Alternative view of the boiler
DEEPWRECKDETECTIVES such measures as are necessary to avoid a catastrophe of this kind .”
Brackenholme ’ s crew hailed the approaching steamer to warn them off , to no avail . HMS Supply , steaming at eight knots , rammed the schooner just before her forerigging , causing fatal damage . Frantic shouts of “ Stop her ! Stop her !” came from on board the Supply , but the damage had been done . The men rushed forward and clambered aboard the bows of the Supply , saving themselves before their ship sank , taking the entire cargo of 66 tonnes and all their personal belongings to the bottom . The court ruled : “ We are all of opinion that HMS Supply is solely to blame for this collision .” As for Staff Commander Charles Bawden , there is no record of a court martial , and he seems to have escaped censure for failing to ensure his ship kept a proper look-out , claiming in his defence Brackenholme ’ s lamps were unlit . There had been just one man on look-out duty , and he was the helmsman ; a wholly inadequate state of affairs .
More mysteries
What of the divers ’ reports that there was only one locomotive seen on the seabed ? This is best answered by the presence of parts of a trawler ’ s net , snagged on the wreckage . Although we cannot be certain , it is highly likely a trawler has disrupted the site and knocked the side-by-side locomotives over and scattered the tenders . Examining some of the underwater images later , it does appear the remains are there of both locomotives and the tenders .
What of the Brackenholme herself ? It ’ s no surprise that her wooden hull has largely gone , though some bottom planking , frames and keel are visible . A century and a half of oxygen-rich salt water , strong tides , storms and ground swells has pretty much obliterated the ship , although it is likely other more substantial parts of her , such as her windlass and rudder might have survived . There ’ s more diving to be done to check the wider site .
As far as I know , there is only one surviving example of a Peto , Brassey and Betts locomotive , a later one from 1869 that is in Romania . Yet here we have the fixtures and fittings of two earlier examples from 1864 , right in our own backyard . Acknowledging that the site is of historical importance , I arranged for the Southampton-based Maritime Archaeology Trust to survey the
The wheels are piled on top of each other
site , in order to take measurements , produce drawings and photographs , and also to obtain photogrammetry imagery .
This procedure typically involves taking hundreds of overlapping images from different angles , which are then fed into a computer system that stitches them together to create a 3D image , viewable from any angle . This was done in August 2019 and the results are brilliant . Eventually this imagery will be publicly available through the Maritime Archaeology Trust website ( www . maritimearchaeologytrust . org ).
As for my diving and exploration activities , despite another mystery solved , there ’ s more to come .
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