Underwater archaeologists discovered 16 British cannons scattered across the rocky seabed near the Helgoland archipelago in the North Sea, opening up questions of how they got there, considering the area’s past use as a British military base. The finds came during systematic surveys by the Kiel-based research diving company Submaris, supported by the University of Kiel’s marine geophysics and hydroacoustics group, according to n-tv.
High-resolution sonar mapping and 3D modeling allowed the team to measure and document the weapons, including 12-pounder cannons and carronades dating to around 1800. The cannons lay across the Helgoland Roads over roughly 80 by 70 meters in the northern part of the strait between the main island and Helgoland Dune, and the documentation recorded their positions, dimensions, and configuration.
The cannons are “clearly of British origin, recognizable by characteristic details such as the so-called Blomefield ring,” said underwater archaeologist and project leader Florian Huber. Divers also noted the Royal Navy’s Broad Arrow, the manufacturer’s mark Samuel Walker & Co., and the monogram of King George III, according to Bild. These features matched British naval ordnance from the era of the Coalition Wars.
The cannons did not come from HMS Explosion, which sank off Helgoland in 1807. That link was ruled out because the guns were dispersed without any wreck structure, and contemporary accounts indicated the ship’s cannons brought ashore at the time.
Researchers suspected the British Navy deliberately sank the outdated weapons off Helgoland before the island’s 1890 cession to the German Empire to prevent them from falling into German hands. The assessment built on finds recorded in the 1990s and on Helgoland’s role as a British base during the Napoleonic Wars. The island later passed to Germany in exchange for trade interests in Africa.
The spread of artifacts pointed to intentional dumping rather than a single shipwreck. The mapped field and measured models offered a reference for further analysis of manufacture and deployment patterns. “The discovery of the 16 cannons deepened the understanding of Helgoland’s maritime history and underscored the island’s role in the Coalition Wars and British naval history. At the same time, they documented the end of an era,” said Huber.
Written with the help of a news-analysis system.