Survey Report in Part Fulfilment of the Requirements of the NAS Part II Intermediate Certificate in Foreshore and Underwater Archaeology

S.T. SHERATON

On the Centenary of the Construction of the Vessel

A SURVEY AND STUDY OF THE BACKGROUND OF THE WRECK OF THE STEAM TRAWLER �SHERATON� LYING IN THE INTER-TIDAL ZONE OFF HUNSTANTON,

NORTH NORFOLK

Simon Draper BSc PhD FRGS FCIM

Rose Hide House, Church Lane, Kingston, Cambridge, CB23 2NG srdraper_bios@hotmail.com

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INTRODUCTION

The wreck of the Sheraton is located on the north coast of East Anglia in the county of Norfolk. The vessel lies in the inter-tidal zone and full access requires low water. The foreshore is sand and rock backed by cliffs consisting of a layered structure of white chalk from the Upper Cretaceous over red chalk from the Lower Cretaceous. Beneath this is grey-green Carstone. Both the red and white chalk contains fossils and so the beach is a well known by geologists and fossil hunters .A disused lighthouse is prominent above the beach a short distance to the northeast of the wreck site. It is the first lighthouse to have used a parabolic reflector and is preserved against this historical context. Hunstanton is a popular holiday resort and even in the winter the wide, open, sweep of sand is popular with walkers. The wreck is well known locally. However, conversations with passers-by, while indicating considerable interest, also revealed a lack of knowledge by most of the wreck�s background. Hopefully the results of this project, if widely disseminated through the local press and by other means, will encourage a greater interest in Norfolk�s local maritime heritage and also of the discipline of marine archaeology.

Figure1 Stern view of the Sheraton

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Previous work The Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey (RCZAS) documented by English Nature has described the site (Anon, 2004). The wreck is located at Grid Reference TF 6743 4199. The online reference source Norfolk Heritage Explorer lists previous observations. The wreck has in the past been variously described as the Standon or similar. The correct identity is the Sheraton, a trawler launched in 1907. Between 1915 and 1918, the vessel was used during boom defence work and in WW II served as a patrol vessel. It was wrecked in 1947. The NHER Number is 34507. The construction has been variously reported as �riveted metal with plates cast into ribs� or �timber framed with a metal outer casing�. Significance of the project

1) The wreck lies in the inter-tidal zone and is an attraction both locally and for summer visitors to the Norfolk coastline. It thus has value in encouraging a public interest in maritime archaeology.

2) If the construction method is confirmed as metal plating over a wood frame it will serve as an interesting example of a transition technology paving the way for all-steel fishing vessels.

3) The survey will provide a new baseline for future monitoring.

Objectives

1) To survey the Sheraton on the 100th anniversary of her construction, 2) To submit the survey report for the NAS Part II Certificate.

Publication

1) An article will be submitted to the NAS Newsletter. 2) A web page will be set up to provide public access to the results. 3) The report will be offered to English Nature and the local press.

Risk Assessment Risks: tides; abrasions/cuts from wreck. Mitigation: personal knowledge of East Anglian coastline and tidal navigation/conditions; consult tide tables and weather forecasts; protective gloves/ overalls as necessary; first aid kit, mobile �phone, work with second person.

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HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Construction and architecture The construction details below are from The Hunstanton Newsletter (Whyte, 2006). The Sheraton was built in 1907 by Cook, Welton and Gemmell of Beverley, Yorkshire. She was owned by the Standard Steam Fishing Company of Grimbsy and was commissioned as a deep sea trawler. Reported measurements Gross tonnage 283 LOA 39.6m Beam 6.7m Draught 3.7m Horse Power 94 No plans have been located but the general layout is likely to be similar to that of the contemporaneous Steam Trawler The Charles, built at Aberdeen (Anon, Aberdeen City Council).

Figure 2 Drawings of the Charles, a typical steam trawler of the period 1900-1910

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Vessels requisitioned by the Royal Navy in WW II

Many trawlers were brought into naval service in wartime as minesweepers and auxillary patrol vessels. Requisitioned vessels are listed by Kindell (2007). The following entry appears for the Port of Grimsby. �Auxiliary Patrol Vessels - trawlers WARLAND (armed with 12 pdr gun), SHERATON (6 pdr), EVERTON (3 pdr) repairing to comp 7 Jan, ORVICTO (3 pdr), French MONIQUE CAMILLE (65mm), naval auxiliary boats GOLDEN ARROW III laid up in care and maintenance, NORMARY, all vessels at Grimsby.� This useful reference confirms Sheraton�s wartime role and identifies the armament that was fitted. In interpreting the survey, particularly in relation to the positioning of ballast, this information is especially valuable. Sheraton�s gun

In WWII, the Sheraton was fitted with a naval �6 pdr gun�. The same weapon was fitted to MTBs. The gun is described by Anthony Williams (2002) as follows.

��the gun was adopted by the RN and was fitted to many MTBs in the power-operated Mark VII mounting. In this form it used the shorter 43-calibre barrel of the Mk 2 AT gun, had a feed capacity of six rounds in the autoloader - plus one in the breech and another twelve in a ready-use rack on the mounting - and fired semi-automatically only (the gunner had to press the trigger for each shot) at a rate of about 40 rpm. It was probably the most powerful gun fitted to naval craft of this class and was regarded as very successful. Complete in its mounting, it weighed 1,747 kg, and the gun was known to the RN as the 6pdr QF Mk IIA. Nearly 600 of these guns were made. The RN developed its own loading for the ammunition, consisting of a 2.7 kg HE shell fired at only 655 m/sec. The low velocity may be due to the fact that the RN specified a flashless propellant charge, presumably because MTBs usually operated at night�.

Figure 3 No photographic record of the Sheraton in war-time has been found but this image shows the location of the gun mounting in a steam trawler in WWII service (www.navyphotos.co.uk )

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Post WWII fate of the Sheraton When the Sheraton�s working life came to an end she was stripped of transferable major components of value. The hulk was painted bright yellow and moored off Brest Sand in the Wash to be used for target practice. During a gale in 1947 she broke free of her mooring and drifted onto the beach at Hunstanton, just below the historic lighthouse (Whyte, 2006). As far as can be ascertained, she remains in exactly the same position today but part of her structure has been cut away by a salvage company. SURVEY METHODOLGY Equipment Canon EOS 350D SLR Camera Nikon Coolpix 885 Digital Compact Camera Rollins 50m Fibreglass Tape Measure Plastimo Handbearing compass Markers for insertion in sand - horticultural pegs with heads painted white for labelling with a marker pen were used. Survey personnel Simon Draper Pat Draper Access to the wreck A date was selected to optimise access. Low Water on the day of the survey, Tuesday 23 October, was predicted as 1130 based on interpolation from tide tables using Immingham as the Standard Port. The survey commenced at 1030. By 1530 the wreck was awash and the final photographs had been taken, including the cover photograph on this report. Measurements Trilateration was the chosen survey method. Two primary control points (CP) were set-up on the land side of the wreck and two back-up control pints to seaward. The distance between control points was measured. The beach to the land side of the wreck was sufficiently free of rocks and obstructions to allow a tight, straight tape for measurements between the hull and Control Points 1 and 2. Nevertheless the wreck is a large structure of around 40m length overall and the work was conducted at the limits of what was

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possible with a 50m tape and on an exposed shore. By the afternoon the wind had increased to F4 and with the added difficulty of rocks obstructing measurements from the back-up control points set to seaward, it was decided to abandon any attempt to make a second set of survey measurements. The raw data in the form of the recording sheets, drawings and notes have been made available to NAS separately from this document. Images For ease of communication low resolution images have been used in this report. The original high resolution images have been retained by the author and are available to all interested parties including for public domain use. Plotting Survey measurements were plotted on A3 Cartridge Paper using a beam compass and architects� scale rule. Scans were made with a Packard Bell Scanner and cleaned as far as possible in Adobe Photoshop Elements. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Trilateration survey The trilateration results are presented as follows:

• A tracing (without the plot arcs) for clarity • A scan of the original plotting (originally in A3 format). • A cropped figure showing the vessel outline in close-up

The original drawings are also submitted in a separate file.

Figure 4 Simplified plot to show outline of the hull in plan view: survey points 19 and 20 marked isolated features and as their relationship to the hull outline is unclear they have been omitted in this drawing.

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Orientation and Structure The stern (Point 13) bears 221 deg (T) from the bow (Point 1).The bow is more finally tapered than the stern although the latter is in fact finely drawn. This suggests that the section seen at the level of the sand substratum represents a profile well beneath the waterline of the vessel. The port stern quarter has retained its original shape, presenting a fair curve. The starboard stern quarter forward of Point 10 is distorted by impact. Plating forward of Point 6 has been cut away at the level of the substratum. The hull leans to seaward, or port, with the bow higher on the beach than the stern. This orientation is consistent with stranding as the maximum draught would have been aft of the centre of lateral windage, causing the bow to swivel landwards as the vessel was driven ashore by the gale.

Figure 5 Detail of original survey plot: the plating of the bow ends at2 : the stern is at 13 Longitudinal runners are clearly seen between points 3-6 as shown in the photographs. The maximum beam, based on twice the maximum half width, is 7.2m. The distance between the ends by direct measurement was 38.94m and by trilateration was 38.20m. The discrepancy of 1.89 % is acceptable in relation to the project objectives. Possible sources of error include the difficulty of working with long tapes across rough ground in an NE wind which steadily increased from F2 to F4 (although the length and

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Control Points were spaced at roughly the same distance as the vessel�s LOA. This was necessitated by the large size of the hull and the need to limit the working tape length to 50m. Subtended angles at the bow and stern, from CP1 and CP2 respectively, were thus close to 90 degrees. Acute angles would obviously have provided greater accuracy. The direct measurement of the wreck�s length of 38.94m is regarded as definitive. The construction is ferrous metal plating over ferrous metal runners and ribs. Plates were riveted together. There is evidence of timber framing, especially in the area from amidships to the stern. The timber framing appears to have supported the superstructure and decking rather than being an integral part of the lower hull structure but insufficient timber remains to be sure.

Figure 6 Rivetting The spacing of the welded or cast metal ribs varies from 0.52-0.55 m. The spacing of 0.55 at the stern (Survey Point 13) is greater than amidships (15-17) where it measures 0.52m.Repeatability of spacing between adjacent ribs suggests that this is a consistent design feature rather than a lack of precision during construction. Towards the bow (20) the spacing is 0.52m. The design of the rib/plate juncture is shown in the photographs.

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Figure7 Method of fastening of the wood to metal.

Figure 8 Ballast forward of Point 9: starboard side view.

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Concrete ballast was found forward of Point 9 and in smaller amount at the bow. In the vessel stripped of its fishing gear, the quantity of ballast at 9 could indicate an attempt to adjust the displacement which may then have required ballast in the bow to bring back the design trim. It is interesting to speculate on the possibility, that the ballast placed right in the end, encouraged an unpleasant degree of pitching. Alternatively, the stern ballast may have been required to trim out the effect of retro-fitting the forward-mounted 6pdr QF Mk IIA gun which weighed 1747kg. The bow ballast may then have been added for fine tuning. Towards the stern are tank-like structures possibly within or close to the engine room. An inspection hatch was obviously once present as a circular aperture of c0.3m was observed. Studs surrounded the rim of the aperture.

Figure10 Rectangular raised structure with penetration damage at the far (port) side: the hole seems to be aligned with one of the two holes in the port side plating A number of impacts are registered on the structure, possibly associated with the final days of the Sheraton when it was used as an anchored practice target ship in WWII.

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CONCLUSIONS The identity of the wreck of the Sheraton has been confirmed by local reports and by the Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey (RCZAS) documented by English Nature (Anon, 2004). The measured values of the length overall and the maximum beam are broadly consistent with the dimensions for the original vessel reported by Whyte (2006) although Whyte�s value for maximum beam seems somewhat low, bearing in mind that the ntact hull would have flared outwards above the wreck measurement point. Research into the naval records and consequent identification of the identity and gross weight of the Sheraton�s forward mounted gun has allowed speculation as to the purpose of the ballast still evident in the wreck. Photographs record details of the ferrous metal and timber construction. Drawings obtained of a contemporaneous vessel show a vertical stem and counter-like stern, the latter hung over a finely drawn underwater section. These two design features would undoubtedly have contributed to the fine sea keeping qualities attributed to deep-sea steam trawlers taken into wartime naval service, although it seems likely that both aspects owe something to the legacy of sail. In the age of sail the finely drawn bow would have been needed to make to windward and the design of the stern would have helped prevent the vessel being pooped by a following sea. Of course in modern fleets, horsepower has increased hugely and the trawl is hauled over the stern thus eliminating these features. While conducting the survey, which corresponded with the autumn half-term for local schools, many people walking along the sands stopped to ask questions, indicating very significant local interest. Hopefully this interest can be captured and the work of the Nautical Archaeology Society publicised in Norfolk, which together with Suffolk, is home to a rich maritime heritage on the foreshore. The survey results will provide a baseline for monitoring the wreck�s condition over future years and the photographs may prove of value in further research into the Sheraton�s construction. ADDENDUM After this report was completed the North East England Maritime Archaeology Research Archive kindly supplied details abstracted from Lloyd�s Registers 1907/08 and 1944/45 (Green, 2007). The 1907/08 Lloyd's Register Registered at Grimsby. Steel Screw Ketch, built by Cook, Welton & Gemmell Ltd. Beverley of 283 grt. for the Standard Steam Fishing Co. Ltd. Official No.125043.

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Dimensions - 130 ' (feet) long, 22.2' breadth, 12.2' Depth (of hold). Fitted with a 3-cylinder, triple-expansion steam engine (Amos & Smith, Hull); cylinder diameters of 13", 22.5", and 37". 24" stroke. One single-ended boiler with a corrugated furnace, producing steam at 200lbs, giving 94 RHP (nominal horsepower). Vessel had 1 deck and 4 bulkheads. (The dimensional data from Whyte (2006) are thus confirmed). The 1944/45 Register The details are similar, with the exception that she appears to have been re-boilered with a single-ended boiler with 3 plain furnaces, and she has been allocated the Code Letters GYNW. In addition it records that she was fitted with an Echo Sounding Device. Additional details and their relevance Confirmation by Lloyds that the ferrous metal is steel and that the vessel is described as �a steel ketch� supports the view above that the timber component was not an integral part of the hull�s structure but rather an element of the internal framing and decking. North East England Maritime Archaeology Research has reported that the Sheraton seems to have disappeared from references relating to the Grimsby fleet after1944/45. �The 'Loss List of Grimsby Trawlers 1800-1960' does not mention the Sheraton, nor does 'Grand Old ladies: Grimsby's Great Trawler Stories', by Steve Richards. Maybe she changed ownership after the war and was re-registered in another port?� (Green, 2007). Possibly when the vessel came to the end of her working life and ended as a hulk for target practice such re-registration, or de-registration would have occurred. Maybe use as a target involved more than simply towing the vessel to a suitable position in the Wash. If a full de-commissioning took place the engine may have been removed and this would provide an alternative explanation for the concrete ballast observed in the wreck astern of the mid-point. REFERENCES Anon, (undated) Aberdeen City Council, www.aberdeenships.com Anon (2004) Norfolk Heritage Explorer, www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk

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Green, G (2007) Personal communication. Kindell, D. (2007) British and Other Navies in World War II Day by Day : Ship Movements, Actions, Losses, www.Naval-History.Net Whyte, N. (2006) The Hunstanton Newslette,r 26 October Issue

Williams, A,G (2002) The 6 Pdr and the Mollins Gun, www.quarry.nildram.co.uk

BACKGROUND SOURCES www.fleetwood-trawlers www.hull.ac.uk/mhsc/researchandprojects/fisherieshistory www.skipper.co.uk/catsmp. www.english-heritage.org.uk ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Sincere thanks are due to Mark Beattie Edwards, Project Manager, NAS, for examining the project plan, to all NAS staff who provided inputs to the Introduction and Part I NAS Certificate Summer School, 2007, an event that inspired me to pursue this survey, to Gary Green of the North East England Maritime Archaeology Research Archive, to my wife Pat Draper for assistance with the survey measurements and for providing the cover photograph, and to the many interested passers-by who stopped to talk while the survey was underway. 15/11/07