Sandalwood and Starfish: A Study of the Shipwreck Brunswick (1805) and Site Formation Processes
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 31/07/2015

Sandalwood and Starfish: A Study of the Shipwreck Brunswick (1805) and Site Formation Processes in Simons Bay

Nathaniel R King and Ivor R. Mollema

Brunswick was constructed in 1792 in London as a 1,244 ton East Indiaman with 30 guns. The ship was on its sixth voyage to the Far East when it was captured by a French frigate brought into Cape Town and wrecked in 1805. NAS Project Sandalwood investigations of the shipwreck site in 1994 and 1995, followed up by University of Cape Town research in 2013 yielded information the maritime environment of the site revealing that while the metal on the shipwreck was stable, timbers were damaged by mussels and starfish. Interdisciplinary research teams continued to gather baseline data on the flora and fauna on Brunswick and to monitor the effects of natural processes on shipwrecks. In 2014 an East Carolina University team compiled further historical and environmental data in the Bay with specific attention to sedimentary processes, bathymetry, and marine populations building on the foundations of past research.