Original ROPE from 1758 HMS Invincible ShipWreck Rigging Gunnery

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Original ROPE from 1758 HMS Invincible ShipWreck Rigging Gunnery:
$16.30

HMS INVINCIBLE Original Rigging/Gunnery ROPERecovered From the 1758 ShipWreck

These are short sections (approx. 2 1/2\" - 3\") ofOriginal ROPErecovered from the wreck of HMS Invincible which sank in 1758.

The ship carried coils of spare rope in the ships hold for the Running Rigging, Gunneryand other uses.

A lot of Gunnery Spares were recovered from the Wreck and this rope is of a size that may have been use on Cannon.

It is also of a size that could have been use as Running Rigging.

See PHOTO\'S.

This Rope is particularly rare from a wreck of this age and only survived as it wasburied in anerobic mud that stopped it from rotting.

As the ship lay on its side only halfof the coil of ropewas buried in the mud and the unburied half rotted away leaving many short sections of rope.

These small sections are from one of these short lengths and have a unique tar/salty smell

and are in an amazing condition for such an old sea recovered organic item which usually rots away quickly after beinglost in a ship wreck.

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The wreck of HMS Invincible lay covered and forgotten until in May 1979 a fisherman snagged his nets and got a local diver to investigate. The dives produced a wealth of store items in the preserved lower decks and most items were sold through a London sale house in the late 1980’s.

The 74-gun warship L’Invincible was captured from the French at the battle of Cape Finnisterre on the 3rd May 1747. She was escorting a massive convoy of merchant ships when the British channel fleet of 13 warships sighted the convoy and gave chase. L’Invincible took on six warships and only struck her colours when most of the crew were either dead or wounded. After capture she became the Royal Navy’s first HMS Invincible. At the time most warships were much smaller than the 74 gun HMS Invincible and France was ahead of Britain in ship development. Her design revolutionised British ship design and in 1747 there were no 74’s in the British Navy. By the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 three quarters of British ships of the line were 74’s .

In February 1758, HMS Invincible was part of a large fleet of warships and transports at anchor in St Helens Roads off the Isle of Wight. Early on the 19th the fleet sailed but unfortunately the Invincible struck the Horse Tail Sandbank. Over the next days stores and many guns were taken off the ship but finally on the 22nd February 1758 she rolled onto her side and was lost. Over the next 200 years the ship and her contents have slowly been effected by worm action and decay but the anaerobic conditions found a few inches below the surface of the bank have kept many wood items and some rope in incredible condition which is unusual on a wreck, and why such wood artefacts are very rarely found.

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