Maritime record TQ 87 SW 24 - Unidentified wreck, Bishop Saltings

Vertical Datum: LAT Orientation: NWSE 22-DEC-1972 Position 52 24 17.5N 000 36 58.5E. Hulk 250ft long, 11ft high. Stranded 099.5 Degs, 4370ft from No.6 Lt Bn (ht 7ft). 19-DEC-1973 This wreck used to be in 51 24 52N 000 35 10.5E. 26-MAR-1982 Confirmation of stranded wreck 11-MAR-1991 Stranded wreck, lying NW/SE, shown on photoplot (1). Photographs (2-11). No visible remains in 2004. (12)

TQ 81957063. Substantial remains of a craft are visible on air photographs beached on the south east part of Bishop Saltings. Although the craft appears on photographs taken in 1978 (3) it is not visible on 1966 photographs (2) and may have been wrecked at some time after 1966. (1-4)

This wreck, which measures 73m by 12m, was mapped from aerial photographs taken in 2007, but is first visible at this location on aerial photographs taken in 1973. It was already in a poor condition by 1973 and it is possible that this is the same vessel that can be seen near the north bank of the Medway on aerial photos taken during the 1950s and 1960s. This vessel, which is similar in shape and size to the one on Bishop Ness, is first seen in 1950. This was located just off the coast near what is now Hoo Marina Park and centred on TQ 7859 7116. Depressions in the mud of Hoo Flats show that the vessel was not moored and was previously further west. The next set of photographs were taken in 1952 and show that the wreck had moved some 500m east across Hoo Flats to approximately TQ 7909 7130. The mud of Hoo Flats still retained the impressions of previous positions of this ship including that seen in 1950. By 1953 the ship had moved a further 200m east and was at circa TQ 7919 7149. In 1963 this wreck was then against the saltings by Abbot's Court Wharf (TQ 7919 7149), circa 600m east of its 1953 position. It cannot be seen here on 1973 air photos, which were taken on the same day as those that first show the wreck at Bishop Ness. If it is the same vessel, it is likely that it was purposely dumped here at Bishop Ness in the later 1960s or early 1970s. It was mapped at its Bishop Ness location from aerial photographs as part of the English Heritage: Hoo Peninsula Landscape Project. (5-11)

Method of Fix: Aerial Photograph Interpretation
Photograph Number: KCC 1985 Line 9: 0120
Method of Fix: Aerial Photograph Interpretation
Photograph Number: KCC 1990 Line 8: 0153

Possible remains of a large barge of around 70 metres long. This large feature has the appearance of a vessel deeply buried in the mud of a small inlet. It is orientated obliquely across the inlet.

It is also visible on the 1985 survey. (12)

Vertical Datum: LAT (13)(14)
Orientation: NW/SE (13)(14)

Position 51 24.327N 000 36.885E (WGS 84), position previously recorded as 51 24.288N 000 36.990E, datum not recorded. (14)

22-DEC-1972: Position 52 24.175N 000 36.585E. Hulk 250 feet long, 11 feet high. Stranded 099.5 degrees, 4370 feet from No.6 Light Beacon. (13)(14)

19-DEC-1973: This wreck used to be in 51 24.52N 000 35.105E. (13)(14)

26-MAR-1982: Confirmation of stranded wreck. (13)(14)

11-MAR-1991: Stranded wreck, lying NW/SE, shown on photoplot. (13)(14)

14-NOV-2005: Stranded vessel, length 80 metres, beam 15 metres, lying 151/331 degrees, shown in 51 24.327N 000 36.885E (EUT), on photoplot PG2359 [Channel Coast Observatory Digital Orthorectified Mosaic, dated 6 to 7-MAR-2003]. (14)

Charted as an unidentified wreck, and seen to lie in the inter-tidal zone in a saltmarsh area. (15)

Historic England archive material: MD003095 Hoo Peninsula Landscape Project: TQ 87 NW Material still held by Aerial Survey.

<1> Hydrographic Office wreck index, Extracted 20-JAN-1993, Page Nos. N/a (Bibliographic reference). SKE6339.

<2> 2000, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX10337.

<3> 2000, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX10368.

<4> 1995, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX11212.

<5> 1995, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX11213.

<6> 1995, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX11214.

<7> 1995, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX11215.

<8> 1995, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX11216.

<9> 1995, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX11217.

<10> 1995, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX11218.

<11> 1995, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX11219.

<12> Wessex Archaeology, 2005, North Kent Coast Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey: Phase ll: Field Assessment Year One report (Unpublished document). SWX12121.