Molasses Reef, c. 1510

Country: Turks and Caicos Islands

Place: Molasses Reef, southern perimeter of the Caicos Bank, Turks and Caicos Islands

Identified: No

Dated: Late 15th or early 16th century

Beam: Estimated 7.5 m

Length Overall: Estimated 20 m (on deck)

History of the shipwreck

The identity of this ship is unknown. It may have been built in Portugal, since most of its ballast comes from Lisbon. It is believed to have wrecked in the late 15th or early 16th century, probably during a voyage of capture of Bahamian natives for slave labor in the mines of Hispaniola.

The Molasses Reef wreck was found in the early 1970s by sport divers on the southern perimeter of the Caicos Bank, Turks and Caicos Islands, in the Caribbean. Salvaged by treasure hunters — among whom the famous Teddy Tucker — at least since 1972, this wreck was dynamited by vandals just before the Institute of Nautical Archaeology started archaeological excavations on the site, through its Exploration and Discovery Research Team (EDRT). These excavations lasted between 1982 and 1986, under the direction of Donald H. Keith.

Description of the site

As it was found by the INA team, this wreck consisted of a ballast pile extending over an area of 11.5 x 3 m and around 60 cm high. Its weight was estimated at around 36 tons.

Under this ballast pile was a preserved wooden structure, consisting of floors, futtocks, planking, and ceiling, covering an area of 2.5 x 7.5 m, which represented less than 2% of the hull, from a part of the bottom located between the keel and the turn of the bilge.

Hull Remains

Only a small portion of the hull remains were preserved.

Keel. No keel, stem, or sternpost is preserved, although we know, from a preserved gudgeon, that the sternpost — and presumably the keel and stempost — had a sided dimension of 20 cm.

Frames. Twenty-four frames or frame positions were found in place. The floors were around 16 cm sided. The futtocks were, on average, 16 cm sided and 16-17 cm molded. Room-and-space was 32.5 cm. The floors overlapped the futtocks along 75 cm and presented dovetail joints, with the mortise on the futtock and the wider side of the trapezoid up, at least in the preserved joints. Fillers were found in place, covering the tops of the floor timbers. The (only) midship frame had a pair of futtocks on each side. At least 11 frames were pre-assembled.

Planking. Six rows of planking were preserved in place, with a thickness of 4.5 cm and widths between 28 and 35 cm. All preserved planks were plain-sawn, and all were butt-jointed, forming regular strakes.

Ceiling, thick stuff, and wales. Although ceiling planks survived in very poor condition, their dimensions have been estimated at 2 cm thick and around 14 cm wide on average. Five filler pieces were found in place.

Fastenings. A great variety of fasteners were found in the concretions around the site, divided into oak treenails, iron bolts, drift pins, and nails. Treenails had diameters of 2.8 cm. Bolts were 2.7-3 cm in diameter with domed heads, 1.4-3.8 cm in diameter with flat heads, and 1.2-2.8 cm in diameter unheaded; their lengths varied between 30 and 50 cm. Drift pins had square shanks 1.2-2.8 cm across and lengths of 35-45 cm. Nails were button-headed with square shanks 0.1-2 cm across, or flat-headed with square shanks 0.2-1.8 cm across; their lengths varied between 6 and 14.5 cm. The floors were fastened to the first futtocks with two treenails and two nails, driven from opposite sides. The planks were fastened to the frames with two nails and two treenails, typically with the nails on the axis of the frame, near the seam, and the treenails on each side of the centerline. At some locations there were additional fastenings with round-shafted nails of 1.3 cm diameter. The ends of the planks were secured with three nails and two treenails. Nail heads were recessed in countersunk holes.

Caulking

According to Dr. Keith, "thin strips of lead had been forced between the strakes" and "lead sheet patches of different shapes and sizes were found on the site." Caulking was found wrapped around the nail heads.

Ballast

Around 36 tons of ballast were found on site, mostly originating in Lisbon, with some smaller quantities from southern Spain, England, and the Canary Islands.

Size and scantlings

Estimated at 20 m on the deck and 7.5 m beam. Its most important timbers had the following dimensions: keel, sided and molded dimensions unknown; floors, 16 cm sided, 16-17 cm molded; futtocks, 16 cm sided, 16-17 cm molded; room-and-space, 32.5 cm; planking, 30 cm sided, 4.5 cm molded; ceiling, 14 cm sided, 2 cm molded.

Wood

All timbers analyzed were found to be oak (Quercus sp.).

References

Keith, Donald Hart. The Molasses Reef Wreck. Texas A&M Ph.D. Dissertation, College Station, 1987.

Keith, Donald H. "The Molasses Reef Wrecks Project." INA Newsletter (1989) 16.3: 4-9.

Keith, D.H., Duff, J.A., James, S.R., Oertling, T.J., and Simmons, J.J. "The Molasses Reef Wreck, Turks and Caicos Islands, B.W.I.: A Preliminary Report." IJNA (1984) 13.1: 45-63.

Keith, D.H., and Simmons, J.J. "An Analysis of Hull Remains, Ballast and Artifact Distribution of a Sixteenth-Century Shipwreck: Toward a Better Understanding of Wrecking and Reconstruction." JFA (1985) 12.4: 411-424.

Lamb, William R., Keith, Donald H., and Judy, Susan A. "Analysis of the Ballast of the Molasses Reef Wreck." National Geographic Research (1990) 6.3: 291-305.

Oertling, Thomas J. "The Molasses Reef Wreck Hull Analysis: Final Report." IJNA (1989) 18.3: 229-243.