400-year-old shipwreck found during pipeline survey in Germany’s Bay of Greifswald

In 2023, in preparation for the construction of an underwater gas pipeline, divers were sent to clear a cluster of anomalies in the Bay of Greifswald, a sheltered lagoon in northern Germany. But as they dove deeper into the murky depths, they discovered things they had not expected: shoe soles, pulley blocks, and a rusty anchor.

They had found a previously unknown shipwreck, built roughly 400 years ago. A preliminary report published in the International Journal of Nautical Archaeology describes the findings of the hurried rescue excavation.

Although barely any of the ship survives, the find offers a small piece of evidence about what once sailed across this stretch of the Baltic Sea.

“When I saw the collection of artifacts in the photograph, it occurred to me that they must have come from a wreck,” Michał Grabowski, an underwater archaeologist at the University of Warsaw, said.

A race against the dredger

With dredging for the pipeline imminent, the archaeologists had no time to lose; the team of five completed 22 dives in just over 12 days, trying to bring back as much as they could to the surface, the study reported.

But conditions were poor; the wreck lay about 25 feet (7.5 meters) below the surface on the soft, silty seabed, meaning even the slightest movement by the divers clouded the surrounding water.

Once on deck, the team documented the finds and hastily placed them in temporary water storage nearby to prevent further damage. Despite their best efforts to recover as much as they could, much of the wreck had not survived.

The hull existed only in fragments, made up of a single patch of outer planking around 24 feet (7.5 meters) long, along with loose frames and timbers scattered across the seabed. But the individual pieces provided just enough detail to tell the researchers what they were dealing with.

A time capsule below the waves

Like roof shingles, the hull’s planks were laid one over the other, then hammered into place with iron nails, and any gaps sealed with a mix of tar and animal hair. This technique is known as clinker construction.

Pinning down the ship’s exact age, however, meant turning to the tree rings. Preserved in one of the ship’s timbers, the rings told researchers that one of the trees used in its construction had been felled between 1626 and 1639.

All in all, the researchers were able to document more than 60 objects, including wooden stocks, rope, barrel staves and a hollowed-out oak trunk that likely served as the ship’s bilge pump, the study authors wrote.

Intriguingly, there was also a collection of carpentry tools, including the handle of a hand drill, similar to those found on the Tudor warship Mary Rose, suggesting the old clinker was equipped with a workshop to help with long voyages.

Only a few personal belongings of the crew were found, including two shoe soles and a stitched leather strap. The team also recovered bones suggesting the crew once dined on pigs, as well as either sheep or goat.

One object still confounds the researchers—a flat clay brick with a series of holes, stuck inside a block of oak. No other object like that is known, making its purpose even more confounding. The report suggests it may have been an improvised piece, meant to help sharpen old blunt tools like chisels and drill bits.

“I had no idea what it was, but I really wanted to solve the mystery,” Grabowski said. “And I still very much want to.”

The sinking of the ship is equally enigmatic. Some of the ship’s timbers were burnt, perhaps suggesting a fire of some sort may have led to the ship’s ultimate demise. Furthermore, two anchors and a buoy type reserved for when the anchor was deployed suggest the ship may have been at anchor before it went down.

However, Grabowski is cautious about interpreting too much. “I try not to speculate,” he said. “Otherwise, we risk creating an alternative history.”

Without more pieces of the wreck, the ship’s identity, home port and intended destination remain unknown. The study suggests more of the wreck may lie to the east of the find spot, an area that has not been searched before.

The ship joined dozens of others uncovered in the bay as offshore gas, oil and renewable energy projects result in more and more discoveries of underwater anomalies that turn out to be wrecks. Many of these were found early in project planning so proper excavations could be conducted, but unexpected finds do still occur, the study said.

Bit by bit, each new wreck provides new insights into centuries of seafaring in the Bay of Greifswald, which once was a gateway between the icy Baltic Sea and Europe’s meandering Oder River.

The pipeline was ultimately rerouted, and the wreck’s remains were covered with sandbags. Now they protect what Grabowski describes as a time capsule.

“I think it’s like a little time capsule,” Grabowski said, “a small puzzle piece that forms part of a much larger picture: the history of seafaring in the Bay of Greifswald. Without these small pieces, we would never be able to identify the bigger stories or connect the larger fragments of the picture.”

Who’s behind this story?

Sandee Oster

Archaeology PhD candidate at Witwatersrand. Science writer for Science X and archaeology blogger. Field research in South Africa.

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Sadie Harley

BSc Life Sciences & Ecology. Microbiology lab background with pharmaceutical news experience in oil, gas, and renewable industries.

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Robert Egan

Bachelor’s in mathematical biology, Master’s in creative writing. Well-traveled with unique perspectives on science and language.

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