Underwater Archaeologists Survey French Warships

News May 15, 2013

(Parks Canada)
SHARE:
photo 2337479 resize
(Parks Canada)

LOUISBOURG, NOVA SCOTIA—Underwater archaeologists are investigating as many as ten wrecks of eighteenth-century French warships in the waters off the coast of Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site. The ships sank during the second siege of Louisbourg in 1758. Most of what has survived are lower hulls, embedded in the sea floor. “A common thing we are seeing is cannons that were on the warships when they went down: cannonballs, cannon shot, bar shot—all of the kinds of ordnance that was on the vessels when they sank,” said Jonathan Moore of Parks Canada.

  • Features March/April 2013

    Pirates of the Original Panama Canal

    Searching for the remains of Captain Henry Morgan's raid on Panama City

    Read Article
    (Courtesy Captain Morgan Rum Co.)
  • Features March/April 2013

    A Soldier's Story

    The battle that changed European history, told through the lens of a young man’s remains

    Read Article
    (Courtesy Dominique Bosquet)
  • Letter From Cambodia March/April 2013

    The Battle Over Preah Vihear

    A territorial dispute involving a 1,100-year-old Khmer temple on the Thai-Cambodian border turns violent

    Read Article
    (Masuru Goto)
  • Artifacts March/April 2013

    Pottery Cooking Balls

    Scientific analyses and experimental archaeology determine that mysterious, 1,000-year-old balls of clay found at Yucatán site were used in cooking

    Read Article
    (Courtesy Bolonchen Regional Archaeological Project)