Hanseatic Trade

Neues vom ‘Beluga Schiff’ – ein Bremer Klinkerwrack aus dem 15. Jahrhundert

by Daniel Zwick

published in 'Nachrichtenblatt Arbeitskreis Unterwasserarchäologie' 16, 2010.

In this report new findings and interpretations on the late medieval Beluga Ship are presented, which was discovered... more In this report new findings and interpretations on the late medieval Beluga Ship are presented, which was discovered 2007 in Bremen, Germany. Particularly new dendrological results have shed an interesting light on the inconspicuous remains, which samples fall into two groups: an earlier of high quality timber cut in Livonia in the course of the 14th century, and a group of locally cut timber, dating into the second quarter of the 15th century. The first are interpreted here as imported timber and the latter as subsequent repairs, which were carried out locally before the ship was eventually scrapped on Bremen's historical shipbuilding site, the „Teerhof “, literally 'tar yard'. With an entirely clinker-built hull with iron rivets, cleft planks and wool caulking, it bears several characteristics that are reminiscent of Scandinavian shipbuilding.