Home – Silentworld Foundation

Timbers in the water tank. Image: Irini Malliaros/Silentworld for Sydney Metro, used with permission.

CONSERVING A WRECK.

BARANGAROO BOAT

Learn more

THE END OF THE ENDEAVOUR?

IN SEARCH OF CAPTAIN COOK'S SHIP: NEWPORT, RI

LEARN MORE

THE ORIGINAL SOUTH AUSTRALIAN

SEARCHING FOR THE STATE'S OLDEST WRECK

LEARN MORE

SEARCHING FOR AE1.

AUSTRALIA'S FIRST SUBMARINE

LEARN MORE

DISCOVERY: 4 NEW WRECKS.

KENN REEFS : CORAL SEA

DISCOVER

ENTER THE ARCHIVE.

PAST EXPEDITIONS

ENTER

BECOME IMMERSED.

MUSEUM COLLECTION

Dive In

From Instagram

silentworldfdn

Not-for-profit organisation supporting and promoting #maritimearchaeology in Australasia and Melanesia. Currently working on the #BarangarooBoat

A tragic sea dragon for #FindsFriday 🐉🌊.This

A tragic sea dragon for #FindsFriday 🐉🌊.This dragon-shaped belt buckle is from the wreck site of the #Dunbar, just off Sydney's #SouthHead.

In August 1857, Sydney residents awoke to the shocking news that the Dunbar had been wrecked due to a severe storm during the previous night. It would be several days until the sole survivor of the wreck - a member of ship's crew who was tossed on the cliffs at South Head - was found.

📸: @rae.malliaros /Silentworld Foundation, 2018.

#SydneyHistory #IgersSydney #SecretHistory #Shipwrecks #Archaeology #ArchaeologyFieldwork #Copper #Dragon #Diving #Wreck #Artefacts #Sitework #ArchaeologyLovers #HistoryNerd #InstaHeritage #DivingLife #MaritimeHistory #MaritimePhotography #MaritimeArchaeology #OzArch #InstaArchaeology #Waves #Sea #Ocean #UnderwaterPhotography #Dragon @kieranhosty

Diving into #FindsFriday for 2021, Kenn Reefs styl

Diving into #FindsFriday for 2021, Kenn Reefs style, with a #Throwback to the stunning expedition pics from January 2017, snapped by the talented @seajewlz 🤿📸.

This expedition was undertaken with our good mates from the archaeology team at @sea.museum .

#Achor #Shipwrecks #Archaeology #ArchaeologyFieldwork #Diving #Wreck #Coral #Artefacts #Sitework #ArchaeologyLovers #HistoryNerd #InstaHeritage #Artefacts #Reef #DivingLife #MaritimeHistory #MaritimePhotography #MaritimeArchaeology #OzArch #InstaArchaeology #Sea #Ocean #ArchaeologyLife #UnderwaterPhotography

Huh, I expected more anchors in our #Top9 for 2020

Huh, I expected more anchors in our #Top9 for 2020 😆⚓.

No expeditions for the Silentworld team in 2020, due to the pandemic (the story of 2020...), but we have some exciting adventures and projects on the horizon for 2021. Plus many more #conservation posts and #behindthescenes for #BarangarooBoat...and perhaps another boat or two needing some EDTA and PEG. Seriously, prepare for many posts of tanks, bits of timber, 3D scanning and lab coats!

Welcome, and thank you, to our new followers who joined us in 2020. You're awesome.

#Top9of2020 #BestNine2020 #Best9of2020 #Anchors #Archaeology #MaritimeArchaeologist #MaritimeHistory #Shipwrecks #ArchaeologyFieldwork #Diving #Wreck #Artefacts #Sitework #ArchaeologyLovers #HistoryNerd #InstaHeritage #Reef #DivingLife #MaritimePhotography #MaritimeArchaeology #OzArch #InstaArchaeology #Sea #Ocean #ArchaeologyLife #ThrowbackThursday

T'was the night before Christmas and all through t

T'was the night before Christmas and all through the warehouse*
the archaeologists were scanning
before turning in for the night.

Merry Christmas to all,
and to all a good (COVID safe) break!
😍🎅🎄

📷: @kieranhosty, featuring @rae.malliaros.

*Technically, the Conservation Facility but that didn't fit the rhyming scheme.

#Archaeology #archaeologylovers #3D #Lightscanning #Christmas #ChristmasEve #HoHoHo #3DModel #ArchaeologyLife #Conservation #maritimeheritage #instaheritage #igarchaeology

Artefacts ahoy for #FindsFriday! #Throwback to the

Artefacts ahoy for #FindsFriday! #Throwback to the 2018 expedition to #BootReefs, with @sea.museum. Sparkling seas, amazing artefacts and terrific teamwork 🌊😍👏.

📸: @seajewlz /Silentworld Foundation.

Discover more expeditions at the link in our bio.

#Shipwrecks #Archaeology #ArchaeologyFieldwork #Diving #Wreck #Artefacts #Sitework #ArchaeologyLovers #HistoryNerd #InstaHeritage #Anchor #Reef #DivingLife #MaritimeHistory #MaritimePhotography #MaritimeArchaeology #OzArch #InstaArchaeology #Sea #Ocean #ArchaeologyLife #UnderwaterPhotography #FlashbackFriday #Artifact #Nail

It's cannons💣, comets☄️ and anchors⚓ this

It's cannons💣, comets☄️ and anchors⚓ this #FindsFriday 🕵️‍♀️.

Many ships have foundered in the dangerous waters of the #GreatBarrierReef. In 2015, the team located iron carronades, anchor cables, two anchors, and other artefacts, at the isolated #AshmoreReef, part of the Outer Route traditionally used by trade vessels.

So began the search to identify the wreck. It was a challenge, given was that between 1817 and 1923, some 35 vessels were reported to have wrecked on the largely uncharted reef.

These short stubby cannons – or more precisely, carronades – were first developed in the mid-1770s. They were known for being easy to load, reliable and so great was their muzzle velocity that they were quickly nicknamed ‘smashers’. But the additional loops on the sides of the carronades actually, helpfully, dated to the artefacts to post-1820s.

Elsewhere on the site, the unique style of anchors indicated the wreck of a vessel built after 1820 - but lost before 1840.

This evidence, combined with historical records, helped identify the wreck as the 314-ton Canadian-built wooden brig Comet, which wrecked on a voyage from Sydney to Batavia (now Jakarta) on an unknown reef south of Boot Reef in May 1829.

This expedition was conducted with @sea.museum, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and the Department of the Environment.

📸: Xanthe Rivett/Silentworld Foundation.

#artefacts #sitework #archaeologylovers #historynerd #instaheritage #shipwreck #anchor #reef #coral #diving #divinglife #archaeology #maritimehistory #maritimephotography #maritimearchaeology #OzArch #archaeologyfieldwork #InstaArchaeology #anchor #waves #sea #ocean #flipper #cannon #corrande

It's #FindFriday, so what can we say? Anchors make

It's #FindFriday, so what can we say? Anchors make our world go round ⚓🌏😍.

Just one of several anchors noted by the Silentworld and @sea.museum team during the 2018 #BootReef expedition. Boot Reef is a small coral atoll in the Australian #CoralSea Territory near the northern entrance to Torres Strait.

📸: @seajewlz /Silentworld Foundation.

#Shipwrecks #Archaeology #ArchaeologyFieldwork #Diving #Wreck #Artefacts #Sitework #ArchaeologyLovers #HistoryNerd #InstaHeritage #Artefacts #Reef #DivingLife #MaritimeHistory #MaritimePhotography #MaritimeArchaeology #OzArch #InstaArchaeology #Sea #Ocean #ArchaeologyLife #UnderwaterPhotography #FlashbackFriday #Anchor #Artefact #Artifact

Happy Fri-yay #ArchaeologyLovers. Gather round for

Happy Fri-yay #ArchaeologyLovers. Gather round for a #FindsFriday yarn, featuring two emus!

In 1825, the three-masted convict carrier of 471 tonnes, #RoyalCharlotte was on a journey from Sydney to India with soldiers from several regiments and their families. Gale force winds during the passage through the Outer Route, east of the Great Barrier Reef caused the vessel to run aground on incorrectly charted rocks of #FrederickReef.

The crew and passengers attempted to lighten the ship in the hope of re-floating off the reef by throwing as much as possible overboard, including the masts and two emus.Yes. Two Emus.

Sadly the efforts of the crew and passengers were futile and it soon became clear that they must abandon the ship. They made their way to a small nearby sand cay (#ObservationCay), led by the emus.

📸: Xanthe Rivett / © Silentworld Foundation. The 2012 expedition to find the Royal Charlotte was part of an Australian Research Council project, a joint project between @sea.museum, the Silentworld Foundation and Sydney University.

#Artefacts #Artifacts #Sitework #Historylovers #HistoryNerd #InstaHeritage #Shipwreck #Anchor #Reef #Coral #Diving #DivingTrip #Archaeology #MaritimeHistory #MaritimePhotography #OzArch #ArchaeologyFieldwork #InstaArchaeology #IgersQueensland #GreatBarrierReef

Yay it's #AskAConservator day! Conservator and res

Yay it's #AskAConservator day! Conservator and research assistant @nudibranchqueen will be here to answer your questions from 10am Thursday (Sydney time), as today was a busy day at the conservation facility working on the #BarangarooBoat 🔬⛵☺.

Leave your questions as a comment on this post or send it via the question box our Stories.

#Conservation #BehindTheScenes #SydneyMetro #Archaeology #MaritimeArchaeology #ConservatorLife #ArtifactConservation #ArtefactConservation

Load More... Follow on Instagram

On the blog

Oysters and pitch on plank. © Sydney Metro.

Cleaning the Barangaroo Boat

How do you clean a 200-year-old, heavily sedimented, archaeological boat? With dish brushes, toothbrushes, plastic scrapers, and LOTS care.

by Heather Berry

0 Comments9 Minutes

Barangaroo Boat excavation. Image: Renee Malliaros/Silentworld Foundation for Sydney Metro, 2018.

Finding the Barangaroo Boat

Nobody expected to find a boat while digging for a new train station...

by Renee Malliaros

0 Comments9 Minutes

Cover: Painting by Keith Shone ‘The Wreck of the Royal Charter’, The Moelfre Partnership

Dunbar & Royal Charter

Blog,Latest News,New Project

0 Comments14 Minutes

Now tweeting