Bremen Cog, c. 1380

Country: Germany

Place: River Weser near Rablinghausen, Bremen

Coordinates (approximate): 53.0951, 8.7584 (locality only)

Type: Cog (Bremen type), merchant cargo vessel

Identified: Archaeological type; historical name unknown

Dated: c. AD 1380, by dendrochronology

 

Beam: About 7.6 m

Keel Length: Unknown.

Length Overall: About 23.3 m

Number of Masts: One (single square sail)

 

History of the wreck

The Bremen cog was discovered on 8 October 1962 during dredging and harbour works in the Weser near Rablinghausen. Its unusually complete remains gave the first large archaeological example of a medieval cog, a ship type known until then mainly from written sources and town seals.

The timbers were recovered in three salvage campaigns and taken to Bremerhaven. The ship was reassembled between 1972 and 1978, followed by a long conservation with polyethylene glycol. It was first displayed freestanding in 2000 and is one of the main exhibits of the German Maritime Museum (Deutsches Schiffahrtsmuseum).

It is one of the cog finds compared by Hans Jeppesen with the Kollerup cog (Jeppesen 1979).

 

Description of the site

The wreck lay in river silt in the Weser at Bremen. The public sources place it near Rablinghausen but give no surveyed position; the coordinates mark the locality only.

 

Cargo

Not reported.

 

Ballast

Not reported.

 

Anchors

Not reported.

 

Guns

Not applicable.

 

Iron concretions

Not reported.

 

Hull Remains

The oak hull has the characteristic cog combination of a flush-laid bottom and clinker-built sides, straight stem and sternpost, a single square sail and a stern rudder. The vessel is over 20 m long and nearly 8 m wide.

Because of its completeness, it became the reference find for Bremen-type cogs. Photogrammetric monitoring is now used to measure the deformation of the conserved timbers.

 

Keel, keelson and mast step

Not reported in detail; straight stem and sternpost.

 

Frames

Not reported in detail.

 

Planking

Flush-laid bottom planking and clinker-built sides.

 

Ceiling, thick stuff, and wales

Not reported.

 

Caulking

Not reported.

 

Size and scantlings

Length about 23.3 m; beam about 7.6 m; draught about 2.25 m when heavily laden; capacity about 87-90 tonnes. Draught and capacity are reconstructed estimates, not preserved dimensions.

 

Wood

Oak.

 

Bibliography

Belasus, M., et al. “The Bremen cog: reconstructed one more time.” [Full reference to be completed.]

German Maritime Museum. “The Bremen cog from the Hanseatic era.” [Full reference to be completed.]

German Maritime Museum. “The measurement of the cog.” [Full reference to be completed.]

Jeppesen, H. 1979. “Kollerupkoggen, et vragfund i en ralgrav.” [Full reference to be completed]: 65-74.