS
Dive Master Insurance and DP World, which run London Gateway Port on the Thames Estuary, donated most of the money needed for a new engine

The warship is one of England's most important shipwrecks and is a Protected Wreck Site.

It is being rapidly eroded because of its location at the end of the hugely busy Thames Estuary shipping lanes.

This also means seabed sediment is constantly being churned up, resulting in terrible visibility, "like diving in blancmange", Mr Ellis said.

"I came across some beef tallow or other animal fat candles, packed in threes, which felt like modern plastic," he said.

Another exceptional find was a wooden handle. All the items will go to Historic England for conservation.

News imageThe London Shipwreck Project Two 17th Century animal fat candles with their ends towards the viewer. They are a dirty dull yellow cream in colour. Each one appears to be made from three rolled up sheets of wax, each around a wick, encased in another sheet of wax, enclosing all three inner rolls. The London Shipwreck Project
The ship's contents, such as these candles, offer a "time capsule" of 17th Century life

The London was on its way to fight in the second Anglo-Dutch War in 1665, when it exploded while moored at The Nore in the Thames Estuary.

Many women and children, families of the sailors, were on board and the disaster was written about by diarist Samuel Pepys.

Mr Ellis said the area the dive team was currently working on was "a bit more like the Mary Rose [a Tudor wreck], a brilliant time capsule, with complete boxes, complete bottles - everything seems to be in order".

"Every dive brings us closer to understanding the lives, struggles, and stories of people of that era, before this information is washed away and lost forever," he added.

News imageNational Maritime Museum, London A sepia coloured dark line drawing of the London, a Cromwellian era warship, about five years before it blew up. It shows a side view of the ship, with three rows of guns/canons sticking out of the sides. It is sitting in water. The masts are faded out. There is no rigging, there are no sails. National Maritime Museum, London
The ship was crowded with women and children, the families of the sailors, when a gunpowder explosion caused it to blow up

The project was put at risk when the dive team's boat engine was condemned a few months ago.

Mr Ellis said the dive team was "profoundly grateful" to DP World and Dive Master Insurance, which contributed £6,000 each towards a new engine, alongside £1,000 in public donations.

News imageThe London Shipwreck Project The red prow of a boat on greeny-blue seawater in the Thames Estuary. On the horizon are two huge container ships. In the middle is a large green buoy.The London Shipwreck Project
The wreck is located in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes and the seabed is churned up by large ships passing nearby

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