Le Dragon Wreck 2019 Project

The Wreck Site Continued.

The day always starts with one of the Team doing the Health & Safety Briefing which is very important since there are a number of factors affecting the Team when they are spending about 5 hrs underwater.

Raimund Krob started using the drone for ariel surveys. This year it was fitted with a polarising filter on the lens to see if the drone could video through the water. It is very useful to keep the wreck site in perspective and to visualise the site in contrast with the reefs on either side.

The last remaining Gudgeon was recovered and the geophysical survey continued.

It was great to have the Director-General Juan Lopez and Director Francis Soto from ONPCS come an join the archaeological project. ONPCS is the government department in the Ministry of Culture responsible for all the historic shipwrecks and for maritime archaeology and the protection of the Underwater Cultural heritage in the Dominican Republic. They arrived late in the evening and were given a detailed briefing by Dr Spooner and then they stayed with the project for three days.

It was very good timing as while they were there the team found the keel extension. There was a working hypothesis by Dr Spooner that the ship was extended to around 100ft in length when it was repaired in Boston. However, the archives do not confirm the exact length. We know that a new mizzen mast was added and the original length of the ship would have been too small to warrant this. The ship was originally built in 1776 at the same time as the Hancock, Raleigh and Virginia, and was one of the first warships of the American Continental Navy. The length comparables are very close between these ships and as they were all built in the same shipyard, there was a probability that Le Dragon, when it was refurbished, was not only extended but also major changes made. We know that the iron ballast bars were added and she was totally re-ballasted. As some of the lower hulls were used they would have to extend the keel and keelson. the usual method of joining two sections of keel or keelson is by cutting a diagonal scarf.

So to locate a 17 ft section of the keel and keelson with remains of floors over 53 meters away from the break in the hull by the main mast was an important find supporting the hypothesis and proving the dragon was extended. We currently are working on the hypothesis that this section of lower hull was part of the rear section (from the mainmast step to the sternpost) which was blown up and landed 53 meters away.

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Connor Grzesiak giving the morning Dive and Health and Safety Briefing

Under the shade of the trees, the Team get equipped.

Raimund Krob pilots the Drone for an areal survey of the wreck site.

The Drone survey commences.

Dr Florence Prudhomme and Raimund Krob recover one of the gudgeon sections.

Connor gets ready for his first dive of the day.

The second wave of divers starts their work as the wind increases.

A local fishing boat on the beach. A far cry from when there were over 150 men on the beach following the battle and the destruction of Le Dragon.

Lt. Venture from ONPCS assists with the work and protects the ADMAT crew.

Team photo.

Raimund Krob and Dr Florence Prudhomme uncovering a target found with the gradiometer close to the hull planking found in 2018.

Rami relaxing propr to a change of tanks.

Rami discussing the day’s findings with Dr Louis Desvernay.

The Directors from ONPCS, Juan Lopez Director general with Director Francis Soto being briefed on the survey results by Dr Spooner.

Dr Spooner examining the latest hull section and keel bolt as it is slowly uncovered.

One of the bent iron keel bolts in a 17 ft long section of the keelson, 53 meters away from the amidships section of the wreck.

The documentation continues as the long diagonal scarf joint is uncovered which was to attach the keelson to the existing keelson.

Raimund Krob working to uncover a section of a floor still attached to the keel and keelson by the iron keel bolts.

Steven Fhren and Steven Abell measuring the sections of the keel.

A section of the seven-foot-long diagonal scarf joint on the keelson and one of the bent iron keel bolts.

Measuring the seaward end of the keelson with worm casing tubes clearly visible. The broken section of the keel is the lover timber.

The keel on the left a floor section under the sand with the keel bolt and the keelson on the right.

A close up of the broken floor section with the iron keel bolt sandwiched between the keelson on the left and the keel on the right.

Steven Abell using the Aquascan DX2000 Graidiometer to detect more items around the keel extension section.

The beginning of the 7ft long diagonal scarf joint.

Dr Spooner and Robert Yee working the dredge to determine how far the keel section goes.

Showing the seaward end of the keel extension.

Hand fanning the sand away for the photographs.

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Close up of one of the iron keel bolts.

Showing the confusing keel, floors and keelson section.

Plan view of the keelson at the bottom, the keel bolts with the remains of the floors and the remains of the keel at the top.

Raimund measuring, with the archaeological dredge keeping the sand and silt clear.

Detailed drawings are vital to understanding the ship’s construction and how it fits in with the wreck and wrecking process.

Raimund Krob and Steve Abell measuring.

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A long view from the seaward side down the 17 ft section of the keelson extension of Le Dragon. This important archaeological find proved that the ship was extended in length when the mizzen mast was added and the hull repaired in Boston.