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Guns in 3D

Frederik Hyttel, one of the students here at the Maritime Archaeology Programme in Esbjerg won our “HMS St George gun modelling competition”…- well, or just delivered an incredibly detailed model…
You can download his model of an iron 12 pounder lifted from the wreck of HMS St George below. Frederik’s model is based on the total station survey of a gun and carriage on display in the Strandingsmuseum Thorsminde. To view the Rhino 3D file, you need a copy of Rhinoceros3D. A fully functional evaluation version can be downloaded here. The Sketchup file can be viewed and modified with the free 3D modelling software Google Sketchup.

Iron 12 Pounder HMS St George (Rhino3D file – 17MB)

Iron 12 Pounder HMS St George (Sketchup file – 26MB)

The St George Rudder and Cannons Day

Recording the guns of HMS St George

The day we were all going to know as St.George Rudder and the Cannons Day started very early, in fact way too early for most of the Maritime Archaeology students, but as dedicated students we sacrificed our sleep in (which never goes past 9:30 of course). After traveling north through the Danish tundra we arrived at the edge of the Nissum Fjord. To be exact the small settlement of Thorsminde where the Strandingsmuseum was situated. Here we started the day by (under protest) being split up into two groups. We were to take turns in taking points with the Total-Station as well as measuring the remaining canons and carriages of the St.George by hand and in precise measurement drawn archaeological drawing of the famous St.George Rudder.

After the (which has known to be a standard procedure) arguments and discussions of the first group, about whether the 3 cm diameter hole in the 7m rudder was on an original part of the rudder or a reinforcement, the archaeological drawing could start! Unfortunately at this point one and a half hours had passed and it was time for a change of stations.

The recording of the cannons had to be continued. Using the total station we started with 4 orientation points on the ground, and then recording points at every important angle and curve which would later be used to create a 3D model by using a program, loved by the students, called Rhino. With little coffee breaks and a short excursion to the pier the work made steady progress, plus we got to a free tour of the  museum by the very welcoming director (who also provided the coffee).

By the time it was starting to get dark, the last points of the carriage were being taken and recorded, and the last details of the St.George rudder were being drawn (this turned out to be an amazing drawing thanks to our special portuguese friend). Once finished we could make our long way back home to Esbjerg…

Watch this spot for the results!

Isger Vico Sommer

Prerow – THE MOVIE

18 days of fieldschool in 5 minutes…

See Delia Ni Chiobhain’s new fieldschool movie, either here or in the gallery section…

Diving Week. Hemmoor, Germany

Underwater scaffolding or where not to put a scaffold frame (Hemmoor dive training week Fall 2009)

The diving team (participants in the commercial diving course) of the first year students in the Maritime Archaeology Masters Programme had the first diver training week in Hemmoor Lake. It was the best team-building event ever!

Yes, it was a little bit cold, and of course a little bit tiresome…But we enjoyed every minute! Everything is exciting when it is the first time. Dry suit, tethered or untethered diving, orientation by using compass, rescue drills, lifting objects with lifting bags, constructing a frame underwater… And if you have the strength to continue with the night dive, the universe rewards you with a full moon!!!

Communication between divers and surface was amazing,  learning new vocabulary, use short and clear sentences. The most important was, that day by day we started to realize that no matter what role one has in the team (diver, stand-by diver, tender or supervisor) the key word is RESPONSIBILITY. I suppose that this way and step by step we will become professionals, hopefully! And somewhere between good food, philosophical discussions and environmental awareness we started to realize what being an international master student is all about.

Germany is from now on our favorite country, where everything is so cheap and there are sunny moments! On Friday we visited the Deutsches Schiffahrtsmuseum, which was also very interesting.

Marja and Christian thank you for your help and support, und Vielen Dank an unseren Professor Jens.

Magda Mesogiti

Row your (Viking) boat…

Rowing into the storm, the Viking way (apart from those orange lifejackets)

Viking time!

Monday September 21st we went to Bork Viking harbour to get the feel of Viking life in action.
The boat we were taking out was a replica of Skuldelev 6, called “Ravnunge Bork”. The boat is meant for a crew of 7-16 men, our crew consisted of 2 experienced Vikings, one professor and 9 students, a good number for working this boat.
Number one rule when rowing, do not stare at your own oar, instead look at the person in the back on starboard side setting the pace. It was, of course, of great importance that we all were rowing at the same pace. Not doing so might have caused problems such as hitting the person in front, in the back or on the side of you, or their oars. With a bit of practice we all got into it. I do not know if we reached the expected speed of the boat, that is 4 knots, but we got it going.
From the harbour in Bork we rowed out along a  stream on to Ringkøbing fjord, on the way out to the fjord we past a sacrificial site with dead animals on display, the Vikings had been there…..
Out on the “open” fjord we all tried out our skills as coxswain, commanding the rowers to steer the ship around a buoy, who should row forward and backwards to make the turns more sufficient.
After a few tries we got the hang of that too and learned that it is even more efficient to use the rudder for steering rather than just the oars.

Setting sails we have not done yet (well, only on dry land), the winds have been too strong, but next week we will also get to sail the Viking way.

Liv Lofthus

ICUCH Seminar in Esbjerg – October 5th 2009

On October 5th, the annual ICUCH (International Committee on the Underwater Cultural Heritage) Seminar on Maritime Heritage Underwater, Management Exploitation and Access is hosted by the Maritime Archaeology Programme in Esbjerg. Attendance is free, so please come along…

View this document on Scribd

Fins Beer and Barbecue…

Or a first hand account of the semseter start at SDU MAP:

View this document on Scribd

High Viz and drilling platforms…

Andrew looking professional in safety gear...

During the summer (this post is a little late…) we got the chance to visit the drilling rig ENSCO 70, which was being refitted for a Mærsk contract in Esbjerg harbour. Esbjerg is developing into the Danish Offshore capital, and drilling rigs and platforms have become a common sight in the harbour.

Maritime archaeology is closely linked to the maritime industry sector, in methodology, and often in day to day tasks. It was therefore great  to get aboard a drilling platform and learn more about the daily life and routines on rigs and the production process.

Many thanks again to John Howell at Mærsk for making this visit possible!!

Jens Auer

Assistant Professor

Maritime Archaeology Programme

Fieldschool Day 18

All the tourists are gone

… and so are we… (I thought this last impression of Prerow Beach was a fitting picture for the last day). Home to Esbjerg after a lot of cleaning and clearing up. We certainly had a great time – perfect diving, exciting archaeology, a lot of motivation and good mood everywhere and great barbecues!

So, in the name of the “University teaching staff”, many thanks to all participants for the great work and motivation!!!

We would also like to thank Detlef Jantzen and Jens-Peter Schmidt from the Landesamt für Kultur und Denkmalpflege for inviting us, the Bauamt Fischland Darss and Frau Pfeiffer in the Kurverwaltung Prerow for their support and help with our “basecamp”, the international school in Prerow and here especially the caretaker Her Schütt for all the help and support with equipment and the gym, our “site-office”, and last but not least Familie Fiedler in Richtenberg for equipping us with a full field kitchen and fridge and our trusty “handwagen” and speedwelding the UMA!

Jens Auer

Assistant Professor

Maritime Archaeology Programme