Southampton’s Maritime Archaeology Trust

SS Shieldhall

On Friday 16th of September pupil's were invited on board the Steam Ship Shieldhall to investigate the work of Southampton's Maritime Archaeology Trust.
The trust highlighted that fact that many historic remains from the war lie, largely forgotten, in and around our seas, rivers and estuaries.

Pupils entering the ship

The day was split into two sessions.
In the first session the trust showed us how they do their research and investigate these hidden remains by completing dives around the English Channel.

 

Pupil's had the opportunity to try on some diving gear, including; A dry suit, goggles, oxygen tanks, flippers, torches, and other equipment.

Below is an example video showing how the wrecks are explored.

Once we had tried on the equipment pupils were shown some artefact's that were recovered from different wrecks.

We had a go at drawing and describing them in a way that others would be able to identify them.



The volunteers also highlighted some areas of the ship that the artefacts came from that we could look for when we explored the ship in the afternoon.

In the second session we were split into small groups to be shown around the ship by the crew of the Shieldhall.

The Engine Room

The Bridge

The Deck

Overall pupil's had a great time and we will be looking visit more ships in the future.