SHIPS Project Publications

Aircraft Crash Sites in and Around Plymouth Sound National Marine Park

Written by Peter Holt & Mallory Haas, published in 2022 by The SHIPS Project CIC, ISBN 978 1 7397053 0 5

This book is a well-illustrated catalogue of aircraft that crashed in the sea near Plymouth in the years between 1917 and 1986. The book includes a description of the loss of each aircraft along with background information and photographs where they are available. This is the first in a series of publications that highlight the maritime and aviation heritage contained within Plymouth Sound National Marine Park.

Softback, includes 70 high quality gloss pages, more than 57 colour and monochrome illustrations and references.

This book is available to order directly from The SHIPS Project by clicking the link below.

Price - UK £13 plus £3 postage and packing, for international orders please contact us using the form below as shipping charges may vary.

Historic Ships on the Foreshore in and Around Plymouth Sound National Marine Park

Written by Peter Holt & C. John Cotton, published in 2023 by The SHIPS Project CIC, ISBN 978 1 7397053 1 2

This book is a collection of stories about ships and boats working on the Rivers Tamar, Plym, Lynher and Tavy and in Plymouth Sound – also known as the Tamar waterway. The stories are told through the many vessels deliberately abandoned on the foreshore known as hulks. The stories are about unimportant craft that spent their careers moving people or cargoes, unspectacular lives that went unrecorded unless an accident got them a mention in the local paper. Many of the ships and boats were abandoned more than 100 years ago so there are no living eyewitnesses. The stories are about events that few people witnessed, that fewer people remember and in some cases were done illegally.

Softback, includes 247 high quality gloss pages, more than 300 colour and monochrome llustrations, references and index.

This book is available to order directly from The SHIPS Project by clicking the link below.

Price - UK £50 plus £4 postage and packing, for international orders please contact us using the form below as shipping charges may vary.

Pollution in Plymouth Sound and the Tamar Waterway - A Historical Review

A SHIPS Project White paper written by Peter Holt, published in 2023 by The SHIPS Project CIC, ISBN 978 1 7397053 4 3

The focus of this white paper is on the historic pollution that can be found in Plymouth Sound and its estuaries. Very little has been published about the effects of historic pollutants in the waterway so their impact on the ecosystem is largely unknown. This document looks at the sources of pollution in Plymouth Sound and its estuaries from historical records and then attempts to summarise the legacy of each in the ecosystem today. At the end of the document, the detrimental effect of historic pollution on marine life is discussed for fish species, native oysters, and seagrass.

Keywords: Plymouth, Tamar, pollution, transport, public health, dredging, fishing, oysters, seagrass, ecosystem, rewilding

You can download a PDF copy of this white paper for free, but a donation to The SHIPS Project would be appreciated.

A History of Plymouth's Breakwater Fort

Written by Peter Holt, published in 2024 by The SHIPS Project CIC, ISBN 978 1 7397053 3 6

From the high vantage point of Plymouth Hoe, the iron fort by the Breakwater can easily be seen in its commanding position in the middle of Plymouth Sound. This is just one of several Victorian-era forts that surround Plymouth and one of the many historical features around Plymouth Sound. This book contains a short history of the fort starting with its design and construction, its use during world wars, shipwrecks near the Fort, and its later use as a diver training platform and a place to undertake marine science experiments.

Softback, includes 48 high quality gloss pages, more than 300 colour and monochrome llustrations plus references.

This book is available to order directly from The SHIPS Project by clicking the link below.

Price - UK £15 plus £3 postage and packing, for international orders please contact us using the form below as shipping charges may vary.

Sport Diving Shipwrecks in and Around Plymouth Sound National Marine Park

Written by Peter Holt & Mallory Haas, due in 2024 published by The SHIPS Project CIC, ISBN 978 1 7397053 2 9

This book will shortly be available from The SHIPS Project.

HM Submarine A7, An Archaeological Assessment

Written by Peter Holt, published in 2015, BAR British Series no. 613, ISBN 978 1407 31374 0

The A7 submarine sank with all hands in Whitsand Bay near Plymouth duruing a training exercise in January 1914. The A7 has remained on the seabed, largely unexplored, until a project in 2014 by The SHIPS Project fully researched, mapped and recorded the wreck. This report covers the aims, results and conclusions of that project. Its detailed record of the submarine is highly significant as the A7 is the most complete example of an A class submarine in existence. As a result, it greatly enhances our knowledge and understanding of this pioneering British submarine class, which was both the forerunner of British WW1 submarine warfare, and the foundation of post-war developments. The long-debated cause of its destruction was also finally determined by the project. The report also provides a concise history of early British submarine warfare and technology. Finally, it records the lives of those who went down with the submarine, and details the many risks and challenges faced by those brave enough to man these early submarines.

The book is available from BAR Publishing, Amazon, Waterstones and other good booksellers.

Royal Navy Wooden Shipwrecks Database

Created by Peter Holt, first published in 2016

This is a list of more than 100 wrecked or abandoned wooden-built Royal Navy ships that have been located and investigated anywhere in the world. The list starts with the loss of the Mary Rose in 1545 and includes all RN losses in the age of sail. The list includes basic information about construction, armament, loss and location location for each ship, plus a list of publications about each shipwreck site. The list is currently available as a searchable PDF document sorted by the date the ship was lost but other formats will be available in due course including an online database. The list will be updated as new information becomes available so the version number is included with each document. The information is not copyright and can free to use, but a credit would be appreciated where it is used. If you find any mistakes or missing information please leave us a message below.

Contributors include:

Nico Brinck, Kevin Camidge, Alex Hildred, Alison James at Historic England, Sean Kingsley, Peter McBride, Kimberly Monk, Dan Pascoe, Julie Satchell at the Maritime Archaeology Trust, Jim Tyson.

Version: 1.6
Version Date: 19 February 2023
Publisher: The SHIPS Project CIC

You can download the database for free, but a donation to The SHIPS Project would be appreciated.

Surveying, Excavating and Raising the Mary Rose

A book by Peter Holt and Nigel Kelland with contributions from Dr Alexzandra Hildred and John Partridge, with a foreword by John Lippiett, Chief Executive of the Mary Rose Trust. First published in paperback in 2014 by Sonardyne International Ltd.

This book describes the many acoustic positioning survey operations associated with the wreck of the Mary Rose between 1975 and 2005. This shipwreck was the location of the first use of underwater acoustic survey equipment on a historic site, acoustic positioning was a keystone technology used in the recovery of the ship hull and later the site became a test bed for new high precision underwater tracking systems. Precision mapping was crucial to the creation of the digital site plan of the site in 2004 which led to a reassessment of the site formation of the bow of the ship. The archaeological evidence on the seabed suggests that the bow was broken off during salvage attempts that occurred just after the Mary Rose sank, and this hypothesis is discussed in detail in chapter 8 of this book.

You can download as PDF copy of this book for free, but a donation to The SHIPS Project would be appreciated.

The First Ones In - the Story of YMS-378

A publication by Peter Holt, published in 2023 by The SHIPS Project CIC

The story of US Navy Yard Minesweeper YMS-378, the D-Day heroine that lies on Stonehouse Beach in Plymouth, UK.

At 3:30am on the morning of 6th June 1944, D-Day, Yard Minesweeper YMS-378 was clearing mines off the Normandy beaches right under the noses of the occupying German forces on shore. Twice severely damaged in battle she ended her days alongside the wall at Freeman's Wharf in Stonehouse, Plymouth, and her remains can still be seen today. This is the story of a D-Day heroine.

Keywords: WWII, D-Day, minesweeper, shipwreck, hulk, Plymouth, Stonehouse

You can download a PDF copy of this white paper for free, but a donation to The SHIPS Project would be appreciated.

A Late Roman 1 amphora recovered off Cawsand, Plymouth Sound

Written by Maria Duggan, published in 2013 in Cornish Archaeology 52, 239-245

This report presents a previously unpublished amphora (SHIPS 12A10) that was discovered by a diver off Cawsand in Plymouth Sound in the early 1970s. Although brought to the attention of Plymouth City Museum at the time and recognised as a possible post-Roman import, the vessel was not included in subsequent catalogues of pottery imported to early medieval sites in Britain and Ireland. A full description of the vessel is presented to allow a close identification of type and date. Analysis of traces of residue on the interior of the fragment using photoacoustic spectroscopy suggests potential contents.

You can download a PDF copy of this report for free, but a donation to The SHIPS Project would be appreciated.

Geophysical Investigations of the Cattewater Wreck 1997-2007

Written by Peter Holt, published in 2010 by The SHIPS Project / 3H Consulting Ltd.

This report is a summary of the marine geophysical and site investigations of the Cattewater Wreck in Plymouth. The remains of the Cattewater Wreck are a small section of ships timbers and associated finds from a medieval armed merchant ship that sank in the Cattewater.

You can download a PDF copy of this report for free, but a donation to The SHIPS Project would be appreciated.