San Juan, 1565
Country: Canada
Place: Red Bay, Labrador, Canada
Coordinates: Unknown
Type: Whaler (galleon)
Identified: San Juan
Dated: 1565
Beam: 7.5 m
Keel Length: 14.75 m
Length Overall: 22 m (at the water-deck level)
Number of Masts: Three
History of the shipwreck
One of three galleons found in Red Bay, Canada, the San Juan was excavated by Parks Canada under the direction of Robert Grenier and was published in five volumes in 2007.
Description of the site
The hull is extensively preserved: keel, keelson, maststep, posts, transom, planking, ceiling, footwales, stringers, and deck structures.
Cargo
Object of a long treatment in the final publication.
Hull Remains
Keel
The keel is complete, measures 14.75 m, and was carved from a single piece; it shows a shape unique for an Iberian ship, having the garboards carved together with it. There was a couce (deadwood knee) at the stern.
The keelson is also complete and shaped from a single piece, notched over the frames.
The maststep was an expanded portion of the keelson, extending over four floors and supported by four buttresses on each side. No dimensions are given.
The sternpost was scarved to the couce, 23 cm sided, and raking 72-73°.
Frames
The (only) midship floor is fastened to two pairs of futtocks, fore and aft, determining the framing pattern — the futtocks joined to the faces of the floors that face the extremities of the ship. It is located slightly abaft the mortise of the main maststep. Seven frames abaft and six before were pre-designed and pre-assembled with dovetail joints before being placed over the keel.
There is evidence for the use of battens before and abaft these pre-assembled frames.
Planking
Object of a long treatment in the final publication.
Ceiling, thick stuff and wales
Object of a long treatment in the final publication.
Fastenings
Frames are fastened to planking with two iron nails and two treenails.
Caulking
Object of a detailed treatment in the final publication.
Ballast
Round stones were found packed around the oil casks.
Size and scantlings
The San Juan was a three-masted vessel of 250 tons, with three full decks (including the false, or orlop, deck), 22 m at the water-deck level, a 3-3.5 m draft, a keel of 14.75 m, and a beam of 7.5 m. No scantling list is available for this ship.
Wood
The keel was carved from a beech log. The keelson and all the remaining structure were made of oak. The castles may have been built of softwood planks.
References
Grenier, R., Bernier, M.-A., and Stevens, W. (2007). The Underwater Archaeology of Red Bay, 5 vols. Ottawa: Parcs Canada.
Grenier, Robert. "Basque whalers in the New World: the Red Bay wrecks," in Ships and Shipwrecks of the Americas: 69-84. Ed. George F. Bass. London: Thames and Hudson, 1988.
Grenier, Robert, Brad Lowen, and Jean-Pierre Proulx. 1994. "Basque Shipbuilding and Technology c. 1560-1580: The Red Bay Project." Proceedings of the Sixth International Symposium on Boat and Ship Archaeology, Roskilde 1991, ed. Christer Westerdahl. Oxbow Monograph.
Grenier, Robert. "Excavating a 400-Year-Old Basque Galleon." NGM (1985), July, 168.1:58-68.