Woods and Teredos

[itmaiden]

Teredo Worms

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teredo_worm


Some ships were made with Mahogany.

Mahogany resists wood rot, which makes it suitable for boat construction. It is also often used for musical instruments, particularly the backs of guitars.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahogony

itmaiden

 

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[allen_idaho]

Yes, that is true. Teak and Mahogany were commonly used in the 1600's-1700's and earlier.

But why is this relevant?

 

[pcolaboy]

Wondering the same. Was there something inadvertently left out?

 

[itmaiden]

It is relevant as I have had correspondence with different salvagers that believe that all the older ships are totally rotted away.
But not all old ships were made of the same woods. I've been looking at a site that apparently was preserved pretty well, but there is disbelief that any ship would have any reasonable state of preservation.
It is important when looking for shipwrecks or trying to date them or identify their origins as being Spanish, French , Dutch, English, etc.

itmaiden

Yes, that is true. Teak and Mahogany were commonly used in the 1600's-1700's and earlier.

But why is this relevant?

 

[wwwtimmcp]

I dove with bert kilbride near anegada reef and found timbers in the process of being eaten by teredo's. the ship was the san ignacio of 1742. the onnly wood I know of resistant to teredos is lignum vitae. it is just too hard for the critters. lake erie has a wreck called the success. she was a english east indiamen built in malaysia around 1790. she actualy left southampton on the same day as rms titanic but the success made it to the united states. she was built entirely of teak and copper sheathed.

 

[deepsix47]

Itmaiden: You are correct. A knowledge of the woods used is important as often buried timbers are still in place. We were able to ID a number of wrecks as to age by the timbers uncovered. Along the Treasure Beaches there are many wrecks and once you have seen say a piece of timber off a Civil War Era wreck (plentiful along the Treasure Coast) and a piece off the 1715 fleet, you will know them right away. The timbers have not all rotted away.

If you want to see a good example. Just north of Sebastian inlet at the first beach access. Swim out about 50 yards and snorkel two Civil War era wrecks that are in about 15 feet of water. Even after a modest storm they are uncovered and timbers are under the ballast piles.

Most anything to do with the ships has relevance. The more we know about them the better we can understand how they broke up when they hit the reefs. By understanding how they were designed and built we can get clues as to where the treasure may have settled.

It's nice to see someone is digging so deeply.

Deepsix

 

[aquanut]

iymaiden,
Deepsix is correct. I've been with him on most of his expeditions and he is pretty knowledgeable on the subject. (Probably the only one though). If you come to the cookout, he'll be doing what he does best! Cooking!
Aquanut

 

[piratediver]

The reason wrecks in fresh water last so long is that there are no teredos. I have a professor from Harvard speak to my class each year and he is now the world's leading authority on marine borers such as teredo navalis. One of the results of cleaning up the Hudson River near NYC is that teredos are coming back big time, the water was so polluted before they were pretty rare. Well of course a lot of NYC's buildings are supported by pilings so now most of them are being replaced because the teredos are eating them up. There are also marine mollusks that can tunnel through stone, really amazing stuff. Through careful analysis of hull remains even the exoskeletons of borers can reveal where in the world the ship had been due to fact that some species only exist in limited areas.


Pirate Diver

 

[allen_idaho]

From what I hear, the Black Sea has some of the best preserved wrecks in the world.

 

[piratediver]

It does because of no teredoes and very low oxygen. Same thing goes for the Baltic, check out the VASA in Stockholm.


Pirate Diver

 

[cuzcosquirrel]

Red mohogany seems to get eaten by worms. It is a very dark brown with a small grain. Teak is a dark purple/brown in color with a striped, banded grain and seems kind of resistant. Teak turns white from the sap when newly cut, thus a lot of early ships made of teak had a whitewash color. Lanang wood has a yellowish pine color and shows darker areas where damaged by water. It is of course much harder than pine.

 

[scubatreasure]

If my memory serves me correct, there were several types of wood from south america listed on the manifests from the 1715 fleet, and i'm talking hundreds of tons....correct me if i'm wrong
Limo Bob

 

[mariner]

itmaiden,

Ironwood is another tropical variety of tree that is resistant to both toredos and decay. I am involved in a wrecksite where the ship seems to have made extensive use of ironwood in its construction, and it seems to be in good condition after what might be 350 years.

Mariner

 

[MORE AND BEYOND OSSY]

Great Info Dell what about the " Holey Crap " was that after they lit the lantern
Ossy
Ps the English pronounce S.H.I.T: SH- ITE

 

[ivan salis]

the types of wood used in building it can be a tip off as to country of origin --it and the type of construction methods used can also assist in era dating the vessel as well. --as well as crockery bits

 

[treshuntintom]

Thanks Dell,very interesting info.I thought the term came from the description of the Cabin Site.Mailed the picture of the "Spring of Whitby"trunion Wednesday.Have great weekend.Tom